First European 427 Delivered at ILA

ILA 2000: The first Bell 427 light twin helicopter for a European customer will be delivered at ILA today when Bell officials present the keys to Jet Service Ltd. of Warsaw.

Orders for the 427 stand at 80 from 50 customers around the world-which Bell considers outstanding for an aircraft that received its basic VFR certification only last January.

But the big news for the 427 is that just two weeks ago it won certification from the FAA for dual pilot IFR (instrument flight rules) and Category A Flight Operations. This greatly extends the use of the helicopter, especially in Europe's often marginal weather conditions.

Avionics in the IFR-equipped 427 include the Garmin 430 Number 1 VHF comm/nav that includes a GPS, as well as two VORs, DME, and artificial longitudinal and stability augmentation systems to ease pilot workload.

©Show News 2000