Bell Helicopters has carried out successful first flight of the Bell 505 Jet Ranger X helicopter. The maiden flight took place at the compa...
Bell Helicopters has carried out successful first flight of the Bell 505 Jet Ranger X helicopter. The maiden flight took place at the company's Mirabel, Québec manufacturing facility on Monday.
The light helo was first unveiled at HELI-Expo 2014 in February and has already received more than 240 letters of intent.
The Bell 505, performed a low-speed controllability assessment and flew two laps in the local traffic pattern and achieved a top speed of 60 knots, and the entire flight lasted approximately 30 minutes said Eric Emblin, senior flight test pilot at Bell Helicopter.
The Bell 505 Jet Ranger X is a five-seat, single-engine, turbine helicopter that is designed to be the safest and easiest aircraft to fly in its category while still remaining affordably priced. With a cruise speed of 125+ knots, range of over 360 nautical miles and useful load of 1,500 pounds, the Bell 505 offers best-in-class performance. The Jet Ranger X is a multi-mission helicopter, designed to meet a wide variety of missions with its fully flat floor, increased cabin volume and clam shell doors that will provide customers the configuration flexibility needed in today's market. It can support a wide variety of operations categories, including the utility segment, corporate and private owners, and training schools. The combination of capabilities, performance characteristics and value will be backed by Bell Helicopter's industry-leading customer service and support.
The Bell 505 features a high visibility cockpit equipped with the Garmin G1000H Integrated Avionics Suite to provide pilots critical flight information at a glance. Bell's newest commercial helicopter is powered by the Turbomeca Arrius 2R engine with Full Authority Digital Engine Control (FADEC), which further reduces pilot workload. Additional enhanced safety features include a high inertia rotor system delivering superior autorotation capabilities.
The Arrius 2R is designed to deliver performance and power within the 500 shaft horsepower range. The twin-module configuration helps reduce fuel consumption and leads to lower operating costs.The engine will be assembled at the Turbomeca USA facility in Dallas,Texas.
The development of the Arrius 2R is on track: launched in 2013, the Arrius 2R is following an aggressive development schedule that included a first ground test on April 29 2014 at the company’s Bordes factory. FAA, EASA and Transport Canada engine type certifications are planned for the end of 2015.
The Jet Ranger X is one of three new aircraft currently under development at Bell Helicopter. The company is also developing the Bell 525 Relentless, the world's first commercial fly-by-wire helicopter, as well as the Bell V-280 Valor tiltrotor for the Department of Defense (DoD) Future Vertical Lift (FVL) effort.
