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Bell sells 12 505s to UAE-based Horizon Flight Academy

By Dan Parsons | November 18, 2019

Estimated reading time 2 minutes, 15 seconds.

Expanding the aircraft’s use as a basic training platform, Bell has scored a deal with Horizon International Flight Academy in Abu Dhabi for a dozen 505 Jet Ranger X light single helicopters.

Bell and Horizon International Flight Academy marked the purchase agreement for 12 Bell 505s at the 2019 Dubai Air Show. Bell Photo

The UAE-based Horizon already operates an all-Bell fleet of 407GX and 206 JetRanger aircraft and simulators to provide flight training to military and civilian pilots. Horizon chief executive Hareb Thani Al Dhaheri said at the Dubai Air Show that adding single-engine helicopters equipped with digital cockpits to the fleet will allow student pilots to train on the most modern avionics systems, according to reports.

Made in Mirabel, Quebec, more than 200 505s are flying around the world. The company touts the light single, which features an integrated Garmin G1000H cockpit, as an affordable way to fly with state-of-the art flight controls and displays that translate well into larger aircraft like the 429.

In August, the global 505 fleet surpassed 20,000 flight hours. For the very reason it is relatively affordable to operate, Bell is now pitching it as an “ideal military trainer.”

“With optional dual pilot controls, the Bell 505, which recently surpassed 20,000 flight hours globally, is an excellent aircraft for training pilots to fly today’s modern aircraft with integrated glass flight decks, FADEC controlled engines, and other advanced technologies,” the company said in a statement in October. “These modern technologies coupled with proven dynamic systems and a high inertia rotor system for excellent autorotation capabilities create the optimal platform for helicopter training.”

Japan is the first country to have taken the bait. In 2018, the Japanese Coast Guard (JCG) received four 505s, making it the first government agency anywhere to use the aircraft as a basic rotorcraft trainer.

The JCG version of the 505 was the first equipped with the 505 emergency flotation system developed by DART Aerospace and Bell.

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