ACH160 Combines Sumptuous Creature Comforts With Peace Of Mind

Thanks to its advanced autopilot, the ACH160 combines sumptuous creature comforts with peace of mind.

- Michael Verdon

You’ll forget the generous cabin space, low decibel levels and the spine-coddling comfort of the supple leather seats. You’ll definitely forget the 68 patents that helped transform helicopter design. Because even in the ACH160, the world’s most luxurious helicopter, niceties go out the window when you’re in free fall over the ocean, blue water rushing up to meet you.

But in that moment, one of those 68 patents will not forget you. The autopilot, in recovery mode, arrests the plummet, bringing the helicopter back to a stable flight. It is a stunning show of technology for Airbus’s most advanced corporate helicopter, which will be delivered to a US client this year. Airbus will also complete the interior on this first ACH160, which I had a chance to experience in Monaco.