Leonardo’s AW109SP GrandNew is fast and furious, fancy but formidable. The swift and sleek light twin helicopter is becoming very popular in the light twin executive/VIP and private helicopter spaces.
The Leonardo AW109SP GrandNew packs an almighty punch, with a top speed well over 150 knots, a six-pax carrying capacity depending on the buyer’s choice of cabin fit out, an advanced glass cockpit packing a raft of safety features for pilots to comfortably fly it, and retractable undercarriage providing that extra level of mobility for ground manoeuvring ops.
And, while a pilot might rarely fly at maximum cruise speeds, the average cruise speeds in this elegant machine are still more than sufficient to cut flight time between locations down to an impressive number relative to other comparative designs (but more on that later).
One pilot rated on the GrandNew is James Gruber, an aviator who has racked up a considerable number of hours on a multitude of light single-and light twin-engine helo types during the course of his flying career – one that’s still going strong.
This unassuming pilot, who conveys the strong impression of taking nothing for granted, says that the bulk of his flying in the AW109SP is “mostly Victoria based operations, with
