As you might imagine, I spent a LOT of time hanging around the Bell exhibit, hat in hand (so to speak). I was looking for BellBlade, or Nigel...
someone to talk to about the lonely 505. But the Bell people were ignoring their little bird (and the 429, come to think of it). And "little bird" is a misnomer. The 505 is big! Bigger than a 206B of course, and quite a bit larger than the R-66.
While waiting for the ghostly Bell reps, I eavesdropped on the people who were climbing in an out of the 505 - which was not all that easy with those stupid forward door posts that come back so far. It really is hard to get into the copilot seat with the duals installed. Then again, which helicopter is easy to get in and out of? I have to tell you, the reactions I overheard were rather, umm...unenthusiastic. One full-time professional pilot (MD500) was particularly unimpressed. But keep in mind, MD500 pilots don't like
any Bell, old or new.
Questions...I had questions! Like, what is the real-world fuel burn at MCP? And what is the IAS at MCP? Do they usually run it at MCP, or do they use some lower power-setting that gives them better fuel consumption, a flatter cabin attitude and lower vibration?
I used to fly a 206B for a guy. He and I mostly flew alone, but sometimes he'd want to take friends along. It would not have mattered if we had an S-92 - he would've found a way to fill all the seats. I was 200 pounds, he was 220. In the back we'd have his girlfriend/future wife, and some other guy and his wife - say 490 pounds in the back seats. I wanted to see if the 505 could handle such a load. Spoiler alert: It cannot.
Bell gives you a really neat c.g. calculator in the G-1000. Plug in the numbers and it'll give you a graphic depiction of your c.g. Well...take a look at the picture below. It might be hard to see on your phone, but the loading scenario described above is what I entered. Even on your phone you can probably see that the c.g. would be way forward of forward limit. Gross weight is okay, but that thing is nose-heavy! Which stands to reason: Everything is forward of the mast. And these numbers are for the ship, N505CQ which had the bare-bones interior - really spartan, no interior panels, no carpet. I wanted to do the same with the 505 at the Mecaer booth - the one with their fancy (and good-looking!) interior. It's got to be even more nose-heavy. But they wouldn't let me near it. Had it roped off like the Mona Lisa or something.
If I were operating a 505, I'd ballast the thing so the empty weight c.g. was as far aft as possible. And actually, maybe 505CQ's was set up like that - I forgot to check where the c.g. would be with just me in it by myself. But again, I couldn't have asked a Bell rep if I wanted to.
Aaaaanyway, seeing the 505 "in the flesh" hasn't changed my opinion of it much. I'd like to fly one! A Bell demo ship showed up in my hometown not long ago. I wrote about it on Facebook, and someone from Bell (who obviously wasn't familiar with me) reached out to see if I wanted a ride? I said of course! But I think whoever was flying it must've recognized my name and told the other guy, "No way!" In any event, it hung around for a couple of days and then left without me hearing peep from the pilot. No matter, I'll find someone who'll let me fly theirs. Or not, I don't care, really. The guy I used to fly for is still deliriously happy with his 206B.
It might be hard to see, but here we have 420 pounds in the front seats, and 490 in the back. You can maybe see that the c.g. index is forward of the limit. Trouble is, you have no way of offsetting the cabin load, as the baggage compartment is right under the mast and doesn't change the c.g.
After walking our feet off all day, we repaired to a place near Heli-Expo called Der Biergarten, where the beers were huge and the food was awesome. That's yours truly in the middle with my friends Brandon (left) and Nate (right). Great guys and great pilots, but boy can they drink! Good times, man, good times.