Bell Helicopter will officially dedicate its new 82,300-sq-ft assembly plant for the 505 Jet Ranger X light single in Lafayette, La., on Friday, August 28. The facility is expected to have up to 100 employees.

The 505 is approximately halfway through its flight-test program and the company said the aircraft remains on track to earn Transport Canada certification early next year. The first two flight-test vehicles have surpassed 300 flight hours and recently completed hot testing in Havasu, Ariz., and high-altitude testing in Colorado.

A third flight-test vehicle made its first flight on July 16. That aircraft is currently being used for certification, noise and handling qualities testing. It is also heavily configured with optional equipment such as Tcas, air conditioning, standby flight instruments and a second VHF radio. It will finish its certification testing near the end of the year with certification function-and-reliability testing.

Bell currently reports orders for more than 350 copies of the Jet Ranger X, which features the dual-channel Fadec Turbomeca Arrius 2R engine (504 shp) and Garmin G1000H avionics. Configurations available initially will be utility, law enforcement and corporate/VIP.