PH-HHJ SNIAS AS.355-F2 Twin Star c/n 5356 - Heli-Holland - heliport Emmen, Holland - 8 June 2005

The Eurocopter AS.355 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 AS 350. The first flight of an Aerospatiale AS-350 took place on 27 June 1994. A twin-engine version of the AS 350, the AS-355 Ecureuil 2 flew first on 28 September 1979. The Eucureuil 2 entered production as the AS-355E. The AS-355F with a higher max takeoff weight replaced the AS-355E early 1982 in production. The AS-355F was followed by the AS-355F-1 in January 1984 and AS-355F-2 in December 1985. The AS-355 Ecureuil 2 is marketed in North America as the "TwinStar". The helicopter divisions of MBB from Germany and Aerospatiale from France merged in January 1992 to form the Eurocopter Group.

The 1987-built SNIAS AS.355-F2 Twin Star c/n 53563 was test flown with the temporary registration F-W??. and operated since as N79D, N300LG and RP-C1556. On 10 October 2001, the helicopter arrived at the Heli-Holland heliport near Emmen as RP-C1556. On 24 September 2001, the registration PH-HHJ was reserved and the helicopter was registered as PH-HHJ with Heli Holland Holding BV, Emmer-Compascuum, on 7 December 2001. Heli-Holland operates three TwinStar helicopters: next to the AS.355-F2 PH-HHJ, the AS.355-F1 PH-HHC and PH-HVH are operated. The SNIAS AS.355-F2 PH-HHJ was photographed at the Heli-Holland heliport in Emmer-Erfscheidenveen near Emmen in the Netherlands. On 28 February 2008, the registration PH-HHJ was cancelled: the BvL expired over a year. SNIAS AS.355 F2 PH-HHJ is undergoing a major overhaul with Heli Holland Technics and soon will be back as new.