Iran appears determined to not only maintain its enormous fleet of hundreds of Bell helicopters in the wake of the ongoing U.S. arms embargo against it, but also to make indigenous and unauthorized copies of them. In 2006, Bell filed suit against Iran for making unauthorized knock-offs of several models including 206s and 205s.
Bell Helicopter
February 22, 2010 - 9:03am
Bell Helicopter has announced senior staff changes and the integration of its XworX research and development center into its engineering department, at a time when questions persist about the company’s future role in the BA609 civil tiltrotor program and the launch customer for the 429 light twin helicopter seeks to back out of its purchase agreement.
February 20, 2010 - 2:50pm
Bell Helicopter CEO John Garrison told a press conference here yesterday that he did not expect an uptick in the company’s civil helicopter sales until 2012 and called the company’s 2009 “quite a year in a very challenging environment.”
February 20, 2010 - 1:35pm
Alberta, Canada-based Eagle Copters has an impressive engine modification to show Bell 407 pilots, operators and owners at Heli-Expo 2010. Dubbed the “Eagle 407 HP,” the popular, single-turbine helicopter sports a 1,021-shp Honeywell HTS900 engine. Though still to be flight tested and certified, the engine upgrade has the promise of providing the popular model with the power it needs for improved operations at higher altitudes.
February 17, 2010 - 6:38am
In its fourth-quarter and year-end report for 2008, Textron– parent company of Cessna Aircraft and Bell Helicopter–forecast the economy would “continue to… result in lower volumes at Cessna.” On January 21 this year, the company announced its fourth-quarter 2009 and end-of-year numbers and it appears the earlier report took an optimistic view of the future.
February 2, 2010 - 11:43pm
Bell Helicopter’s new CEO, John Garrison, is expecting 2010 to be a flat year in terms of civil deliveries, but he said he sees significant growth on the military side, thanks to a production ramp-up for the V-22 tiltrotor and the H-1. Military revenues should jump by 15 percent, he added. Bell is here on Stand Q01 and on the static display with the new Bell 429 light twin, which is touring Asia.
January 28, 2010 - 12:02pm
Textron, the parent company of Cessna Aircraft and Bell Helicopter, announced fourth-quarter 2009 and end-of-year numbers this morning and the news was somber. Cessna’s revenues for the fourth quarter 2009 dropped $642 million compared with the same period in 2008. Profits decreased $170 million and the order backlog fell 29 percent from the previous quarter, to $4.9 billion, primarily the result of cancellations.
November 4, 2009 - 10:34am
The FAA is adopting an airworthiness directive (AD) for Bell Helicopter Textron Canada (Bell) Model 407s and 427s. It is based on a mandatory continuing airworthiness information (MCAI) AD issued by Transport Canada.
October 14, 2009 - 11:45am
Bell Helicopter Textron of Fort Worth, Texas, delivered the first Bell 429 customer aircraft to launch customer Air Methods on August 1, after which S/N 57006 flew south from Bell’s assembly facility in Mirabel, Quebec, to Mercy Hospital in Des Moines, Iowa.
