High speed testing of the Simplex Fire-Attack water tank being conducted at the AgustaWestland Philadelphia facility, in preparation for delivery of the first helicopter to the Los Angeles Fire Department. AgustaWestland was very excited to recently share another major AW139 milestone with the Los Angeles Fire Department. AW Philadelphia delivered to "L.A. Fire Air Ops" the very first AW139 in the world to be equipped specifically for water tank fire fighting operations. Several Air Ops senior pilots and technical staff members visited Philadelphia to prepare the helicopter for transfer to Los Angeles and complete the final acceptance flight. A new, high capacity water tank was designed for the AW139 to meet specific requirements of Air Ops in fighting large, dangerous wildfires. In addition to the nearly 500 square miles of Los Angeles city territory the L.A. Fire service protects, it holds special assistance agreements with Los Angeles County (the most populated county in the United States), so its services are regularly called upon to protect very large fire-prone areas expanding out to several thousand square miles. With such large responsibilities of protecting millions of lives and so much property, L.A. Fire Air Ops often flies at least 2,000 hours per year, making it one of the busiest public-service helicopter operations in the U.S. A second AW139 ordered by L.A. Fire will be delivered from Philadelphia later in the year and will enter service as their crews conduct ongoing flight, maintenance and fire attack training in their newest and most capable helicopters. If you would like to receive future copies of New Horizons by email, please complete our online subscription form. "New Horizons" is published by AgustaWestland-Philadelphia Product Support & Customer Service Department 3050 Red Lion Road Philadelphia, PA 19114 © 2008 AgustaWestland-Philadelphia