Rotorcraft
Bell 505 Aiming for Mid-2016 Certification
Company plans to produce 200 of the light turbine singles per year by 2018.
Three Bell 505s, including this purple-colored flight-test vehicle 3 (FTV3), have logged 485 flight hours and another 115 on the ground. FAA certification of the new light-single helicopter is expected in the first half of 2016. (Photo: Bell Helicopter)
Three Bell 505s, including this purple-colored flight-test vehicle 3 (FTV3), have logged 485 flight hours and another 115 on the ground. FAA certification of the new light-single helicopter is expected in the first half of 2016. (Photo: Bell Helicopter)

Bell Helicopter is now aiming to have the 505 Jet Ranger X certified by the FAA in the first half of next year, as the three test aircraft have thus far logged 485 flight hours and another 115 on the ground. The first 505, FTV1, has been flying since last November, and both FTV2 and FTV3 entered the test fleet earlier this year.


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