AW119Kx Light Single-Engine Helicopter

The AW119Kx light, single-engine, multi-purpose helicopter was unveiled in October 2012. It is a derivative of the AW109 light twin-engine helicopter manufactured by AgustaWestland, a Finmeccanica company.

The helicopter is intended for government and commercial missions, such as law enforcement security, police security, search and rescue, emergency medical services (EMS), utility, offshore transport, and training, as well as be used for VIP / corporate transport services.

AW119Kx helicopter orders and deliveries

AgustaWestland delivered two AW119Kx single-engine helicopters to Aeromot by April 2014. The helicopters are intended to carry out law enforcement, medevac / emergency medical services (EMS) and public utility missions for the Rio Grande do Sul.

The EMS-configured AW119Kx helicopter is in service with Life Flight Network, Summit Air Ambulance, and Life Link III, while to VIP / corporate transport variant is operational with Wagners Development Company and Sino-US Intercontinental.

Design, features and capacities of AW119Kx

AW119Kx features a high-resistance, cocoon-type airframe. It is equipped with four main and two rotor blades, and a skid-type landing gear. Its safety features include aerodynamic design, dual independent stability augmentation systems (SAS) and redundant hydraulic systems.

The helicopter is 12.92m in overall length, 7.76m-wide and 3.6m-high. The main and tail rotor diameters are 10.83m and 1.94m respectively, while the fuselage ground clearance is 0.63m. Empty weight of the helicopter is 1,483kg, while the sling load capacity is 1,400kg. Its internal gross weight is 2,850kg and external gross weight is 3,150kg.

The helicopter is operated by a crew of two members including a pilot and a co-pilot. There are separate cabin, cockpit and baggage compartments. The spacious cabin can be configured to accommodate up to eight passengers, while the baggage compartment can be extended up to 2.3m to house a variety of mission systems.

AW119Kx can be fitted with search lights, windshield wipers, soundproofing, reinforced windshield, wire strike protection system, oxygen system, emergency floats, fire-fighting belly tank, and pulsed chip detectors, as well as a rappelling kit, rotor brake, snow skis, active noise reduction (ANR) headsets, air conditioning system, and forward-looking infrared (FLIR) / low-light level television (LLTV) camera.

Cockpit and avionics

The Garmin G1000H™ integrated flight deck installed in the modern glass cockpit offers enhanced situational awareness for the operators. Flight information is displayed on two 10.4in display units, primary flight display (PFD) and multi-function display (MFD). An independently-powered stand-by electronic display is also installed to provide the operators with critical data in case of failure of the main units.

The cockpit also features a three-axis automatic flight control system duplex autopilot and the avionics suite includes very high frequency omni-directional radio range (VOR) / instrument landing system (ILS) navigation, GPS / wide area augmentation system (WAAS) navigation, very high frequency (VHF) / amplitude modulation (AM) communication, aural warning generator (AWG), and application development framework (ADF) and distance measuring equipment (DME) tuning interface.

Other systems onboard the AW119Kx include synthetic vision system with highway in the sky (HITS) depiction, helicopter terrain avoidance warning system (HTAWS), moving map, Mode S transponder, and radio altimeter.

AW119Kx multi-purpose helicopter engine and performance

The helicopter is fitted with a Pratt & Whitney PT6B-37A engine, which provides a cruise speed of 244km/h and a never-exceed speed of 282km/h. The engine generates a take-off power of 747kW and a maximum continuous power of 650kW.

Incorporated by the helicopter are 605l three-cell, 711l four-cell, and 870l five-cell fuel systems. It has a maximum range of 954km, while the in ground effect (IGE) and out of ground effect (OGE) hover ceilings are 3,352m and 2,225m respectively, and the rate of climb is 9.1m/s. One engine inoperative (OEI) service ceiling of the helicopter is 4,572m and endurance is up to five hours and twenty minutes.