FLIGHT International, 18/25 June 1977

PARIS SHOW REVIEW

Production Bell 222 finalised

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HE Bell 222 at Le Bourget was the

fourth of the five machines now
T
flying. It is the first to incorporate the
lft increase in rotor diameter, one of
several modifications now settled
for production machines. Also in evidence was the new forward-mounted
tailplane with endplate fins. Programme manager Jim de Loach tells
Flight that the original T-tail was
affected by rotor slipstream during
transition and caused a 40 per cent
forward stick movement. Bell therefore reluctantly replaced the T with
the heavier end-plated tailplane, only
to be delighted with the results. The
company now believes that it has a 99
per cent chance of achieving IFR
certification without a stand-by stabilisation system. For this, the natural
handling characteristics must be good
enough to allow manual instrument
flying after autopilot failure.
Bell is adopting the slightly more
powerful
Lycoming
LTS101-650C2
engine, largely because other LTS101
users are moving to the uprated
variant, making the original engine
more expensive. Nevertheless, the
contingency/take-off/continuous
ratings of 675/615/590 s.h.p. are usefully
higher than the original 650/600/550.
Specific fuel consumption at all three
ratings is fractionally over 0-58. The
C2 will be certificated this year.
The gross weight of the 222 is being
increased from 6,7001b to 7,2001b
which absorbs some weight growth
from such items as the tailplane and
glass windscreen while also allowing
an increase in useful load from 2,7301b
to 2,9051b. Other changes include new
instruments and relocation of the
powered-control servo package on the
pylon instead of on the nodal beam.

The Bell
Paris

222

showed

off its new

tailplane

at

Garrett and Sundstrand air-conditioning units are being evaluated. The

electrically heated glass windscreen
will resist abrasion by the windscreen
wiper. Both features are necessary for
IFR operation. Certification is still
expected in October 1978, with first
delivery following in January 1979.
Production is to be increased from six
a month by the end of 1978 to
nine a month by the end of 1979. The
first two years' planned production of
125 machines has been sold, and the
price has been held down in spite of
the improvements.
Bell says that the longer rotor
blades, for which the original manu-

facturing jigs made allowance, are

aimed at improving high-altitude performance in low temperatures. They
are to be tested on the fourth machine
at Alamosa, Colorado. Swept tips
were tried to improve hover characteristics, but were eventually abandoned. Bell continues to watch noise
and vibration. Main-rotor tip speed is
715ft/sec, compared with 835ft/see
in the Bell 212. Tail-rotor tip speed is
a moderate 625ft/sec. Vibration is
well absorbed by the nodal beam
and by the focus pylon, which concentrates it into a central damper.
Even the oil-cooler fan has been designed to a special low-noise specification. Bell expects important safety
dividends from its crashworthy fuel
cells and piping, and sees the 10 per
cent weight penalty as worth paying.

Guardian and Challenger

t a k e shape
Falcon Jet Corporation and DassaultBreguet have launched a major campaign to sell the Falcon Guardian
maritime-patrol aircraft to other
countries as well as to the US Coast
Guard. Falcon Jet's Little Rock division will be the sole source of the
aircraft, which will be closely based
on the US Coast Guard UH-25A Falcon Guardian, but Falcon Jet and
Dassault-Breguet have teamed up with
Garrett and Collins to provide worldwide support. Customers will evidently be encouraged to retain the
Collins avionics package, though the
Texas
Instruments
nose-mounted
radar is Government-furnished equip-

ment and customers can change it.

Falcon Jet and Dassault-Breguet reported at Le Bourget that they had
briefed 35 countries on the Guardian
at the Falcon Jet centre on the airfield. System unit cost of the UH-25A
to the USCG is $5 million. A retrofitted
Falcon with
5,3001b-thrust
Garrett ATF3-6-2c engines is to fly
in France by the end of 1977, and a
Falcon F fitted with the USCG avionics
package will follow it into the air
in mid-1978. The engine will be certificated in October or November 1978,
and the first full UH-25A should
emerge from Little Rock in July 1979.
Asked whether the Falcon Guardian