AgustaWestland AW139

Infobox Aircraft
name= AW139


caption= AW139 on display at the Farnborough Air Show in July 2006
type= Medium SAR/utility helicopter
manufacturer= AgustaWestland
designer=
first flight= 3 February 2001
introduced= 2003
retired=
status=
primary user= CHC Helicopter
more users= Irish Air Corps
UAE Air Force
produced=
number built=
unit cost=
developed from =
variants with their own articles=

The AgustaWestland AW139 is a 15-seat medium sized twin-engined helicopter manufactured by AgustaWestland. Originally designed and developed jointly by Agusta and Bell Helicopters and marketed as the Agusta-Bell AB139, Bell withdrew from the project, which was then renamed the AW139. The AgustaWestland AW149 is a medium-lift military helicopter being developed by AgustaWestland as an enlarged version of the AW139.

Design and development

The AW139 is powered by two Pratt & Whitney PT6C turboshaft engines. The helicopter is being marketed for use in a number of roles including Law Enforcement/Emergency Medical Service, Executive Transport, Search and Rescue, Maritime and Offshore Oil Operations.

The first AW139 flew on 3 February 2001 at Vergiate in Italy, and the first production aircraft on June 24 2002. The first customer aircraft was delivered in 2003.

The company has orders for 190 helicopters of which 30 had been delivered by July 2006. It was a contender in the U.S. Army Light Utility Helicopter Program (2004-2006) but lost to the Eurocopter EC145-based UH-72A Lakota.

In 2007 a second production line at the AgustaWestland Aerospace plant at Philadelphia, United States was established.

At the Farnborough Air Show in 2006, AgustaWestland announced the AW149, a multi-role battlefield helicopter variant of the AW139.

The Irish Air Corps began taking delivery of its first AW139s in 2007. The type will provide army co-operation capability to the Air Corps. They replace the Aerospatiale Alouette III in service.

In late 2006 it was announced that the Japan Coast Guard had selected the AW139 as the replacement for its fleet of Bell 212 helicopters. 24 AW139s are expected to be delivered, beginning in 2008.

Operators

Military and Government Operators

;AUS
* Queensland Government
* Ambulance Service of New South Wales (2 on the way - Late 2008);CHN
* Beijing Municipal Public Safety Bureau;EST
* Estonian Border Guard ;IND
* Andhra Pradesh - for use by Chief Minister.;IRL
* Irish Air Corps;ITA
* Corps of the Port Captaincies - Coast Guard (up to 2 on Order, delivery 2009);KOR
* Korea Coast Guard (delivery 2009);JPN
* Japan Coast Guard
* Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department ;LBN
* Lebanese Army - donated by Emir of the state of Qatar Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa to be used by the Lebanese president.Fact|date=September 2008;MAS
* Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (up to 3 on Order, delivery 2010);NAM
* Government Air Transport Unit;NLD
* Dutch Police (up to 2 on Order, delivery 2009)Fact|date=September 2008;OMN
* Police Air Wing;PAK
* 6th Aviation Squadron for emergency relief operations (up to 5 on Order, delivery 2008);Qatar
* Qatar Emiri Air Force (18 on Order);ESP
* Spanish Coast GuardFact|date=September 2008;UAE
* UAE Air Force;USA
* United States Customs and Border Protection
* Los Angeles City Fire Department

Civilian Operators

;CAN
* CHC Helicopter
* Ornge (Ontario Air Ambulance) , Ontario, Canada (10 on order for 2010-12 delivery) [ [http://www.ornge.ca Ornge ] ]
* Shock Trauma Air Rescue Society (STARS), Alberta, Canada (2 on order for late 2008/2009 delevery)
* London Air Services [ [http://www.londonair.ca/ Welcome to London Air Services - Business Tools That Fly ] ] ;ESP
* Sasemar, the Spanish Marine Safety Agency, 8 used for roles including SAR and water pollution detection, operating from bases in Reus, Gijón and Tenerife.;EST
* Copterline, starting from 2008. The regular flights shall take place between Tallinn (Estonia) and Helsinki (Finland). [ [http://www.copterline.com/ Copterline - Etusivu ] ] ;FIN
* Copterline, replacing Sikorsky S-76s. ;NLD
* CHC Netherlands;NOR
* Lufttransport; NZL
* Helicopters New Zealand (Helicopters NZ), 5 plus options for 2 more. For offshore transport use supporting companies including Shell.;RSA
* Fire Blade investments,Anglo Platinuim;GBR
* CHC Scotia, on behalf of HM Coastguard
* FB Heliservices, 2 operating from RAF Valley to provide search and rescue training for AgustaWestland export customers.;USA
* Era Helicopters

pecifications (AW139)

aircraft specifications
plane or copter?=copter
jet or prop?=prop

crew=Minimum 1 pilot
capacity=12-15 passengers or 6,124 lb (2778 kg) maximum useful load
length main=54.63 ft
length alt=16.65 m
span main=45.28 ft
span alt=13.80 m
height main=16.33 ft
height alt=4.98 m
area main=1,610 ft²
area alt=149.57 m²
empty weight main=7,985 lb
empty weight alt=3,622 kg
max takeoff weight main=14,112 lb
max takeoff weight alt=6,400 kg
engine (prop)=Pratt & Whitney Canada- PT6C-67C
type of prop=turboshafts
number of props=2
power main=1,531 shp continuous
power alt=1,142 kW
max speed main=167 kts (VNE)
max speed alt=310 km/h
combat radius main=307 nm
combat radius alt=568 km
ceiling main=19,460 ft
ceiling alt=5,931 m
climb rate main=>2000 ft/min
climb rate alt=>10 m/s
loading main=8.77 lb/ft²
loading alt=42.8 kg/m²
power/mass main=0.217 hp/lb
power/mass alt=356.9 W/kg

ee also

aircontent
related=
* Agusta A109

similar aircraft=
* Bell 214
* Sikorsky S-70
* PZL W-3 Sokół

lists=
* List of helicopters

see also=

References

External links

* [http://www.agustawestland.com/products01_01.php?id_product=15 AgustaWestland AW139 page]
* [http://www.agustawestland.com/products01_01.php?id_product=29 AgustaWestland AW149 page]
* [http://www.flugzeuginfo.net/acdata_php/acdata_aw139_en.php AW139 Specs & Photo on flugzeuginfo.net]