An EH101 helicopter has successfully completed a series of landings on a North Sea platform off the Scottish coast. The pre-production civil variant of the helicopter completed the 160 mile trip from Aberdeen's Dyce Airport to BG International Armada platform in 55 minutes in typical North Sea weather, with winds of up to 40 knots and snow squalls.\rPiloted by Bristow's Tom Noble and David Bird with air crewman Paul Newman, the aircraft reported no problems landing on the platform's helipad, normally serviced by smaller Super Puma helicopters.\rAccording to the EH101's Anglo-Italian manufacturers, the landing represents an "important milestone" in the flight operations programme. Aviation journalist Jim Ferguson, who was a passenger on the first flight to the platform, supported this view: "The combination of a remarkably smooth ride and a large cabin gives the EH101 a significant advantage in the offshore industry."\rThe pre-production civil passenger variant of the multi-role EH101, designated PP8, and PP9, the civil utility variant, are currently based in Aberdeen as part of a 6,000 hour intensive flight operations programme, flying simulated sorties to evaluate the reliability and maintainability that can be expected during civil and military service. \rSince arriving in Aberdeen 12 months ago, the two aircraft have recorded a total of 800 missions and 2,000 hours of flying in all weathers, including the harsh winter conditions of 1998-9, report joint manufacturers GKN Westland and Agusta. The offshore landings come hot on the heels of a transatlantic flight to Canada to attend the Nova Scotia International Airshow, as reported in October's EBAN. \rThe three engine, long range, medium lift helicopter has been designed for military, civil, humanitarian and disaster relief operations. It has a range of 1,000km mission range on standard tanks, and has been engineered to operate in adverse conditions such as extremes of temperature, high humidity, dust and ice.