Since its creation in 1975, American Eurocopter (AEC)
has become one of the key players on the US helicopter market. Responsible
for the marketing and sales of the Group’s helicopters in the USA, the company
also assembles the aircraft, and provides training and support. American
Eurocopter employs more than 500 people.
The American Eurocopter headquarters in Grand Prairie, Texas, span more than 22 hectares.
This was the company’s first site in the United States, and the facility specializes in the final assembly, completion, customization, and delivery of US-sold Eurocopter helicopters.
The Grand Prairie site also has a very large stock of spare parts and equipment (more than 50,000 items), and houses the technical support and Aircraft on Ground (AOG) delivery centers, along with the certified workshops for the repair and overhaul of blades and dynamic components.
Full maintenance and pilot training programs are also given in several languages at Grand Prairie.
The site has been certified by the FAA and, thus, offers a wide range of night flight training: initial training with night vision goggles (NVG) for night flights over densely populated areas, and in emergency conditions.
Columbus
In 2004, American Eurocopter opened a new plant in the Golden Triangle (in the north east of Mississippi) to strengthen its presence in the United States and meet the market growth.
This modern 85,000 sq. ft. site is located near Columbus and has an AS350 B2 and B3 AStar/Ecureuil assembly line whose initial production rate was set at 30 aircraft per year.
The EC120 B Colibris for the US Customs and Border Protection (see article on page 10) are also being built and customized here. Furthermore, the Columbus site has a metal parts production center, manufacturing components like the tail booms for the Ecureuils/AStars sold throughout the world.
In addition, Columbus is an international center of excellence for the modernization and re-engining of the Dauphin range.
A number of Dauphin aircraft have already been re-engined at Columbus, including the upgrading of the HH-65 Dauphin fleet of the US Coast Guard (USCG).
This aircraft has been converted into the high performance HH-65C version. The USCG has more than 90 HH-65 aircraft, and their re-engining (into the C model) will optimize their standard missions - such as search and rescue and maritime surveillance – while allowing them to expand into homeland security and national defense duties.
