Bell marks delivery of 505th Bell 505 helicopter

Bell Textron has celebrated the delivery of the 505th Bell 505.

Bell Textron has made the 505th delivery of its Bell 505 helicopter to North America-based operator, Austin Claborn. Configured for corporate transport, the operator recently took delivery of the aircraft at the manufacturer’s Bell Textron Canada facility in Mirabel, Quebec, Canada.

Austin Claborn said the Bell 505 had proved “nothing short of fantastic for us”. He added: “The technology in the cockpit makes the aircraft incredibly reliable and easy to fly. The team at Bell has been exemplary in their dedication to customer service and we couldn’t be more excited to be a part of the 505th delivery.”

Bell said it wanted to celebrate the 505th delivery for its employees, who worked on this programme, suppliers and customers. Lane Evans, director, North America Sales. “The Bell 505 was designed to provide customers with unmatched cost-of-operations and performance for its value. Mr. Claborn has been a Bell 505 operator since 2021 and with the upgrade to the latest platform variant, Bell is proud the aircraft continues to live up to our customer’s expectations.”

After certification by Transport Canada in 2016, the Bell 505 fleet has logged more than 185,000 flight hours, with aircraft operating on six continents.

The five-seat helicopter has a speed of 125 knots (232 km/h) and useful load of 1,500lbs (680kg). The aircraft is said to be designed for performance, efficiency and reliability using advanced avionics technology. It includes dynamic components, advanced aerodynamic design and a dual channel FADEC Safran Arrius 2R engine.

Meanwhile, Bell has built and delivered more than 5,800 commercial helicopters.