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Helicopter / VTOL Projects
Having been involved in the majority of significant propulsion system installation projects undertaken in Canada this century, both as a Transport Canada National Aircraft Certification technical expert and as an Industry Consultant, manager, and employee, our DAR, Chris Baczynski, stands ready to help YOU!
Robinson R66
Chris was responsible for the powerplant, drive system, and acoustic disciplines during the Canadian certification of the US-made Robinson R66 helicopter (Level 2 foreign validation).
In addition, he flew onboard (test witnessing) in the mountains of British Columbia in heavy snow conditions as part of the joint TCCA-FAA snow ingestion certification testing.
BAC Aero is a creation of a former Canadian government expert in aerospace propulsion certification field. The intent is to provide expertise to the emerging aircraft OEM and STC market that previously available only to large OEMs such as Bombardier, Bell Helicopter Canada or Pratt & Whitney Canada.
Sikorsky S-76D
Chris was the Transport Canada powerplant, drive system, and acoustics specialist for the Canadian validation of the S-76D model.
In parallel, he was Canada's technical representative on the international expert panel convened to prevent occurrences of another accident like the Cougar Flight 91, in which 17 people lost their lives due to loss of lubrication leading to the crash of the Sikorsky S-92A rotorcraft.
MD Helicopters MD900
Chris was a part of the team that performed Canadian certification (Level 2 foreign validation) of the MD900 helicopter. He was responsible for the propulsion, drive system, and acoustic disciplines.
The most exciting aspect of this activity was validating the NOTAR system, which uses thrust vectoring instead of a traditional tail rotor.
Heli-Lynx 350FX and 355FX
The Heli-Lynx FX program is Canada's most commercially successful helicopter re-engining program, replacing the Turbomeca engines with Honeywell LTS101.
Chris was a key member and co-founder of the Phoenix Aero team that provided engineering, analysis, and certification services to Heli-Lynx to make it happen.
The first conversion, AS355FX, was certified in 2004, with the initial certification of the AS350FX achieved in 2006.
Bell 525 Relentless
Chris was Transport Canada's powerplant and drive systems expert charged with validation of Bell 525 design, being performed concurrently with the FAA domestic certification and EASA validation.
Due to its novel transmission system arrangement, Bell 525 program garnered significant attention from the regulators. The program was delayed when in-flight vibrations encountered in-flight testing, coupled with a flaw in the fly-by-wire controls system, resulted in the main rotor blade striking the tail boom and loss of the prototype.
Eurocopter EC175
In 2010, Chris was the secondary powerplant specialist for the Canadian certification of Eurocopter EC175 (Level 2 foreign validation).
Aside from the technical aspects of this effort, it provided him with the first opportunity to forge ties with EASA personnel working on the rotorcraft side.
Bell 206 & 407 Product Line
For the Bell 206 and 407 product lineup, Canada, rather than the USA, holds the primary responsibility for the design, including new development and post-cert mods.
Since 2009, Chris has been responsible for Transport Canada's oversight of the single-engine product line's propulsion and drive system areas.
Notable projects during this timeframe included the M407GX-series, technological improvements to the drive system & main gearbox, and a host of other changes.
Other Bell Helicopters OEM Projects
Other notable work assignments on the Bell Helicopter products included:
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Drive systems and acoustics specialist for the Bell 505 Jet Ranger X (1st year of the cert campaign)
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Powerplant and drive systems specialists for the Canadian validation of Bell 412EPX
Other STC projects
Before his tenure with TCCA, Chris worked as a consultant and aerospace engineering service provider, co-founder of Phoenix Aero Aviation Engineering Ltd. (2003), and later operating as his own company Pirx Aerospace, until 2009.
During that timeframe, he had worked on 90 STC projects in technical fields, including propulsion, structures, and specialized missions. Approximately half of these projects were rotorcraft, ranging from older types, including SA 315 Lama and Bell B204, to various versions of Eurocopter AS350 AStar, AS355 TwinStar, and AS332 Super Puma.
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