FORT WORTH, Texas - Bell Helicopter has flown a second 505 Jet Ranger X flight test vehicle for the first time. The first flight test vehicle completed its first flight in November 2014. Bell says the program has quickly progressed, performing additional flight tests and numerous practice autorotations.
"This puts us one step closer to certification and production," said David Smith, program director of the Bell 505 Jet Ranger X. "The aircraft performed incredibly well, successfully demonstrating a low traffic speed traffic pattern at 60 knots."
The five-seat 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 300 letters of intent for the new model. It is a clean-sheet design that uses some proven systems of the Bell 206.
Power is provided by a single Turbomeca Arrius 2R engine with dual channel Full Authority Digital Engine Control (FADEC).