Bell

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 […]

Bell’s 412 utility helicopter is entering its 40th year of service this month with more than 6.5 million flight hours logged. Since the model’s certification in January 1981, Bell has delivered over 1,100 412s to customers around the world. To date, a total of eleven variants have been developed. “The evolution of the Bell 412 […]

Bell Textron celebrated the three-year anniversary of its V-280 Valor tiltrotor’s first flight last week, noting that the aircraft has now flown for 200 hours and completed more than 150 individual test flights. The company also announced the successful demonstrations of the aircraft’s newly installed Tactical Common Datalink (TCDL) and ability to carry external cargo. […]

Bell Textron has announced that its Autonomous Pod Transport (APT) flew successfully with a payload of 110 pounds, completing an 8-mile route over the company’s testing site near Fort Worth, Texas, last week. According to Bell, it plans to begin demonstrating a series of military and commercial applications for the aircraft in 2021. The company […]

Bell Textron officially opened the doors to its new Bell Commercial Business Center (CBC) in Fort Worth, Texas, on Tuesday. Approximately 600 Bell employees will work at the facility, which will house operations including Bell’s commercial programs, global sales and customer support and services. The Bell CBC is located in a former American Airlines building […]

The United States Marine Corps (USMC) officially retired its Bell AH-1W Super Cobra twin-engine attack helicopters last week after 34 years of service. The model completed its first flight on Nov. 16, 1983, and the USMC took delivery of its first AH-1W—initially called the AH-1T+—on March 27, 1986. The Super Cobra will be replaced by […]

Bell Textron’s Autonomous Pod Transport (APT) 70 unmanned aircraft system (UAS/drone) successfully completed a demonstration flight on Monday as part of NASA’s Systems Integration and Operationalization (SIO) activities. The objective of the ATP 70 demonstration was to simulate an urgent medical transport mission including beyond visual line-of-sight (BVLOS) flight in an urban environment along with […]

Textron subsidiary Bell announced on Tuesday that the Bell 505 Jet Ranger X helicopter fleet has accumulated more than 50,000 flight hours. According to the company, there are currently more than 260 505s operating across 55 countries. The Jet Ranger X flew for the first time in Nov. 2014, receiving its certification from Transport Canada […]

Bell Textron held a ceremony to mark the official opening of its new facility in Wichita, Kansas, on Thursday. The facility will be used for Bell engineering, supply chain, professional manufacturing and corporate services operations. Bell, a wholly owned subsidiary of Textron Inc., is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. “The new Bell facility in Wichita […]

Rolls-Royce announced on Tuesday that it has reached an agreement with Bell Textron to provide the propulsion system for Bell’s V-280 Valor tiltrotor. In addition to the propulsion system, Rolls-Royce will also be supplying an advanced infrared suppressor system for the Valor. Along with the Sikorsky-Boeing SB-1 Defiant, the V-280 was selected last March to […]