Photo: Pratt & Whitney
2023 has been one of the most important years for the aviation industry. I don't mean by that we've seen a great deal of new aircraft being introduced, but I'm referring to the fact we've witnessed a lot of first-time uses of what promises to be a most revolutionary type of propellant: the Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF).
Far from being simple cooking oil poured inside airplane and helicopter engines, like some people will have you believe, SAF is a biofuel derived from plants or waste (including cooking oil, but derived from are the key words here) that promises to cut CO2 emissions by as much as 80 percent, while providing, surprisingly enough, the same performance levels of standard aviation fuel.
In the works for a while now, SAF has only been truly put to the test in 2023, when, among other things, it powered the first trans-Atlantic flight of a Gulfstream business jet, it allowed the massive Airbus A380 to take to the sky in Dubai, and even transported Virgin Galactic's Richard Branson from London to New York while flowing in the tanks of a Boeing 787. This one was the first time when a passenger plane so large made a cross-Atlantic trip so long using only SAF.
Plenty of helicopters have flown for the first time with SAF as well, and as we were getting ready to wrap up our list and call it a day, helicopter maker Leonardo stepped in and announced another first: SAF helped an AW139 helo take to the sky as well.
The AW139 is the best-selling twin-engine helicopter in its class, meaning aircraft of this kind capable of carrying up to 15 people. Because of its size, it is used for stuff like medical services, search and rescue, security missions, and transport, especially to off-shore rigs.
The helicopter uses a pair of Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6C engines, each capable of developing 1,531 horsepower, to go about its business, and they usually run on a type of fuel called Jet A1. Recently, though, it took off for the first time while burning SAF.
It was the first time the AW139 was flown like this. The milestone was reached at the Leonardo facility in Cascina Costa di Samarate, Italy, where the helicopter spent about 75 minutes both on the ground and in the air as it put the SAF-burning engines through their paces.
The procedure was a success, according to the companies involved, and the findings were there are no "significant differences in the response to the new fuel compared with the use of Jet A1 fuel" when it comes to engine performance.
It's unclear at this point what the achievement means for the helicopter industry, but it can be nothing but a big step in the right direction. After all, the PT6C engines that power this thing are part of a family that was introduced all the way back in 1963.
I wonder where we would be now had we tried this SAF idea sooner.
In the works for a while now, SAF has only been truly put to the test in 2023, when, among other things, it powered the first trans-Atlantic flight of a Gulfstream business jet, it allowed the massive Airbus A380 to take to the sky in Dubai, and even transported Virgin Galactic's Richard Branson from London to New York while flowing in the tanks of a Boeing 787. This one was the first time when a passenger plane so large made a cross-Atlantic trip so long using only SAF.
Plenty of helicopters have flown for the first time with SAF as well, and as we were getting ready to wrap up our list and call it a day, helicopter maker Leonardo stepped in and announced another first: SAF helped an AW139 helo take to the sky as well.
The AW139 is the best-selling twin-engine helicopter in its class, meaning aircraft of this kind capable of carrying up to 15 people. Because of its size, it is used for stuff like medical services, search and rescue, security missions, and transport, especially to off-shore rigs.
The helicopter uses a pair of Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6C engines, each capable of developing 1,531 horsepower, to go about its business, and they usually run on a type of fuel called Jet A1. Recently, though, it took off for the first time while burning SAF.
It was the first time the AW139 was flown like this. The milestone was reached at the Leonardo facility in Cascina Costa di Samarate, Italy, where the helicopter spent about 75 minutes both on the ground and in the air as it put the SAF-burning engines through their paces.
The procedure was a success, according to the companies involved, and the findings were there are no "significant differences in the response to the new fuel compared with the use of Jet A1 fuel" when it comes to engine performance.
It's unclear at this point what the achievement means for the helicopter industry, but it can be nothing but a big step in the right direction. After all, the PT6C engines that power this thing are part of a family that was introduced all the way back in 1963.
I wonder where we would be now had we tried this SAF idea sooner.
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