The Bell 427 is a twin-engine, multirole, light utility helicopter designed and manufactured by

Bell Helicopter Bell Textron Inc. is an American aerospace manufacturer headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. A subsidiary of Textron, Bell manufactures military rotorcraft at facilities in Fort Worth, and Amarillo, Texas, United States as well as commercial heli ...

and Samsung Aerospace Industries (now

Korea Aerospace Industries Korea Aerospace Industries, Ltd. (KAI; ) is a South Korean aerospace and defense manufacturer. It was originally established as a joint venture of Daewoo Heavy Industries' aerospace division, Samsung Aerospace, and Hyundai Space and Aircraft ...

). It has been replaced in production by the larger Bell 429.

Development

Bell has tried several incarnations of a twin version of its successful

Bell 206 The Bell 206 is a family of two-bladed, single- and twin-engined helicopters, manufactured by Bell Helicopter at its Mirabel, Quebec, plant. Originally developed as the Bell YOH-4 for the United States Army's Light Observation Helicopter progr ...

series, including the stillborn Bell 400 and 440 in the mid-1980s, and the limited-production Bell 206LT TwinRanger in the early 1990s.Frawley, Gerard. ''The International Directory of Civil Aircraft, 2003–2004'', p. 43. Aerospace Publications Pty Ltd, 2003. . Bell's original concept for a replacement for the 206LT TwinRanger was the ''Bell 407T'', a relatively straightforward twin-engine development of the

Bell 407 The Bell 407 is a four-blade, single-engine, civil utility helicopter. A derivative of the Bell 206L-4 LongRanger, the 407 uses the four-blade, soft-in-plane design rotor with composite hub developed for the United States Army's OH-58D Kiowa ...

with two Allison 250-C22B engines. However, Bell concluded that the payload-range performance of the 407T would not be sufficient.Frawley, Gerard. ''The International Directory of Civil Aircraft, 2003–2004'', p. 47. Aerospace Publications Pty Ltd, 2003. . The company began development of a new light twin, in partnership with

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

's Samsung Aerospace Industries. In February 1996, Bell announced its ''Model 427'' at the Heli Expo in Dallas. The Bell 427 was the company's first aircraft designed entirely on computer. The Bell 427 first flew on December 11, 1997. Canadian certification was awarded on November 19, 1999, followed by US certification in January 2000, and US FAA dual pilot IFR certification in May 2000. Bell builds the 427's flight dynamics systems at

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...

, while final assembly is performed at Bell's

Mirabel, Quebec Mirabel () is a suburb of Montreal, located on the North Shore (Montreal), North Shore in southern Quebec. Mirabel is also the name of a Equivalent territory, territory equivalent to a regional county municipality (TE) and Census geographic unit ...

facility. The 427's fuselage and tailboom are built by Samsung (later part of KAI) at its Sachon plant in South Korea. The first customer deliveries occurred in January 2000.Bell 427 page
. Flug Revue, March 21, 2001. In 2004, Bell offered a redesigned 427 version, the ''Bell 427i'', which was developed in partnership with South Korea's

and

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

's Mitsui Bussan Aerospace. The agreement gave KAI the development and production responsibility for the fuselage, cabin wiring, and fuel system. Mitsui Bussan became a financial backer. The 427''i'' included a newer glass cockpit and navigation systems to allow single pilot flying under

Instrument flight rules In aviation, instrument flight rules (IFR) is one of two sets of regulations governing all aspects of civil aviation aircraft operations; the other is visual flight rules (VFR). The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) ''Instrument Fl ...

. The design had a fuselage lengthened 1 ft 2 in (0.36 m), a more powerful engine version and transmission, and increased takeoff weight. However, the program was canceled and focus shifted to the improved Bell 429. In February 2005, the existing 80 orders for the 427''i'' were converted to the 429. On January 24, 2008, Bell announced plans to officially discontinue its 427 line after current order commitments were fulfilled in 2010.

Design

The Bell 427 is powered by two

Pratt & Whitney Canada Pratt & Whitney Canada (PWC or P&WC) is a Canada-based aircraft engine manufacturer. PWC's headquarters are in Longueuil, Quebec, south of Montreal. It is a division of the larger US-based Pratt & Whitney (P&W), itself a business unit of RTX ...

PW207D turboshaft engines with

FADEC A full authority digital engine (or electronics) control (FADEC) is a system consisting of a digital computer, called an "electronic engine controller" (EEC) or " engine control unit" (ECU), and its related accessories that control all aspects of a ...

. Like the Bell 407, the 427 uses a four-blade main rotor system with a rigid, composite rotor hub and a two-blade tail rotor. The Bell 427's cabin is 13 in (33 cm) longer than the 407, and consists primarily of composite construction. The design removes the roof beam which obstructs the cabin on the 206/206L/407, and has an optional sliding main cabin door. The 427 offers eight-place seating including pilot in a two+three+three arrangement. Alternate layouts include four in the main cabin in a club configuration, or two stretchers and two medical attendants for medical evacuation duties.

Operators

* **Entre Rios Police * **Czech HEMS – Alfa Helicopter * **

Paraguayan Air Force The Paraguayan Air Force () is a branch of the Armed Forces of Paraguay, in charge of the defense of Paraguay's skies. Its interim commander is Air Division General Julio Rubén Fullaondo Céspedes. Its headquarters are located in Ñu Guazu, Lu ...

Specifications (Bell 427)

References

External links