The BLR FastFin is a major part of Bell’s recently announced enhancements for the 412EP medium-twin. FastFin will be standard on all new 412s and available via retrofit on existing aircraft. More than 600 already are in service on the UH-1, 205/206 and 212/412, according to Dave Marone, BLR vice president. Those aircraft have logged more than one million flight hours with the system.
The $75,000 system (uninstalled) consists of a new re-sculpted carbon-fiber vertical fin and a pair of parallel five-pound aluminum tailboom strakes that dramatically enhance aircraft performance. Marone said FastFin gives the aircraft an additional 1,250 pounds of IGE hover capability. “That translates into up to 90 percent of the useful load of the aircraft,” he said. “You have anywhere from 7.5- percent increase at sea level or 1,000 msl on a warm day to over 90 percent at the 6,000- to 8,000-foot range. Even a guy operating at sea level in the Gulf of Mexico is going to get additional utility from that,” Marone said. “In the Gulf you can get up to 2,000 feet density altitude on a hot summer day. With the system, you are going to get 300 pounds of additional IGE hover capability in that scenario plus 10 to 15 knots of critical wind azimuth tolerance, so operational flexibility and safety is enhanced quite a bit.”
