AW139 helicopter assembled in Russia performed its maiden flight

AW139 helicopter assembled in Russia has successfully performed its maiden flight. The rollout of the first AW139 helicopter assembled in Russia (tail number 60001) was performed on December 18th 2012 in accordance with the ground test program, Russian Helicopters reports. The helicopter performed its first lift-off on December 19th at 16:30 Moscow time. The duration of the first flight of new AW139 helicopter was 37 minutes. The vehicle completed the necessary tests in accordance with the program approved by Russian aviation authorities. It is expected that the second aircraft (tail number 60002) will be assembled by HeliVert (joint venture of Russian Helicopters Holding Company and Agusta Westland (Italy)) by February 2013. HeliVert’s site is located in Russian Helicopters’ National Helicopter Building Centre in Tomilino (Moscow Region). The plant was constructed from the ground up, and it is now one of the Russia’s most advanced facilities in its class, Russian Helicopters noted. The production of AW139 helicopters in Russia was launched in 2012 in accordance with the schedule. It is expected that the enterprise will be assembling up to 15-20 helicopters per year. The number of the plant’s employees may reach 100 ones after reaching the maximum capacity. The plant is intended for meeting the growing demand for AW139 helicopters