Turbine Helicopters For Lease

About Turbine Helicopters

Most modern helicopters use gas-turbine engines, which are considered more reliable, more powerful, and less complex than piston engines. Turbines are also lighter and typically produce less vibration than their piston-driven counterparts. The turboshaft engines used in helicopters are similar to a turboprop airplane’s motor, although their shaft spins overhead rotors instead of a forward-facing propeller.

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Bell 206B III Turbine Helicopter

Broad Variety

The cost of a turbine-powered helicopter on AviationTrader.com.au covers a wide range, including newer, high-end models priced above $10 million AUD. The site has everything from brand-new models in current production to vintage ‘copters from the early 1960s.

Turbine helicopters may come with as few as two seats, while larger models such as the MIL MI-8MTV-1 may be outfitted with seating for as many as 36. Total time can range from less than 100 hours on a gently used late-model craft to 20,000 or even 30,000 hours on a well-maintained workhorse.

History

The concept for helicopters dates back to a Chinese book authored circa 400 B.C. that provided details for how to construct a “flying top” helicopter-like toy. Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Edison, and other notable inventors also offered helicopter-like concepts and designs over the years.

A French bicycle maker, Paul Cornu, achieved the first manned free flight in a rotary-winged aircraft on November 13, 1907 in Coquainvilliers near Lisieux. The twin-rotor “Flying Bicycle” he designed and built was somewhat impractical, but it did hover a foot or more off the ground for about 20 seconds. Later, Russian-born Igor Sikorsky designed the first working helicopter and submitted a U.S. patent for it in 1931. He first flew his VS-300 on September 14, 1939, at Stratford, Connecticut.

American Charles Kaman is credited with constructing the first turbine-powered helicopter, the K-225. Powered by a Boeing B502-2 engine, it underwent its first test flight on December 11, 1951, in Bloomfield, Connecticut. Three years later, a modified Kaman HTK-1 became the first twin-turbine helicopter to take flight. The Alouette II from Sud-Est (later known as “Sud Aviation”) became the first turbine-powered helicopter to go into production in 1956.

Find The Right Turbine Helicopter

Look for new and pre-owned turbine helicopters for sale on AviationTrader.com.au from manufacturers including Agusta, Airbus, Bell, Eurocopter, McDonnell Douglas, Robinson, and Sikorsky, among others. You’ll also find some turbine helicopters in the site’s Turbine Military Aircraft category on this site.

AviationTrader.com.au also features piston helicopters for sale from around the world.