Bell Reveals more on ?short light single? | Aviation International News
Price...
Watts said Bell is pursuing design strategies that will keep the cost of the SLS down, including simple construction and adapting proven drivetrain elements of its existing 206L4 LongRanger into the new helicopter.
Meeting the target price for a new light single will be critical to the SLS’s success, Watts said. “It is clear you can see who the market leader is. All of the manufacturers in this segment save Robinson delivered 40 aircraft last year. The biggest differentiator Robinson has is price, and designing to a competitive price is the most important factor here for our team.”
L-4 Dynamics
“We are trying to use as many common parts as possible to reduce costs and our time to market. Those are based on the [206]L4 dynamics. It is a proven drive system and we are using it to try and drive down costs. As we get volumes up, this will benefit customers who are flying LongRangers today. There is a cost benefit there for us. We are improving what the customers want to see changed on the design and we are working closely with our customer advisory council, which has provided input along the way. But we can use the aspects of the gearboxes and the blades that make sense and give you a proven technology and a robust design for excellent autorotation. When we get to market we will know that this product can be quickly used by operators without a lot of unknowns around the drivetrain,” Watts said.