Manufacturer confirms successful first sortie for 429 light twin helicopter, but 417 single hits the end of the road
Bell Helicopter made two major announcements to the rotorcraft industry last week: it confirmed that the Bell 429 light twin had successfully completed its inaugural flight, but added that the Bell 417 light single - the supposed successor to the Bell 407 - had been terminated.
"We decided not to pursue the 417," said Bob Fitzpatrick, Bell senior vice-president for marketing and sales, at last week's Helicopter Association International (HAI) show in Orlando. Fitzpatrick said preliminary designs showed that the helicopter would not meet the "customer value proposition" at the intended price point.
Bell had secured 136 orders for the helicopter after a high-profile launch at last year's HAI conference. Fitzpatrick said he was in the process of meeting each of the customers to discuss the decision.
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"Absolutely no problems" with 429 |
The news came a day after the first Pratt & Whitney Canada PW207D-powered Bell 429 prototype successfully completed two flights for a total air time of 1h on 27 February, taking off from the company's Mirabel facility in Montreal.
Programme manager Bill Stromberg said the two pilots took turns at the controls during the flights, hovering in ground effect during the first flight at 10:00, and climbing to 40ft (12m) for the second flight at 13:00. Lateral control included forward, aft and sideways flight. Stromberg said there were "absolutely no problems" with the performance of the helicopter.
The prototype is one of five Bell 429s that will be used for certification. Programme risks, said Stromberg, include delays in the supply chain, building a one-piece abrasion strip for each of the four main rotor blades, and scheduling certification authorities to monitor flight tests at three different locations.
Bell has slack of at least five months built into the schedule as a contingency, and deliveries are set to begin in the last quarter of 2008.
The company expects to achieve Transport Canada and US Federal Aviation Administration certification under Part 27 rules with single-pilot instrument flight capabilities by April 2008, followed by European certification three months later. The company has 190 paid orders for the 429, plus 30 signed agreements without deposits.
Source: Flight International
