Bell 400 TwinRanger

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Bell 400 TwinRanger
Bell 440
Bell 400.jpg
A Bell 400 prototype
General information
TypeMultipurpose utility helicopter
National originUnited States
Manufacturer Bell Helicopter
StatusCanceled
Number built7[ citation needed ]
History
First flight4 April 1984
Developed from Bell 206L LongRanger

The Bell 400 TwinRanger was a prototype four-bladed, twin-engine civil helicopter developed by Bell Helicopter in the 1980s. Both the TwinRanger and another planned version, the Bell 440, were attempts to market a twin-engine development of the 206L LongRanger. The Bell 400A was a planned single-engine version of the 400 TwinRanger, however development was canceled when Bell could not acquire enough orders for production. The TwinRanger name was later used for a twin-engine version of the LongRanger produced from 1994 to 1997.

Contents

Development

Bell has tried several incarnations of a twin-engine version of its successful Bell 206 series. The TwinRanger name dates back to the mid-1980s when Bell first considered developing a twin-engine version of the LongRanger.

The Bell 400 TwinRanger featured a reprofiled fuselage, two Allison 250 turboshafts, the OH-58D Kiowa's four-bladed main rotor, and a new shrouded tail rotor. [1] Bell also planned the single-engine 400A, and the 440 twin with a larger fuselage made possible by a high degree of composites. [2] The Bell 400 first flew on April 4, 1984. Bell suspended development of the 400/440 family in the late 1980s as it felt unable to achieve a profitable production rate of 120 units a year. [1]

Successors

After the success of Tridair's Gemini ST twin-engine conversions of the 206L in the early 1990s, Bell produced the equivalent Bell 206LT TwinRanger based on the 206L-4. Only 13 206LTs were built between 1994 and 1997. The 206LT was replaced in Bell's lineup by the Bell 427, a mostly-new development of the Bell 407, itself a four-bladed single-engine derivative of the 206L. [1]

Variants

Bell 400
Bell 400A
Projected model to be powered by one PW209T turboshaft of 937 shp (699 kW). [2]
Bell 440

Specifications (Bell 400)

Data from The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Helicopters [2]

General characteristics

Performance

See also

Related development

References

  1. 1 2 3 Frawley, Gerard: The International Directory of Civil Aircraft, 2003-2004, page 43. Aerospace Publications Pty Ltd, 2003. ISBN   1-875671-58-7
  2. 1 2 3 Apostolo, Giorgio; Elfan ap Rees (1984). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Helicopters . New York, NY, USA: Bonanza Books. pp.  50. ISBN   0-517-43935-2.
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