up weight. Dan pulled into a vertical
climb at max continuous power and
was holding 1,000ft/min on the VSI
before transitioning away several
hundred feet above the field.
Departing for Sydney again with
full fuel but just the two of us onboard
we again easily climbed vertical with
a left pedal turn at 1,000ft/min climb
using less than max continuous power
before transitioning to forward flight
on track.
VNE, cruise figures, vibration and
performance
A frequent point of debate in online
forums is the 505’s published VNE
and whether it is an aspirational
marketing figure, how bad vibration
is at speed, what people will normally
cruise at and the fuel burn at speed.
It is certainly very easy to get close
to VNE with full fuel and two people
onboard without pulling above MCP.
The G1000 calculates VNE on the fly
depending on outside pressure and
temperature. For us it ranged between
134-128KIAS on the flight. This is
displayed on the IAS ticker tape as a
red line and the airspeed text turns
yellow as you approach it.
This aircraft was fitted with
an (optional) FRAHM vibration
dampener between the front seats.
This is a sealed black box with spring
loaded weights that acts to dampen
- as the name suggests – inflight
vibrations. It can be removed for a
12kg weight saving.
As you increase speed above 115kt
towards 125kt+ there is definitely an
increase in vibration. But it is no way
a limiting factor that would make me
want to back off for that reason. You
can still hold and read a map and
write without any issues. Holding a
pen by the tip horizontally against the
cowling you can see it bounce at the
other end.
If it wasn’t VNE-limited at that
point you would comfortably be able
to fly faster in terms of vibration. It
is still slippery at that point too with
even a small rate of descent sliding the
speed up towards the limit. I forgot
to check the amount of forward cyclic
travel remaining, but it didn’t grab me
as an issue.
In terms of hard figures – 20mins
out of the Gold Coast airport on track
to Armidale at 2,000ft (QNH 1024, 15
deg OAT and 1,422kg) we had 115kt
IAS at 210 lb/hr fuel flow. Dropping
that to 113IAS gave us 200lb/hr.
Dan suggested that most people
will aim around the long-range
cruise of 113kt IAS and 200lb/hr for
flightplanning.
The AH showed a pretty steady
negative 2.5-3 degree nose pitch for all
the cruise flight we did on the day. The
cabin feels flat and level in cruise even
at the high end of the speed range
(front seats have a slight rear tilt while
back seats are mounted vertical to the
cabin rear wall).
Our ETA into Sydney was starting
to approach last light and we had a
significant fuel margin so for the last
20 mins of the flight we comfortably
sat at 125kt IAS along the coast below
1,500ft with a 250lb/hr fuel flow at
just below max continuous power.
Vibration was nothing uncomfortable
and I really only mention it to address
concerns that people had.
Using the above figures you can
do some quick calcs to come up with
a2hour 23 minute endurance with
30 minute reserves and range of270nm. Dan expects a future aux tank
for the cargo compartment will give
around another 30 minutes of fuel.
Using VH-HRH’s flyaway weight
with optional extras (AC, leather seats,
avionics upgrade, Frahm vibration kit,
rotor brake, second VHF radio and
aftermarket carpet floor) and at full
fuel of 262kg there is 733lb or 333kg
of internal payload. Lifting with five
people at 90kg each would see you
dropping fuel down to 60 minutes
cruise + 30 minutes reserve.Sling ops
Any sling ops are going to be with
the left door off as there is no bubble
window fit. I am not sling-endorsed
but I can’t see any issues with looking
out and down. There is no chin bubble
for those used to looking through
that for a mirror for hook-up. The
mirror add-on kit was not fitted to
our machine but mounts to the side of
the frame abeam the tail rotor pedals
looking rear and under.
The hook is rated for 907kg.
When loading externally the MAUW
increases by another 360kg. Seats and
doors can be quickly stripped out to
reduce weight onsite. And to achieve
the max-rated load of the hook on a
one-off lift you’ll need to strip as much
as you can and be on a minimal fuel
load. The 505 isn’t alone in that regard.
Taking HRH’s figures above
completely as is, full fuel, an 80kg
pilot and discounting any weight for
cargo hook fittings (333kg payload –
80kg pilot + 360kg external MAUW
increase) give a 613kg lift. Then start
stripping equipment and fuel out for
extra realism.
The outside of ground effect hover
ceiling at max external gross weightAIR TEST Bell 505
‘Most people
will aim
around the
long-range
cruise of
113kt IAS.’
Sticker price for a new Bell 505
is around US$1.25 million.BELL