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 in Dec. 2016 and the FAA in June 2017.
“Operators around the world continue to compliment the aircraft performance and value in adding a Bell 505 to their daily operations,” said Bell light aircraft program director Eric Sinusas. “This milestone represents the platform’s global growth and adoption as it enables operators to complete dynamic missions at an affordable cost.”
The five-seat Bell 505 Jet Ranger X has a top cruise speed of 125 knots, useful load of 1,500 pounds and range of 306 NM. As previously reported by AVweb, the model was approved to 22,500 feet density altitude in June 2019. The 505 is powered by the Safran Arrius 2R engine and comes equipped with the Garmin G1000H flight deck.
Lets see, 50,000 hours divided over the 260+ aircraft fleet is 193 hour per aircraft in 3.5 years or 55 hours per year on average. That’s just over an hour a week!!! Why is this news???
William, it’s not like Bell made all 260 aircraft on day 1, immediately sold them and did nothing for the last 3.5 years. I think your math is a bit off.
Fleet hours are a great indicator of reliability and safety, and I found this news interesting. I just wish they would knock the price down to be a bit more competitive with the R66. (It’s not the purchase price, but the Bell add-ons and maintenance that really jack up the prices. +$19,000 mandatory optional backup instruments? What the heck is mandatory optional?)