Bell is making a big push with its 505 light-single helicopter at the Singapore air show, as it eyes opportunities to upgrade regional military training fleets.
“Almost every single country is looking at refreshing their basic training helicopter,” says David Sale, managing director of Bell in the Asia-Pacific and a former US Army helicopter pilot.
Underlining its focus on training opportunities, Bell has brought a Veris Virtual Reality Bell 505 flight simulator from sister Textron business TRU Simulation to the show, alongside a 505 on its stand.
TRU says that the simulator features high-fidelity visuals and a realistic environment and is based on Bell’s data package for the 505.
“Students gain essential flight experience on an aircraft featuring modern glass cockpit avionics and dual-channel full authority digital engine control [system], while the Veris Simulator enables safe, cost-effective mastery of emergency procedures and complex scenarios supported by the OEM’s flight-data package,” says Sale.
Sale lists some notable successes in the region, including 40 505s operating as military trainers in South Korea, which also uses several 505 simulators. Three 505s also serve in the military training role in Indonesia.
“I would say we have over 50 opportunities minimum in the region over the next couple of years, just for basic single-engine flight training.”
Sale adds that most countries in the Asia-Pacific have basic military trainers in need of replacement.
Cirium, an aviation analytics company, indicates that the Asia-Pacific has 431 helicopters dedicated to the military training role, but this falls to 335 if China is excluded.
Prominent types include the Airbus Helicopters H120, with 125 examples in service with an average age of 17.6 years. In addition, there are 80 Hughes 269s with an average age of 34.2 years, and 55 Bell 206s with an average age of 34.2 years.
Beyond training, Sale says the 505 can also perform parapublic missions, noting that the rotorcraft is in police service in Japan.
The 505 also has utility in the firefighting role, where it can be used to spot small fires and deploy small teams of firefighters to quelch them before they grow into big conflagrations.
The type has also been widely adopted for civilian use in the Asia-Pacific, including in China and the Philippines.
