Across the industry we have seen different signs of the global recession affecting us in many different ways.  One of the most tangible demonstrations of this is in new helicopter production, something that HeliHub.com monitors closely.

One of the helicopter types we have identified is the piston-engined Enstrom 280FX.  The most recent serial number was 2134, delivered very recently to a customer in the Philippines via local distributor Beeline Helicopters.  The previous airframe – 2133 – shows on the FAA files with a manufacturing date of 2007.

That said, Enstrom have done much better with the F28F and the 480.  In the last four years, the company has produced six 28Fs for the Peruvian military, and a further four for other customers. The 480 line is doing a sterling job of holding the company together, with 25 helicopters produced  including at least six for the Thai military (see below).  Two for the Japanese military are also expected to be followed by confirmation for another 28 – see HeliHub.com story.

File photo

Jeremy Parkin – HeliHub.com