68 AUSTRALIAN AVIATION
I
didn’t need to be asked twice when
the opportunity to jump in on a
ferry flight of Bell’s brand-new 505
Jetranger X came up in late May.
The new five-seat short light
single fills the void in the Bell (note,
just ‘Bell’, the company dropped
‘Helicopter’ from its name in
February) product line left when
production of the ubiquitous Bell
206B JetRanger, which dates back
to 1962, ceased in 2010. Its successor
features an all new five-seat cabin,
Garmin’s impressive G1000H avionics
suite and a 504shp Arrius 2R turbine- this is not your father’s JetRanger!
I first had the chance to inspect
the 505 at the Rotortech expo on the
Sunshine Coast, where it was hard to
escape the thought that it looks, well,
different. I think it’s the combination
of the shorter skids and downturned
nose that somehow messes with what
you expect a helicopter to look like.
But, in my experience having spent
some time with the machine, people
warm significantly to it, and I think
the challenge for Bell is to get the
machines out for people to see and
touch.
The 505 that I had the opportunity
to fly in was VH-HRH, one of four
505s currently in Australia. Two
are with Nautilus Aviation in north
Queensland, one is in Western
Australia and VH-HRH is a privately-
owned machine based in Sydney.
Another two are expected on the
Australian register soon for 12 Apostle
Helicopters in Victoria.
VH-HRH was completed in
December 2017 and it had just 26
hours on the airframe when Bell’s
Australiasian business development
director Daniel McQuestin had re-
positioned it to the Gold Coast Airport
from the Sanctuary Cove Boat Show,
for our flight south to Sydney.
New helicopter smell? Oh yeah!From the inside, out
Apart from the new helicopter smell,
my second immediate reaction to the
cabin was, ‘thank goodness they got
rid of the broom closet’. The biggest
wish of any tour operator using
B206s is to improve cabin room and
visibility by removing the central
control runs going through to the
ceiling. Thankfully the 505’s cabin
is a completely open space with its
two+three seating configuration.
Indeed the visibility is amazing.
There is perspex everywhere. This is
probably the feature that people will
walk away remembering. Pilots and
operators will spend a lot of attention
going over performance figures and
costs. But for the average passenger
visibility is what they will notice the
most. The windows come down to only
a few inches off the cabin floor all the
way around, while the rear seats are
lifted up slightly above the seat heightof the front seats, allowing those in the
back a better view forward.
The seats themselves? Well they are
helicopter seats, so nothing to get too
excited about. The Nautilus Aviation
505 at Rotortech had a more basic
seat option, while our Sydney-based
machine had an upgraded option with
thicker padding in the rear seats and
two-tone leather finish.
The Bell website has a page where
you can demo the wide range of seat
colours available – black, black, tan
and grey. No cherry red! But they
certainly seem comfortable enough
and I’ve got nothing negative to say
about them from jumping out after
two two-hour hops.
The more utilitarian version of
the seats can fold up to provide more
cabin floor space. They also can be
detached from the rear wall and will fit
in the baggage compartment or left on
the ground for a load lift if the weight
saving is needed.
Busy tour operations will need
some vigilance to remind passengers
not to put their bags and gear under
the seats. It is a tempting space to
put something out of the road but is
needed clear for the seats to stroke
down correctly under a heavy landing.
The forward seats are fitted on rails
to move fore and aft, but must be in
the full forward position for flight,
with the pedals then adjustable for leg
length.The Nautilus Aviation Bell 505
on display at Rotortech features
pop-out floats.PAUL SADLER