Abstract:
Since certifying the Bell 505 in December 2016, customers on six continents have received delivery of 250 of these light, single-engine aircraft. In three years the worldwide fleet logged more than 35,000 flight-hours, a testament to the Bell 505’s customer experience - not only with the aircraft, but with delivery and service. In getting to the 250th delivery, the paper discusses the efforts taken to meet market demand, provide custom finishing, offer kit integration, and even take on additional envelope expansion. Numerous configurations and kits were made available a short time after initial certification, allowing Bell 505 customers to take full advantage of the aircraft capability in a timely manner. The challenges of meeting market demand and transitioning from low rate production to full rate production requires a team effort and this paper shows how it was done for the 505.