AgustaWestland, a Finmeccanica company, is pleased to announce a new addition to its range of class leading light twin-engine helicopters, the AW109 Trekker, the first AgustaWestland light twin to offer skid landing gear. The aircraft was unveiled during a ceremony at Heli Expo 2014 today in Anaheim, California. With a maximum take-off weight of 3,175 kg (7,000 lb) and 3,200 kg (7,055 lb) with external loads and over 1,500 kg (3,306 lb) of useful load together with a class leading cruise speed (Vne of 160 kts – 296 km/h) the AW109 Trekker can claim to have the highest productivity in the light twin turbine helicopter market.

The AW109 Trekker, based on the best selling AW109/Grand range of helicopters, is equipped with skid landing gear and a state-of-the-art Garmin G1000HTM glass cockpit Power is provided by two FADEC equipped Pratt & Whitney Canada PW207C engines each rated at 608 kW (815 shp) as max contingency power. With the modular five-cell fuel system the AW109 Trekker has an endurance of up to 4 hours 20 minutes or a range of 445 nm (824 km).

Developed to provide the perfect solution for utility and aerial work operations, the AW109 Trekker maintains the same characteristics of high productivity, excellent flying qualities, high controllability and manoeuvrability, robustness and high inherent safety of AgustaWestland’s other light twin helicopters.

The spacious cabin, the same size as the Grand/GrandNew, can accommodate up to six passengers or one stretcher with three/four medical attendants or two stretchers and two medical attendants. Capable of single pilot operation an additional passenger can be carried in the cockpit if required.

The AW109 Trekker can be easily configured for a wide range of roles and is the ideal solution for utility, EMS, SAR, law enforcement, surveillance and passenger transport applications.

The state-of-the-art Garmin G1000HTM glass cockpit, featuring two 10.4” display units, one Primary Flight Display (PFD) and one Multi-Function Display (MFD) provides pilots with only the necessary information to help reduce their workload while flying in an ergonomic high visibility cockpit. To enhance situational awareness and safety, the advanced avionics package includes, as standard, the Integrated Helicopter Synthetic Vision Technology (SVT) functionality with the Highway In The Sky (HITS) depiction and the Integrated Helicopter Terrain Avoidance Warning System (HTAWS) with a worldwide terrain and obstacle database.

Other standard avionics include moving map, FMS, dual VHF/AM radios, dual VOR, dual GPS, Electronic Standby Instrument System (ESIS) and Mode S transponder. A third 10.4” display is available, as an option, to become the  co-pilot Primary Flight Display.

The AW109 Trekker incorporates many safety features including a cocoon-type airframe, crash resistant fuel system, crew and passengers seats, full Cat. A / Class 1 performance even in hot environments (up to ISA+20°C), avionics providing enhanced situational awareness and a 3-axis autopilot, plus Flight Director, coupled to the GPS.

A wide range of role equipment including: 1,400 kg (3,086 lb) cargo hook, 272 kg (600 lb) external rescue hoist, searchlight, external loudspeakers, FLIR, video downlink, snow skis and emergency floats are available as well as a wide range of interior layouts to meet various customer operational requirements.