I believe it was me you heard talking about the "417". I learned of the idea from a flight test report on the 427 over at Aviation International News Online, story here:
http://www.ainonline.com/Features/Pi...r_bell427.html
The following is from the above story:
"In the meantime, there could be a side-step in Bell product evolution. Emblin gave a hint of one model that may be down the road when he said, "The normal evolution at Bell has been to add an engine to a single-engine helicopter to create a twin. But the twin-engine aspect of the 407 didn’t really pan out and we ended up creating a whole new fuselage for the 427. Some of us sitting on the sidelines have thought, ‘Hey, we really have a winner fuselage here, why don’t we go backward to a single?’ All you need is a good, powerful engine."
After having a close look at Bell’s new light twin, a single-engine derivative of the 427 doesn’t seem that preposterous."
Emblin being Eric Emblin, Senior Test Pilot at BHTI.
Hey, it might work. From what I'm hearing over at rec.aviation.rotorcraft, twin engined helicopters are dreaded and hated by pilots, owners, mechanics and passengers (which I don't buy for a minute, might I add
and a single engined 8 place chopper, with a big, open, flat floor and a new design (the 427 may look like classic Bell, but a quick overlook of the Product Data Book/ production pictures and you can tell its different in construction) might be a winner. They've somehow crammed over 200 gallons of fuel in the 427, and if you could get a powerful, efficent single engine up top (new, bigger Allison 250 maybe?), we could see 500 mile ranges and 5 hour endurances...
What do you guys think?
Mike