Bell 206A is anyone still flying them

[Brien23]

Is anyone still flying the 206A? Is their some reason they are not still in use as much as the "B" model?

[Whirlygig]

I thought one of the old maxims about aviation was "Never fly the 'A' model of anything"!!

Cheers

Whirls

[206 jock]

Errr, I'd guess because there isn't/wasn't many of them? They were only produced for about 3 years (no idea on numbers)back in the 60's, and were then superceded by the more powerful B2 model. In addition, many of the A's were converted to A/B's, which primarily involved changing the C18 engine to a C20, along with a few other amends.

I have never flown an A, but from what I gather if all you want to do is potter about 1 or 2 up, they are ideal.

To say that they not as common as B's is like saying that there's not many Ford Model T's around, so they must have been lousy!

[vaqueroaero]

I flew a few hours in serial number 400 and something. It had the C18 engine in it. With 2 of us and about 60 gallons of fuel it really taught you power management to get the thing off the ground without over temping it.

Also had the boosted pedals which took some getting used to.

Guys doing ag work and long lining use them, but with C20's in them as the airfarme is lighter, so hence you can lift more. So I've been told anyway.

[Shawn Coyle]

If I'm not mistaken, Transport Canada still has a couple of them for inspector currency.

[RJRotorboy]

I flew a 206 A model for several months a few years back. I thought the serial number was somewhere in the low 200's.

It was a GREAT jetranger. It was a stump puller. The airframe was nearly 200 pounds lighter than a B model.

The wackiest thing about them is the boosted pedals. That took a little getting used to!

[Brilliant Stuff]

I did my typerating on a 206A G-ONOW, lovely old thing. It got sold and then I don't know what happened to it someone mentioned it had a crash.:{

[Whirlygig]

Yeah, it was a Gonow!!!

Cheers

Whirls

[carholme]

The original "pre Blue Ribbon engine" C18 installed in the A model was commonly referred to as the Widow maker and indeed it was. It was marginally improved post Blue Ribbon and we used them with water alcohol injection kits, especially in the summers to get them off the ground in high OAT conditions, in the hills. Most of them have been converted to B models.

carholme

[rotornut]

I got my 206 endorsement on an "A". According to my ground school manual, the C18A produced a maximum of 317 hp with a 5 minute limit. Maximum continuous power was 270 hp. According to Bell, the transmission ratings for the B3 are identical, which means it has the same transmission although the
C20B gives it a lot more headroom in the temperature department:
http://www.bellhelicopter.com/en/aircraft/commercial/pdf/B3_2006_jan_web.pdf

[MBJ]

Main reason they didn't stay around was lower MAUW of 3000lbs about 50lbs of which was taken up by the water-meth injection system! This dropped the TOT by about 50deg when you were pulling all its available power.

My first ever 206 trip was a jolly in an A in Oman (ISA +25) and the pilots who flew them deserved respect!

You still see a few converted ones in UK. BLZN being one, with which we did some good work in Ethiopia at altitudes of 10,000ft+