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The Eurocopter AS355 is a twin-engined light utility helicopter that can accommodate up to 7 passengers.
Development of the Ecureuil started in the early 70s under the Aérospatiale banner with the
single-engined AS350. The first flight of an Aerospatiale AS350 took place on
27 June 1994. A twin-engine version of the AS350, the AS355 Ecureuil 2 flew first on 28 September 1979.
The Eucureuil 2 entered production as the AS355 E. Early 1982, the AS355 F with a higher max takeoff weight replaced
the AS355 E in production. The AS355 F was followed by the AS355 F1 in January 1984 and
AS355 F2 in December 1985. The AS355 Ecureuil 2 is marketed in North America as the 'TwinStar'.
The helicopter divisions of MBB from Germany and Aérospatiale from France merged in January 1992 to form the
Eurocopter Group. |
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On 30 January 1990, the 1989-built Aérospatiale AS355 F2 Ecureuil
II c/n 5424 was registered JA9964 in Japan with Sony Trading. Registration
JA9964 was cancelled on 4 October 1993, and on 30
September 1993, the helicopter was registered RP-C1688 in the
Philippines with Gotesco Properties Inc. On 31 January 2005, the helicopter was registered G-CDFV in the UK with Lloyd
Helicopters Europe Ltd. in London and on 13 July 2005, the helicopter
arrived as RP-C1688 by road at Oxford-Kidlington. Lloyd Helicopters
Europe re-registered the aircraft G-JEMH on 1 March 2006 and on 6 April 2006, the
G-JEMH was registered with PJM Helicopters LLP c/o East Midlands
Helicopters, Loughborough. On 8 April 2009, after the AS355 F2 was sold to Heli
Service Belgium registration G-JEMH was cancelled
and on 16 April the helicopter was registered OO-HSN in Belgium with Heli Service
Belgium N.V, Halle. At their facilities maintenance was
carried out by HSB and the OO-HSN was prepared for its service as
medical helicopter. On 25 June, Heli Service Belgium AS355 F2 OO-HSN entered service as 'MUG-Helikopter
West-Vlaanderen'. The MUG (Medical Emergency) helicopter is operated by
the Instituut voor Medische Dringende Hulpverlening and is stationed at the
AZ Sint-Jan in Bruges, Belgium. |
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