DART updates its AS350/AS355 Heli-Utility-Basket
DART Aerospace has received approvals of updates to the supplemental type certificates (STC) from the FAA, TCCA and EASA for its latest additions to its bestselling AS350/AS355 Quick Release Heli-Utility-Basket.
DART Aerospace has received approvals of updates to the supplemental type certificates (STC) from the FAA, TCCA and EASA for its latest additions to its bestselling AS350/AS355 Quick Release Heli-Utility-Basket. The changes have been made to allow customers to transport rigid-based, multi-drop firefighting buckets.
The initial certification for the utility basket was approved in 1994, but since then DART says that it has been constantly improving and adding to the design. The most notable new addition to the new basket is an oversized, curve-top lid, which adds 30-per-cent more storage space. Customers who already have the basket are able to acquire the new lid as a retro-fit option for long baskets using the light- or heavy-duty flat lid. The new design also features optional ground-handling wheel for easy manoeuvring and double-locking quick-release pins.
“We are excited about the benefits that the added cargo volume this new lid will present to operators in the heli-skiing, public service, utility and firefighting industries,” said Wesley Reid, Product Manager at DART.
The basket, like its previous iterations, carries no VNE restriction. DART says that a new test flight programme has allowed it to relax performance restrictions on all DART AS350 baskets. The baskets can also be quickly installed or removed with no tools by one person in less than a minute due to the quick release systems.