Flight Took Place At Mirabel, Québec Facility

Bell Helicopter's new 505 Jet Ranger X helicopter has flown for the first time. The maiden flight took place at the company’s Mirabel, Québec manufacturing facility.

"Bell Helicopter pioneered the short light single market, and here we are nearly fifty years later, changing the way the world flies once again,” said Matt Hasik, senior vice president of commercial programs at Bell Helicopter. “We have seen tremendous response from the market for the Bell 505, and today’s exciting flight marks another step toward delivering the high-performance, high-value aircraft our customers have been asking for.” 

The Bell 505 was designed based on extensive input provided by a Customer Advisory Council (CAC). Bell Helicopter unveiled the Jet Ranger X at HELI-Expo 2014 in February and has already received more than 240 letters of intent for the new model.

“The Bell 505 performed exactly as anticipated today,” said Yann Lavalle, senior flight test pilot at Bell Helicopter. “I am excited to be a part of the history of the Jet Ranger legacy, an aircraft that defined the market nearly 50 years ago.” 

“We hovered in the Bell 505, performed a low-speed controllability assessment and flew two laps in the local traffic pattern. Our top speed today was 60 knots, and the entire flight lasted approximately 30 minutes,” added Eric Emblin, senior flight test pilot at Bell Helicopter.

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.

(Images provided by Textron Aviation)

FMI: www.textronaviation.com