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Quite A Spectacle... For What May Turn Out To Be A Spectacular Helo

If there's one company that made a spectacular impression on attendees of last month's Heli-Expo 2008 in Houston , TX , it would have to be Eurocopter. In addition to featuring an increasingly diverse -- and popular -- product line, the company also unveiled a full-size mockup of its upcoming seven-ton-class, 16-passenger EC175.

The splashy ceremony had teeth to it, too... as the EC175 is highly anticipated by a number of customers, particularly those in the oil and gas industry. Indeed, Eurocopter used the unveiling to introduce the first two customers for the helo -- US-based Bristow Group, and Canada 's VIH -- but the helomaker reportedly left the show with a slew of new orders that pushed to-date orders and commitments to 111 units.

Those orders come from across the globe, including Europe: UTair (Russia), Bond (UK), Dancopter (Denmark), Heli-Union (France), NHV (Belgium); USA (ERA and Halvorson Group); Mexico (Pegaso); ...