Less than a year after the launch of Enstrom Helicopter's latest trainer, the TH180, which the Menominee, Michigan-based company unveiled at last year's Heli-Expo at the Anaheim Convention Center in Southern California, Enstrom has successfully completed its first flight. Test pilots flew the helicopter for about one hour and the company said in a press release that "flight speeds and maneuvers were remarkable."
However, what that really means will remain a mystery until the first week of March as Enstrom has elected to announce the details at the opening day of this year's Heli-Expo, set to take place in Orlando, Florida, March 2-5.
Enstrom hopes to keep the operating cost of the two-seat TH180 as low as $175 per hour, partially thanks to the efficiency of the helicopter's Lycoming HIO-390 engine, which burns 12 gph.
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