For the first time, RUAG Aviation has overhauled a Pratt & Whitney Canada PW206 engine. The maintenance of the engine that is used in the Airbus H135 and H135M helicopters was carried out in the engine maintenance shop in Stans. The fact that the PW206 engines can now be maintained in-house at RUAG Aviation will help to increase the availability of the Swiss Air Force’s helicopter fleet.
The Swiss Air Force has more than 20 of these helicopters, which are still listed under their former name “EC635”. Each of these helicopters is provided with two Pratt & Whitney PW206 turboshafts. In the coming years, all of the engines of the Swiss Air Force’s EC635 are to be maintained by RUAG Aviation in Stans.
Experts from Pratt & Whitney, the engine’s manufacturer, provided the RUAG Aviation employees with an intensive 3-week training to prepare them for the PW206 maintenance work. In the past, the EC635’s engine had to be sent to Germany or Spain if major maintenance work had to be carried out. Now, all maintenance and servicing tasks applicable to the PW206 engine can be accomplished by RUAG Aviation in Stans.