Sloane Helicopters has added a GrandNew to its emergency medical services fleet. The delivery took place in Italy and the aircraft then flew to Sywell, UK.

The helicopter is the latest version of the 109 series and is equipped with a number of advanced features that increase safety and reduce pilot workload. These include a synthetic vision system, a four-axis autopilot, HITS (Highway In The Sky) technology and a helicopter terrain awareness warning system. These features are said to make the helicopter one of the most technologically advanced in its class.

Sales manager Stephen Mitchell comments: “This air ambulance is the best of the bunch. It can outperform other aircraft in its class and is very fast as well.”

He also speaks highly of the technological features on the GrandNew: “It has enhanced safety because it has a new avionics suite in the cockpit. The four-axis auto pilot is more advanced than the three when dealing with height. As soon as you get into the hover, you can programme it by pressing a button and it will fly to the height you want it to fly, before flying back down to the hover position. It's fully automated.”

Mitchell continues: “The GrandNew also offers synthetic vision. Digital synthetic avionics mean that instead of just looking at a blue sky and an orange earth on the artificial horizon, you have actually got the shape of the terrain in front of you.”