Bell Helicopter

Bell Helicopter took its latest five-seat design, the Bell 505 Jet Ranger X, on its maiden flight yesterday, bringing the helicopter one step closer to certification. The flight took off from the company’s Mirabel, Quebec, manufacturing facility and lasted about 30 minutes. This initial test flight included hovering and two laps in the pattern flanked […]

Most people who entered the doors of the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California, to attend the 2014 edition of the Helicopter Association International’s annual convention, Heli-Expo, on Feb. 25 headed straight for the Bell Helicopter booth. A massive floor-to-ceiling arced screen had been set up, cornering off a significant portion of the display. One […]

In a dramatic ceremony shortly after the Helicopter Association International opened the doors of Heli-Expo, which is currently in progress at the Anaheim Convention Center, Bell Helicopter unveiled three versions of a new helicopter, the Bell 505 Jet Ranger X, developed for the short light single (SLS) class. The three 505s now on display at […]

Photography by Jay Miller| On May 14, 1946, Larry Bell, the founder of Bell Helicopter, said: “We are now on the eve of the helicopter era. … We believe that one of the most necessary requisites to the development of the helicopter age is to provide the best possible training for men and women who […]

At a pre-Heli-Expo press briefing yesterday in Las Vegas, Bell Helicopters president and CEO John Garrison announced the company’s latest Bell 412 version, the 412EPI, with new bells and whistles and the promise of better performance. The 412EPI boasts an integrated glass flight deck named Bell BasiX Pro, which provides single-pilot IFR capabilities and incorporates […]

Two Bell Helicopter pilots flying a Bell 214ST on a test flight last week walked away unharmed after making an emergency landing in a Texas cotton field. The pilots reportedly made a textbook emergency landing, only to have the helicopter tip onto its side when one of the wheels dug into the soft dirt. Video […]

My wife and I visited Bell Helicopter in Texas recently for recurrent training in the Bell 407. The day following completion of our training, we had the opportunity to make a 90-minute flight in the new Garmin G1000-equipped Bell 407GX. I have extensive Garmin experience, and have flown G1000-equipped fixed-wing aircraft since Cessna first offered […]

Despite the widespread adoption of Garmin’s integrated avionics systems in a variety of airplanes from four-place piston singles to turboprops and business jets, never before has the company’s G1000 glass cockpit flown in a helicopter. The conventional wisdom has always seemed to argue against shoehorning Garmin’s wide LCD flight displays into the tight confines of […]

Bell Helicopter’s introduction of the Model 407GX on Sunday at Heli-Expo in Orlando marked the debut of Garmin’s G1000 avionics system in a helicopter. Called G1000H, the two-display cockpit includes many of the advanced features fixed-wing pilots have grown to appreciate, as well as a number of technologies specific to rotorcraft operation. The system’s HSVT […]

Textron Chairman and CEO Lewis Campbell said in a recent report that Bell Helicopter “delivered a strong performance,” with a modest $4 million increase in profits. This was despite a decrease in revenues of $28 million. The net gain was attributed to “improved performance.” The Textron CEO is also optimistic that the recent certification of […]