The MBB Bo.105 is a five-seat lightweight, general-purpose
helicopter. Development of the Bo.105 started back in 1959 when Bölkow
designed the Bo.103 helicopter. The Bo.103 single-seat flew first on 14
September 1961. The two-seat Bo.104 followed this study-project. Due to
marketing reasons this project was stopped in favour of the five-seat
Bo.105. Design work for the Bo.105 began in July 1962. Construction of
the first of three prototypes began in 1964. The first Bo.105 prototype
D-HAKO s/n V-1 was destroyed in ground tests and written off in October
1966. The second machine, D-HECA s/n V-2, was powered by two 317shp
Allison 250C18 turboshafts and on 16 February 1967, the BO105 took off
for its maiden flight in Ottobrunn (near Munich), Germany. On 14 May 1969,
Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm GmbH (MBB) was formed and development of the Bo.105 continued
with the first production BO-105A, D-HABV s/n S-1, flying on 11 April 1970.
The breakthrough came in 1974 when the German Army ordered the BO
105 as a connection and observation helicopter. In January 1992, the MBB
Bo 105 became part of the large helicopters types row of Eurocopter when
the helicopter divisions of MBB from Germany and Aerospatiale from
France merged to form the Eurocopter Group. In 1993, the BO 105 CBS with
a 25cm fuselage stretch and extra window was certificated. Over the years,
license agreements for the BO105 CB/CBS versions with the Philippines,
Indonesia and Spain were concluded, and for the BO105 LS, a cooperation
agreement with Canada. Until production ended in 2001, as the BO105 was superseded by
Eurocopter’s EC135, a total of 1,406 BO105s had been delivered to 55
customer nations.
As a result of the merger between the Eurocopter parents Aérospatiale-Matra; DaimlerChrysler Aerospace (DASA)
and Construcciones Aeronàuticas Sociedad Anonima (CASA) in July 2000, the Eurocopter group became a division of the new formed
EADS (European Aeronautic Defence and Space company). Taking off into 2014, EADS was rebranded as "Airbus Group". Uniting
all its activities under a single brand, its helicopter division Eurocopter was rebranded as Airbus Helicopters on 8 January 2014.
The 1978-built MBB Bo.105C s/n S-356 flew first with the registration
D-HDGS. On 2 April 1979, the helicopter was registered with Dienst
Luchtvaart Korps Rijkspolitie as PH-RPR and was delivered at
Amsterdam-Schiphol on 15 April. On 11 January 1993, the PH-RPR was
registered with the Politie Luchtvaart Dienst. On 4 November 2008, Dutch
Police' MBB BO.105C PH-RPR was registered with KLPD Dienst Luchtvaart
Politie, Schiphol. Early 2010, all seven MBB Bo.105's
in service with the KLPD Dienst Luchtvaart Politie were withdrawn from
use. The helicopters were offered for sale by Domeinen and stored at
Domeinen in Soesterberg. In September 2010, the MBB Bo.105's were transported to the Heli Holland heliport near Emmen and stored.
The PH-RPR was registered with the new owner B M Aviation B.V., Amstelveen, on 5 November 2010. After the CofA expired over a year,
registration PH-RPR was cancelled on 13 February 2012. After extensive maintanance, the helicopter was back in an airworthy condition
and exported to Spain. On 13 July 2013, the aircraft was seen under maintenance
by Helitec at Flugplatz Halle-Oppin in Germany with a new green tailboom.
In 2009, two
AgustaWestland AW139 Long Nose configuration and six
Eurocopter EC135 P2+
helicopters replaced the MBB Bölkow BO-105s in service with the KLPD Dienst Luchtvaart Politie. On 21 July, the first
two EC135 P2+ helicopters, PH-PXA and PH-PXB, arrived at Schiphol East and on 13 October 2009, the PH-PXZ, the first of
the AW139 helicopters. On 4 January 2018, the Nationale Politie, Landelijk Eenheid, Schiphol, announced that they have
ordered a third Leonardo AW139 helicopter.
Luchtvaart déjà vu
