FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1987
1987 - 2345.PDF
opter Canadian helicopter investment contribution* Manufacturer Company Bell 309 P&W 194 MBB 3 Total 537 Government 275 100 36 411 Total 584 294" 70 948 ' C$ x million at 1983 prices. Source: Canadian Department of Regional Industrial Expansion. ** P&W total covers development of a family of engines. .wfiite-u Ik Otfistoph 31 Berlin ffi ••-- Lower left and clockwise Pratt & Whitney is deriving the PW205B engine from this PW205T Twin Pac developed for the Bell 400 series. Bell is producing the 206B JetRanger and 206L. LongRanger at Montreal, while MBB is assembling BO.105s at Fort Erie into military guise. Soon it was not only the prophets who were without honour in their own country. The Government, too, came in for some stick as it seemed that they might have been taken in by foreign companies looking for subsidies. It fell to Bell to suggest a way forward: it would drop its plans for the 400, put the 400A on hold for a couple of years, and wait for the market to improve before deciding whether to go ahead with the 400. In place of the new projects, the pro duction line for the ubiquitous Bell 206B JetRanger and the stretched 206L Long- Ranger would be moved up to Montreal from Fort Worth (clearing the floor space for the V-22 tilt-rotor), and Bell would consider following these with the bigger 212 and 412 models. A new agreement was negotiated among Bell and the Canadian national and Quebec provincial governments, with the manufacturer agreeing to invest more in the Montreal facility. There would be adjustments to royalty agreements and there would be a bigger Canadian content in the four commercial helicopters. Late in 1985 operations began, many months behind schedule, with a contract to produce UH-1H tailbooms. A year ago the 206B line was in place, with the Long- Ranger coming into production early in 1987. The 212 and 412 are scheduled to follow in the next 12 months, but Bell has no firm plans beyond that, according to president Jim Schwalbe. (The 222 and 214ST are not covered in any Canadian agreement.) Richard Dixon says that Canada was concerned to establish a "whole industry" objective, so it has invested in design and manufacture, assembly, and engines, in order that the country might be able to supply the bulk of its equipment needs. Its engine requirements have covered a family of engines—the PW200 suitable for light, twin-engined helicopters—but there is a sub-plot to include an engine for each manufacturer: the PW209 for the Bell 400 and the 205B for the BO.105LS-5. " The assistance provided by Govern ment has come under its Defence Indus tries Productivity Programme, even though existing plans cover only civil machines. Dixon says that the fund exists for "defence or defence-related projects," and that Canada will gain a strategic facil ity that could be available for defence applications. All parties involved are watching the civil market carefully, according to Dixon, who says that, while the light-twin market FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL, 14 November 1987 31
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
