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#2397

Eurocopter EC120 Colibri

🇫🇷 France ·first flew 1995· light utility helicopter

🚁 helicopter turboshaft retired
10 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
  1. 1. Eurocopter EC-120B Colibri (D-HEHA) 03: Huhu Uet· CC BY 3.0
  2. 2. Eurocopter EC-120B Colibri AN0367366: Elisabeth Klimesch· GFDL
  3. 3. Eurocopter EC-120B Colibri AN1535581: Alex Beltyukov - RuSpotters Team· CC BY-SA 3.0
  4. 4. Eurocopter EC-120B Colibri AN1995429: Renato Spilimbergo Carvalho· GFDL 1.2
  5. 5. N175SC tail (EC120): HeatherFSmith· CC BY-SA 3.0
  6. 6. SE-JJF Airbus EC 120B Colibri helicopter operated by Fiskflyg in Sarek National Park (DSCF1087): Trougnouf (Benoit Brummer)· CC BY 4.0
  7. 7. Spanish Air Force EC-120B Colibri: Helder Afonso· CC BY-SA 3.0
  8. 8. Airbus - EC120B Colibri (29811507451): FaceMePLS from The Hague, The Netherlands· CC BY 2.0
  9. 9. Airbus Helicopters H120 Colibri (13678174315): ozz13x· CC BY 2.0
  10. 10. EC120B Lithuanian State Border Guard: Lithuanian State Border Guard Service Aviation unit· GFDL
Read about it on Wikipedia ↗
Eurocopter EC120 Colibri, photo 1 of 10
1/10 Huhu Uet· CC BY 3.0

what is it?

The Airbus Helicopters H120 (formerly Eurocopter EC120) Colibri ("hummingbird") is a five-seat, single-engine, light utility helicopter. Jointly designed and developed by Eurocopter, China National Aero-Technology Import & Export Corporation (CATIC), Harbin Aviation Industries (Group) Ltd (HAIG) and Singapore Technologies Aerospace Ltd (STAero) at Eurocopter France's Marignane facility, the EC120B was assembled by Eurocopter in France and Australia. In China, the aircraft is produced by Harbin Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation (HAMC) as the HC120.

How to recognise it: 1 turboshaft engine · 10 m main rotor

base stats

  • speed 278 km/htop speed
  • range 727 kmwithout refuelling
  • seats 4passengers
  • size 1,715 kgmax take-off weight
  • built 700made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

  • First flew 31 years ago, in 1995.
  • Top speed is 2.1× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
  • Rotor of 10 m: about 2 cars parked nose to tail.

turboshaft: A turbine that turns a shaft, usually a helicopter rotor.

spec sheet

first flight
1995-06-09
introduced
1998
status
retired
number built
700
role
light utility helicopter
origin
🇫🇷 France
makers
Airbus Helicopters, Harbin Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation
engines
1× Turbomeca TM 319 Arrius 2F
crew
1
passengers
4
length
11.5 m
rotor diameter
10 m
height
3.4 m
max take-off weight
1,715 kg
top speed
278 km/h
cruise speed
226 km/h
range
727 km
ceiling
5,180 m

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.

Sources: Wikidata Q39665, Wikipedia: Eurocopter EC120 Colibri (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.

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