AUSTRO ENGINE is proud to announce the maiden flight of the HIPE AE 440 High compression engine (HCE) successfully performed by Airbus Helicopters on November 6th 2015 in Marignane. The AE440 has evolved from a joint development endeavor as part of the European Union’s Clean Sky Program in the category Green Rotor Craft led by AIRBUS Helicopters and its partners TEOS Powertrain Engineering and AUSTRO ENGINE.
Jürgen Heinrich, CEO Austro Engine: “Airbus Helicopters’ maiden flight of the AE 440 marks a significant milestone for the aviation industry as introducing the advantageous heavy fuel engine technology to the domain of helicopters for the first time. Once on the market, the heavy fuel technology’s substantial advantages related to fuel economics paired with the excellent product features of Airbus Helicopters are to set entirely new market standards providing the rotary wing industry with an unrivalled experience of operational efficiency.”
As leading manufacturer of Jet A1 piston engines, Austro Engine has already brought more than 1.200 heavy fuel engines on the market and accumulated around 650,000 flight hours in General Aviation since 2008, emphasizing the power plant’s reliability and endurance.
At equal power the engine has a 45 % lower fuel burn than conventional piston aircraft engines running on AvGas, significantly increasing operational endurance. Moreover, fuel saving and technology results in substantially less exhaust and noise emissions.