Bell Textron has delivered the first European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA)-certified Bell 505 NXi helicopter to an unnamed corporate customer in Europe. The delivery took place at the company’s facility in Prague, Czech Republic. As the name implies, the NXi version of the 505 features Garmin G1000 NXi avionics.
“With receiving EASA certification at the end of 2020, every new Bell 505 comes standard with the Garmin G1000 NXi integrated avionics suite,” said Duncan Van De Velde, Bell Textron managing director for Europe and Russia. “The new upgraded avionics provide best-in-class workload reduction, situational awareness with faster processing power, and crisper displays to aid pilots with flight, aircraft, traffic and terrain information in an easy-to-read format.”
The five-seat, Safran Arrius 2R-powered Bell 505 Jet Ranger X received its FAA certification in June 2017. It offers a top cruise speed of 125 knots, useful load of 1,500 pounds and range of 306 NM. According to Bell, the 505 fleet is currently almost 300 aircraft strong with more than 50,000 total flight hours logged.
