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OAK ISSUE - n° 16 - 2018 - € 10 www.theoney d.com
The Art of Sailing CRN Latona 50m
QUART ERLY - P.I. 28/10 /2018 Intern ationa l € 10, Poste Italiane S.p.a. Chf 10,50 , UK £ 7,50 Spedizione in Abbon Postale - 70% amento LO/MI
[ HELICOPTER ]
The A109SP Grand New is powered by two 735 hp Pratt & Whitney PW207C turboshaft engines. It is quite large, so is only suitable for equally imposing yachts. The VIP version can carry up to six passengers in refined, silent surroundings. It can cover distances of over 400 nautical miles
BE AMAZED BY SPECIAL P E R F O R M A N C E Made in Italy Design, superlative aerodynamics and operating systems. Leonardo’s A109SP Grand New is one of the best-looking, most hi-tech helicopters around
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by Sergio A. Barlocchetti
PH. BY COURTESY OF LEONARDO ELICOTTERI
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ou could say that as I’m Italian my description of the A109SP Grand New by Leonardo, present at the Cannes Boat Show 2018, will be a little biased, but just
fly in one and you’ll soon realise I’m only being honest. If you own a villa with a garden big enough to land in, you’ll discover that the letters SP stand for Special Performance programme the autopilot with the VFR Approach function (be careful, though, it’s only for conditions of good visibility), input the coordinates of your destination – your garden – in the nav system and leave it to create a twelve-mile approach path, the Final Course the “VFR APP” function will follow once you press the “Direct To” button. I wanted to mention this operational feature right away because whether it’s a lawn or a drilling platform you’ll arrive there with incredible efficiency – the A109SP cruises at 150kts consuming 180 kg of fuel an hour (around 3.17 per minute), which isn’t much for a helicopter with a maximum take-off weight of 3,150 kg (1,750 kg empty) that can also carry eight people. This performance is facilitated by sleek aerodynamics that make the most of the two 735 hp Pratt & Whitney PW207C turboshaft engines. The passengers may not notice, but whoever is paying the bills is sure to appreciate it. The cabin on the VIP version hosts from 4 to 6 passengers in refined, connected surroundings, typically with two main seats facing the direction of flight and three others opposite these with the pilots sitting in front – and they don’t have a particularly heavy workload. It’s no surprise that the professionals like this aircraft, and often refer to it in very positive terms on their forums. This Leonardo’s range of functionality makes it unique, and I particularly appreciated the SVS (Synthetic Vision System), an orthographic database that displays an augmented three-dimensional reality, useful in low visibility especially when used in combination with an infra-red camera. Once again, passengers will remain blithely ignorant of all this as they fly in a cocoon of comfort and silence at an altitude of 20,000 ft. The helicopter has a range of over 400 nautical miles. Regulations state that to host one, the yacht’s helipad must be able to support a load of seven tonnes, but with a rotor diameter of almost eleven metres, a height of 3.4 metres and a fuselage length of 11.65 metres, it’s not a helicopter for small craft – it is, however, one of the most attractive and technologically sophisticated it’s possible to buy. Its Italian design is of undisputed quality, and some will no doubt try to copy it. The cost varies greatly according to specifications and features but will lie somewhere between six and seven million euro, a sum that will get you a helicopter with unique style and performance.
www.leonardocompany.com
PH. MARCO BIANCHI
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