Hot-and-high testing validates Bell 429 performance specs | Aviation International News

Hot-and-high testing validates Bell 429 performance specs

The Bell 429 can hover out of ground effect (OGE) at 11,000 feet at its maximum takeoff weight of 7,000 pounds.

By Mark Huber • Contributor

November 29, 2007

The Bell 429 can hover out of ground effect (OGE) at 11,000 feet at its maximum takeoff weight of 7,000 pounds. The altitude exceeds Bell’s previous customer commitment of a maximum OGE hover of 9,300 feet. It was the most significant finding during high-altitude and hot-temperature testing of the two flying Bell 429 prototypes conducted this fall in Arizona and Colorado, according to Bill Stromberg, the company’s executive director of commercial program management.

Stromberg said that the testing also validated the 429’s service ceiling of 20,000 feet. Both helicopters flew to their U.S. test sites from Bell’s Mirabel, Quebec plant and together had accumulated 430 hours of flight time before the hot-and-high testing. The validation tests were flown by Transport Canada certification pilots and allowed Bell to “bank a lot of certification data,” according to Stromberg.

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