RBI Hawker Australia announces that it has been appointed a rotor-blade repair service center for Leonardo Helicopters. The Brisbane-based facility has been operating in Australia since receiving its Part 145 maintenance organization approval from the Australian Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) in June 2021. It was appointed a customer service facility for Bell in July 2021.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued two airworthiness directives (ADs), one for helicopters and one for airplanes, containing measures that will avoid potential effects on aviation safety equipment that could occur as a result of the Jan. 5, 2022, deployment of 5G technologies in the C-band. These ADs will require flight manual limitations that prohibit certain operations requiring radio (radar) altimeter data at locations that will be specified in future Notices to Air Missions (NOTAMs).

Vita Inclinata (Vita), developer and producer of helicopter and crane load stabilization and precision hardware, announces the U.S. Army recently procured 15 Vita Rescue Systems (VRS-LAs) to be evaluated for operational effectiveness and suitability. For approximately one and a half years, Vita has worked diligently with support from ADS to make the Vita Rescue System available on tailored logistics support (TLS) contracts.

Bell Textron Inc., a Textron Inc. (NYSE:TXT) company, announces the sale of the first Bell 505 NXi in Slovakia to WELLPHARMA S.R.O., marking the second Bell 505 sale in the country in 2021. The customer will take delivery of the aircraft in summer 2022 at Bell’s Prague service center. The corporate-configured Bell 505 will be equipped with the latest Garmin G1000 NXi avionics and used for corporate and private transportation.

Safran Helicopter Engines and ÖAMTC Air Rescue agree to cooperate in introducing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). The engine manufacturer will support the Austrian HEMS operator in deploying SAF to its Arrius 2B2-powered Airbus H135 fleet.

Bell Textron Inc., a Textron Inc. (NYSE:TXT) company, announces purchase agreements for five aircraft to customers in Ukraine. The signature ceremony was held at European Rotors with Heliclub Ukraine LLC, the official Bell representative in Ukraine. The signed purchase agreements include two Bell 505s, two Bell 429s, and one Bell 407GXi with the newly certified instrument flight rules (IFR) configuration.

Bell Textron Inc., a Textron Inc. (NYSE:TXT) company, announces the Bell Training Academy has expanded its flight school offerings that are approved by the Veterans Affairs office for reimbursement of pilot training. As a part of the VA’s Education and Training assistance, veterans who meet the GI Bill’s qualifications can apply for course reimbursement and potentially have all or a portion of their training costs covered at Bell’s global premier flight training facility.

Leonardo announces a further expansion of its presence in the U.S. emergency medical service (EMS) market with two new contracts announced at the Air Medical Transport Conference. Contracts include two instrument flight rules (IFR) AW119Kx single-engines and one AW169 light intermediate helicopter for Life Link III and one AW169 for Intermountain Life Flight.

MD Helicopters, Inc. (MDHI), joins a collection of industry leaders at the 2021 Global Defence Helicopter show, Nov. 2-4, 2021, at the Warsaw Hilton Convention Centre, Poland.