Eagle Copters (Booth 8540) has ordered 10 more HTS900 engines from Honeywell (Booth 5423) for its Eagle 407HP conversion and will deliver a second 407HP to Atlanta-based Helicopter Express at Heli-Expo. Helicopter Express plans to use the ship to support fire fighting missions throughout the U.S. The delivery brings to eight the number of Bell 407s converted to the Eagle 407HPconfiguration by replacing the stock engine with the Honeywell HTS900 turboshaft.
The conversion provides the lowest fuel consumption and the highest power-to-weight ratio in its class, according to Eagle Copters. Rick Buchanan, Honeywell Aerospace senior director of retrofit, modifications and upgrades, said the conversion provides a 17 percent reduction in fuel consumption and a 22 percent increase in shaft horsepower compared to the standard engine. It also yields an additional 500 pounds of payload, improved dash speed and 12 percent lower maintenance costs compared to the original Bell 407.

New HTS900 technologies include a dual centrifugal compressor, cooled single-crystal turbine blades, effusion-cooled combustor liner and a dual-channel Fadec.

Honeywell provides the engine and configuration while Eagle Copters provides the aircraft, does the installation and handles the flight testing and certification. The conversion received FAA supplement type certificate approval in 2014.