The second SKYe SH09 prototype performed its first flight at Mollis airport in Switzerland. Marenco Swisshelicopter Photo


Marenco Swisshelicopter has announced that the second prototype of the SKYe SH09 helicopter performed its maiden flight at 5:24 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 26, with Richard Trueman, chief test pilot, at the controls and Peter Wittwer as flight-test engineer. The key event was witnessed and celebrated by the entire Marenco Swisshelicopter team at the company’s Mollis airport facilities in Switzerland.

It was a rewarding moment for the employees under the lead of CEO Martin Stucki, who have made intensive efforts since the first flight of Prototype 1 and the flight test phase performed in 2015.

Richard Trueman confirmed the aircraft’s high available power and low vibration levels, impressions comparable to those gathered by Dwayne Williams, the first flight-test pilot who flew Prototype 1 during the past year.

Trueman said, “This first flight of the second prototype of the SKYe SH09 was a total success, all the test objectives were easily achieved and the aircraft performed extremely well. The crisp handling qualities combined with the ergonomic and intuitive cockpit features made the SKYe SH09 a pleasure to operate. Marenco Swisshelicopter has set the new benchmark in the single-engine helicopter market segment.”

From the first analysis of the flight, a very positive aspect has been the confirmation of the low noise levels reached by the SH09, coming as a result of optimized designs, of the blades’ planform, the low tip speed, as well as the “Maestro” — MArEnco’s Shrouded Tail ROtor.

Prototype 2 confirms the SH09 is an exceptionally silent helicopter with comparably very low fuel consumption for its class and a contributor to safer and environmentally-friendly operations.


The first phase of test flights for P2 is now underway, with the initial trials covering hover flights at low speeds and low altitudes before moving on to hover flights outside the ground effect at moderate speeds. This will be followed by trials confirming systems behavior and avionics accuracy, flying limited autorotations and initial performance and stability trials. Finally, testing will move on to handling, load survey and exploring the helicopter’s full height-velocity curves, to confirm the safe combinations of altitude and airspeed during autorotational landings.

With this successful achievement, Marenco Swisshelicopter confirms attaining the set milestones to reach the planning of deliveries.

Visit Marenco Swisshelicopter at Heli-Expo Booth 3006.