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Training At Leonardo Helicopters

By Steve Schaeber, MACS Manager of Service Training

MACS Manager of Service Training, Steve Schaeber, spent the day at Leonardo Helicopters (AgustaWestland Products) at PNE airport (Northeast Philadelphia Airport) teaching the MACS Section 609 Certification Training class to a group of 16 helicopter technicians.  

Three helicopter models are manufactured at the PNE facility:

– the AW119 Koala, an eight-seat utility helicopter powered by a single turboshaft engine produced for the civil market

– the AW139, a 15-seat medium-sized twin-engine helicopter (marketed at several different roles, including VIP/corporate transport, offshore transport, fire fighting, law enforcement, search and rescue, emergency medical service, disaster relief, and maritime patrol)

– and the AW609, a twin-engine tiltrotor VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) aircraft, capable of landing vertically like a helicopter while having a range and speed in excess of conventional rotorcraft.

Wait a minute…

-MACS teaches helicopter A/C?

-Helicopters are covered under Section 609?

You bet!

In fact, most helicopters and small aircraft are covered under Section 609 because they use “mobile A/C-style” air conditioning systems and R-134a refrigerant. And in fact, this location uses the same Robinair charge carts (model # 34788) that can be found in an auto repair shop (except these have 20-foot long hoses to reach the service ports on top of the fuselage).

How cool is that!?!

To learn more about MACS 609 training, visit our website: www.macsmobileairclimate.org

To learn more about Leonardo Helicopters and AgustaWestland Products, visit their website: helicopters.leonardo.com

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