Honeywell Helicopter Tech Shines “Down Under” at ROTORTECH 2018

Every two years the “Sunshine Coast” in the Australian state of Queensland is host to the Rotortech Conference and Exposition—the premier industry event for the Australasian helicopter community in Australia, New Zealand and the region. The most recent edition, known as ROTORTECH 2018, ran from May 24-26.

This was my first stint at a tradeshow Down Under so it was a great way for a newbie like me to meet our customers, prospects and channel partners in person. The Asian helicopter market is one of the fastest growing in the world. And, according to show organizers, Australia and New Zealand jointly represent the third-biggest civil helicopter fleet in the world, so this was the perfect opportunity for Honeywell to shine the light on our extensive helicopter offerings.

Although Honeywell’s presence at the show was designed to highlight our full range of products, we were emphasizing satellite communications and engine upgrades, so I was excited to show the industry how these products and services add value to our customers’ heli operations.

The Honeywell show booth featured information about LTS101 turboshaft engine design improvements, HTS900 turboshaft engine increased power output and reduced fuel consumption, Health and Usage Monitoring System (HUMS) diagnostic technology, Aspire 200 voice and data connectivity, and T55 engine power, reliability and durability.

The day before the official show opening, we organized a special joint event called the Honeywell-Airwork Operator Conference with our channel partner, Airwork. Aimed primarily at Australian and New Zealand helicopter operators, the conference was held at Novotel Twin Waters, Sunshine Coast, a short distance from the tradeshow site. We had presenters from both Honeywell and Airwork who provided updates on satellite communication technologies, engine upgrades and support services like our extended warranty program, the Honeywell Avionics Protection Plan (HAPP).

As I met with customers and channel partners, one particularly promising area emerged related to joint marketing opportunities for the LTS101 engine upgrade program. The LTS101 is proven to deliver world-class reliability and performance—improving the climb rate of twin engine helicopters like the Eurocopter BK117 by 40 percent to 10,000 feet. Refreshed with new technology, aerodynamics and material, we discussed how the LTS101-850D-2 engine can play an important role in the Australasian helicopter scene by providing additional power to regional operators in all flight regimes, increasing their helicopter capability and increasing safety.

Altogether, there were 79 exhibitors and a record 996 attendees participating in the show representing leading players from all sectors of the rotary-wing industry. They ranged from helicopter operators, parts and component manufacturers, maintenance and repair providers, pilots and engineers as well as industry media.

Considering Honeywell’s incredible array of helicopter engines spanning more than six decades and designed for a variety of missions, the LTS101 was just an introduction for me. Our plan going forward is to promote our experience manufacturing robust and dependable engines by showcasing additional engines at ROTORTECH 2020. Coupling that capability with an array of services and Retrofit, Modification and Upgrade (RMU) technologies to enhance their dependability, we’re confident we can continue to impress regional customers and partners with our rotorcraft expertise.

Figure 1: To support the operator conference and tradeshow, we provided the literature for both events.

Figure 2: Novotel Twin Waters, site of both our operator conference and Rotortech 2018. This place was an hour’s drive from Brisbane.

Figure 3: Site for the Rotortech’s indoor exhibitors at Novotel Twin Waters

Figure 4: Honeywell team members and partner for Rotortech 2018. Standing from left to right, Evan Edwards (from Truth Data), Iain Ronis, Carlo Malatesta, Micheal Keat, Sriram Aravamudhan, Ammar Matheranwala. Seating from left to right, Shamoon Shabudin, Derek Lockett, Tim Van Luven, Irene Loh-Brodie

Figure 5: ‘Local citizens’, mama and her joey, right outside your hotel room. 
Unfortunately, I couldn’t bring them home – couldn’t get visas’ issued for them!

Figure 6: Golden Lorikeet – they were everywhere. When the sun hits them, their colors are even more vibrant!