The latest approvals and certifications from the US Federal Aviation Administration have resulted in Helitak increasing their reach in the aerial firefighting market

Certification for FT4500 fire suppression tank

Helitak has received approval by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to add more Type Certificates (TCs) to its Supplemental Type Certification (STC) for its FT4500 fire suppression tank. The receipt of the new Approved Model List expands the number of aircraft approved for the installation and operation of the fire tank to a total of 18 different models. New additions include the UH-60A, EH-60A, H-60, HH-60A, S-70, S-70C, S-70A and S-70M.

Helitak also confirmed that further model approvals were pending in the near future, with the company’s Founder and CEO Jason Schellaars saying: “If there are any TCs that we have missed, we are more than willing to discuss further inclusions on the FT4500 STC Approved Model List.”

FT4250 fire tank certification

Helitak has also received STC approval from the FAA for its FT4250 fire tank for the Super Puma family of aircraft. The 4,000+ liter underbelly-mounted tank can reportedly be installed or removed in less than 25 minutes, with no modifications needing to be made to the aircraft itself. The certification process was overseen and managed by Californiabased aviation products, services and certification firm US Technical, who will also serve as the Parts Manufacturing Approval (PMA) house for the tank.

The Super Puma tank was supported throughout its development by European helicopter operator Heli Austria, who reached out to Helitak in a bid to fasttrack the product’s development in 2019.