Papillon Golden Helicopter 50th Anniversary H130 / EC130T2
Rob Spiegel H125 / AS350B3e
Galaxy Paint Scheme
Airbus Helicopters, November 09, 2015 - A helicopter paint scheme represents each customer’s vision and – more importantly – their image and brand. That’s why the talented and professional technicians of Airbus Helicopters Inc. spend hundreds of hours on design, prep work and actual painting to make customers’ paint job dreams come true and – just as critically – really “pop” for their clients.
Every customer is unique. Thus every paint scheme represents their personalized style and imagination, in effect a flying artistic canvas. Every year, the AHI paint shop in Grand Prairie does hundreds of paint schemes, but custom jobs are the most fun. While we love all our paint jobs, here are a few that stand out the most.
The “Golden” H130 (formerly EC130 T2) helicopter was exhibited at Heli-Expo in March and publicly introduced at Papillon’s 50th anniversary celebration in April. Papillon, the world’s largest and longest-running helicopter tour company, celebrated its anniversary by escorting its new golden aircraft with four of the company’s red helicopters in symbolic formation fly-in to Boulder City, Nev.
The concept of a 50th-anniversary helicopter was several years in the making. The unique gold livery with a red eagle is a reversal of Papillon’s traditional red motif with the gold eagle. The painting process took 600 man hours and five gallons of gold pearlescent paint, along with a gallon of red color. The metallic finish of this aircraft required the mastery and experience of Airbus Helicopter’s painter-artisans because of its difficulty to apply evenly.
“The aircraft took many hours of prep work and sanding,” said lead AHI Painter Jeff Cox, who has 28 years of experience in the aircraft painting business. “The helicopter parts are painted separately; therefore it’s essential that all parts come out the same shade of gold.”
The ‘golden’ helicopter is part of Papillion’s regular tour rotation in the Grand Canyon area.
Robert Spiegel’s helicopter stands out as another state-of-the-art paint scheme. Brazilian neo-pop artist Romero Britto designed its paint scheme. Britto, who typically works out of a gallery on South Beach in Miami, has done commissioned works for numerous high-profile clients, including the City of Miami, Absolut Vodka, Movado, Pepsi and BMW.
This colorful H125 (formerly known as AS350 B3e) was acquired for corporate use by Spiegel’s family-owned Poinciana Management located in Palm Beach, Florida.
“I‘ve always had an interest in the arts, particularly pop art,” said Spiegel, president of Poinciana. “I could envision exactly what I wanted on the helicopter; something vibrant, something different.”
After meeting with Britto and having several back and forth discussions with the AHI paint shop team, Spiegel finalized the design for the unique paint scheme and couldn’t be happier with how it turned out.
Another recently painted eye catcher from the AHI paint shop is what’s been dubbed the “Galaxy” helicopter. This privately owned AS355 will be used for VIP transportation. The owner of the ship loves astronomy and is fascinated with galactic imagery.
The base coat is a beautiful blue pearl color with the artwork on top of it. The artwork was designed by talented aviation artist John Stahr and our own AHI painting technology artist Shane Vicks.
The helicopter features Twin Jet and Sombrero galaxies on the vertical fin of the tail, accompanied by yellow and green comets on the sides, the Devil Eye Galaxy at the bottom and a spiral galaxy on the nose. Besides the galaxies and stars, nebula imagery fills in the background.
The aircraft was delivered in July.
These three paint jobs are unique and special to the customers as well as the Airbus Helicopters Inc. team, but there are many other paint schemes the company’s helicopter artists are proud of.
Every customer is unique. Thus every paint scheme represents their personalized style and imagination, in effect a flying artistic canvas. Every year, the AHI paint shop in Grand Prairie does hundreds of paint schemes, but custom jobs are the most fun. While we love all our paint jobs, here are a few that stand out the most.
The “Golden” H130 (formerly EC130 T2) helicopter was exhibited at Heli-Expo in March and publicly introduced at Papillon’s 50th anniversary celebration in April. Papillon, the world’s largest and longest-running helicopter tour company, celebrated its anniversary by escorting its new golden aircraft with four of the company’s red helicopters in symbolic formation fly-in to Boulder City, Nev.
The concept of a 50th-anniversary helicopter was several years in the making. The unique gold livery with a red eagle is a reversal of Papillon’s traditional red motif with the gold eagle. The painting process took 600 man hours and five gallons of gold pearlescent paint, along with a gallon of red color. The metallic finish of this aircraft required the mastery and experience of Airbus Helicopter’s painter-artisans because of its difficulty to apply evenly.
“The aircraft took many hours of prep work and sanding,” said lead AHI Painter Jeff Cox, who has 28 years of experience in the aircraft painting business. “The helicopter parts are painted separately; therefore it’s essential that all parts come out the same shade of gold.”
The ‘golden’ helicopter is part of Papillion’s regular tour rotation in the Grand Canyon area.
Robert Spiegel’s helicopter stands out as another state-of-the-art paint scheme. Brazilian neo-pop artist Romero Britto designed its paint scheme. Britto, who typically works out of a gallery on South Beach in Miami, has done commissioned works for numerous high-profile clients, including the City of Miami, Absolut Vodka, Movado, Pepsi and BMW.
This colorful H125 (formerly known as AS350 B3e) was acquired for corporate use by Spiegel’s family-owned Poinciana Management located in Palm Beach, Florida.
“I‘ve always had an interest in the arts, particularly pop art,” said Spiegel, president of Poinciana. “I could envision exactly what I wanted on the helicopter; something vibrant, something different.”
After meeting with Britto and having several back and forth discussions with the AHI paint shop team, Spiegel finalized the design for the unique paint scheme and couldn’t be happier with how it turned out.
Another recently painted eye catcher from the AHI paint shop is what’s been dubbed the “Galaxy” helicopter. This privately owned AS355 will be used for VIP transportation. The owner of the ship loves astronomy and is fascinated with galactic imagery.
The base coat is a beautiful blue pearl color with the artwork on top of it. The artwork was designed by talented aviation artist John Stahr and our own AHI painting technology artist Shane Vicks.
The helicopter features Twin Jet and Sombrero galaxies on the vertical fin of the tail, accompanied by yellow and green comets on the sides, the Devil Eye Galaxy at the bottom and a spiral galaxy on the nose. Besides the galaxies and stars, nebula imagery fills in the background.
The aircraft was delivered in July.
These three paint jobs are unique and special to the customers as well as the Airbus Helicopters Inc. team, but there are many other paint schemes the company’s helicopter artists are proud of.
See also |
Airbus Helicopters Inc Airbus Helicopters USA 
