Bell Helicopter (Chalet CD11) is exhibiting two of its products at the Singapore 2014 airshow, the Bell 407GX single and the Bell 429 light twin. The show also marks the debut here of the cockpit demonstrator for the Bell AH-1Z Zulu attack helicopter. Meanwhile, the U.S. Marine Corps is displaying the Bell Boeing MV-22 Osprey in both the static and flying displays.

The Bell 429 is a new-generation rotorcraft designed for a variety of missions, notably EMS. It is the first helicopter certified through the Maintenance Steering Group-3 (MSG-3) process, allowing a lighter maintenance regime. The Bell 429 WLG, with a wheeled landing gear, was recently certified by Transport Canada and Brazil’s ANAC. The airframer touts the new capability as ideal for repositioning in limited spaces and situations that require ground taxi, such as positioning closer to an FBO. The 407GX is the latest variant of the 407 and features the Garmin G1000H avionics suite.

Here in Singapore, Bell operates a joint service center with Cessna in Seletar.

Bell Recognizes PLUS Heli Rescue Missions

On Monday Bell recognized PLUS Helicopter Services of Selangor, Malaysia, “For its dedication to saving lives;” in May 2013, PLUS Heli deployed a Bell 429 to rescue severely burned crew members injured when a container ship’s boiler exploded, and two months later another mission where a tanker crewmember suffered a stroke. “PLUS Heli leveraged the versatility, speed and range of the Bell 429 to safely and reliably perform these two challenging missions”–they were 140 and 160 nautical miles off shore, respectively.