Page 55 - World Airnews Magazine August 2020

FEATURE

Along with equipping pilots
with necessary skills, Bell has
developed new ways for
helicopters to fill major gaps
in business operations. Today,
Bell’s commercial aircraft are
used to survey surrounding areas
for glaciers in Canada, conduct
power-line operations in New
Zealand, take beautiful flights
over Northern Vietnam, help
passengers skip traffic in Jakarta,
Indonesia, rescue stranded
hikers on the west coast cliffs
of Sonoma County and so much
more.
Bell’s final approach to
engage new customers includes
demonstrations, experience and
keeping relationships strong –
beyond the rotorcraft sale. The
company offers support to their
customers with a Customer Advantage Plans (CAP), key parts and
service needs at their remote locations.
Also, investing in future technology inside the aircraft, such as
fly-by-wire systems and upgraded avionics suites and instrument
flight rules (IFR) kits.
“To succeed in these markets we have to make sure there are
no surprises to the customer – we tell them exactly what we’re
going to do and then we do it - and we had to have the best market
support in the world,” said former Bell president, Jack Horner.
“We continued to look for things that a helicopter could do -
things that no one else could do. That’s the whole secret.”
The pursuit for tiltrotor technology began with the Bell XV-3a
in 1955. Fast-forward a few years and add on a lot of testing and
development, and Bell demonstrated the real potential of tiltrotor
flight with the first flight of the XV-15 in 1977.
Today the Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey continues to distinguish itself
in an expanding number of roles for the US Marine Corps, US Air
Force and more recently the US Navy. With over 400 aircraft in the
fleet accumulating over 500,000 flight hours, the world’s strongest
tiltrotor is an unstoppable asset for any military fleet it joins. for the competitive demonstration and risk reduction (CD&RR)
Always ready to build the next generation of military aircraft, effort. For more than two and a half years, the Bell V-280 Valor has
Bell continues to pursue the future of vertical lift by adapting their been undergoing flight testing, surpassing 280 knots, performing
current technology to meet the needs of the US Army. Bell has manoeuvrability exercises for government visitors and making
been selected for both US Army aviation programmes – namely the huge strides to prove its capabilities.
Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) and Future Long- The company’s connection to military service runs deep. Building
Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) programmes. efficient, durable aircraft for servicemen and women has remained
As part of the first selection, Bell has designed, manufactured at the heart of the company’s passion to create new patents, test
and tested the Bell 360 Invictus, a prototype rotorcraft that is new technology and build amazing machines that strengthen these
designed to provide improved lethality, survivability and extended brave, honourable teams for more than 85 years.
reach for army aviation. These achievements, and many more, have been collected by the
This selection follows almost a full year of design and risk-reduc- company itself - with the opening of a virtual, online museum on
tion work by the Bell team as part of the initial contract phase. the company website. Visitors and clients are invited to post their
As for FLRAA, Bell is selected to be the project agreement holder photographs and memories of this incredible history. Q

World Airnews | August Extra 2020
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