Bell 205 UH-1H performance
 

Hello everyone,

Where can I find performance graphs and specifications of the Bell 205 UH-1H? I need it to compare with the AS350B3 as a motivation of why rather to take a B205 than the B3 for heavy lifting.
I've tried googling for it but can't find anything that will really work for me. Any info would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Bell 205
 

Hi Choppie,

can't help you with B205 performance but I would be very interested in what came out after comparing. I spent some thoughts on the same topic but as far as I got is that for general utility work in high altitude the AS350B3 performs better in terms of cost to weight ratio… Let me know what you figured out.

Cheers K

Try Googling 'HeliWrench downloads', I came across some flight manuals that may be of assistance to you. Let us know what your findings are.

Cheers.

Thanks guys, I eventually found the 205 flight manual online.

The quick comparison I did worked out hourly rate wise is that the 205 will run at $450/hr more than the B3. That is with the expensive prices of fuel in Africa.

What I did see was with the 205 you can add a ferry tank and have 100% in the mains with an additional 280litres in the aux and still be able to lift our system. That will take the endurance up to about 2.9 hrs. Where with the B3 we can't get more than 1.5 hours endurance out at this moment. For us it's all about endurance, the longer we fly the more we can do because of being so far away from base.

how do you feel when you hear a 2 blade Bell Medium..

Hard!

But then, the Huey is my first love. Good payload, huge cabin, proven worker - but pay the weak tail rotor all the respect you can, it will bite those who dont!

I'll second that about the tail rotor.

I got 'bitten' twice in an AB205, hot and high in Oman, and although we climbed out of the wreckage OK, on both occasions, it changed my status from pilot to an ops officer on Masirah for the rest of my contract! :sad:

ERB

Be careful! The Bell 205 and the UH-1H were certified by the FAA and the Army, respectively. There charts are not the same. Last year I ran some numbers on the UH-1H based on the fuel costs at that time, and the result was $1079.43/hour. This figure did not include insurance and crew. The fuel was calculated at $5.50/hour.
Additionally, the 205 has been out of production for some time and there are few for sale.

Darkhorse wrote:That's gotta be a typo.

Isn't the working days of the 205 done even the Spanish have more or less banned them because of old age. Probably best just painted up in USAF colours and flown at airshows. Great in their time but 40 years on!

I would have one any day for private use so don't think I am trying to shoot them down. There are a few places I would love to buzz flat out!

Choppie. In a UH-1H that was well kitted out with composite blades, -703 engine etc, I was lifting a full water bucket out of a lake at 9200 feet and that was with about 800 pounds of fuel on board, enough for an hour at least. The bucket took 1300 litres which works out to over 2800 pounds.

I love the B3 but it is not going to come close either in lifting capacity or cost/pound when you consider the cost of acquisition of each helicopter. A really good UH-1H with all the goodies is going to cost you close to a million US while a B3 I seem to recall being well over 2 million US right now. For Africa, take the Huey. Wont be as easy to do survey with but there are other advantages which make it a good choice.

205A++
 

Make sure you are using the right charts for the right machine. I have flown the UH1-H, Super Huey, 204, 205 and the 205A++. A 205A++ will out work all the others to include a 212 at altitude. I have not flown the ++ in years but it is still my favorite machine.

Good Luck

Which aircraft are we discussing? A 205 is not a UH-1H the tail rotor's are on different sides.
A 205A has a Lycoming T53-11 engine and a 205A-1 has the T53-13 which is much more powerful. The 205's have servos that often leak and can drain the hydraulic system.
A 205 with 212 servos and tail rotor is the ticket I think it's a 205B or Huey II but I stand to be corrected.

We are using the 205A1-17 (212 Rotor system - dual hydraulics) and it works a treat.

10200 Internal
10500 External

Great noise too.

UH-1H plus that is lightened to an empty wt. of 5000 lbs with -703 1800 shp engine, composite MR blades, new composite TR blades with new airfoil, strakes, fast fin, and cobra oil cooler will out perform all the 205's and 212's at altitude by a long ways. There will soon be a new advance blade on the market that will even improve the performance more for the Huey.

But in what category, Mustang?

There is only so much market for a Restricted Category machine....how does one get to a more usable aircraft at the same cost?

Gone to Simplex belly tanks on all the aircraft yet?

You guys are tyring to compare apples to oragnes to pineapple

UH1H is not a 205, there are lots of structural differences.

a 205 A1++, has the -17, the 212 drive train and running gear (tail rotor), tailboom, with he strake you will have even more of a difference.

you can compare it to a standard 205, or even a uh1h with composites and the 703

It will out work, out lift, out perform all the other above aircraft.

if your looking at cost why not a lama vs the B3
you can pick one up for 1/4 the cost of the b3 and chrage the same money. The b3 will out lift it unitl about 8000' then you start gaining ground

what i would want to know is how it compares the 212eagle single. the 212s has the 11200 mgw and the big pratt

Dyncorp and Temsco were working on something similar for the 205, with a differtn engine and upped gross weight.

Unfortunately the lama doesn't have the cabin space we require. We need to fit some ferry tanks to have an endurance of at least 3 hours. Also our equipment won't fit in the lama.

So you guys say the UH-1H and the A1 is two different machines? I thought the A1 is just the civilian version of the UH-1H.

Howzit Choppie,

There are a few differences between the A1 and the UH-1H, for example the A1 has dual hydraulics, single generator, 212 drivetrain and transmission etc.
I fly both the A1 and the UH-1H in Africa doing sling work and they perform well with -13's. The A1, due to the transmission will lift 10500lbs at sea level and the UH-1H will lift 9500lbs. Performance does drop quite a bit at high density altitudes, but we carry full fuel and a load of 2000lbs ish at 5000ft and 30 degrees.

Thanks organ donor,

Is there a known difference between the two when looking at them? I remember something about the tailrotor being switched to the other side on the A1. Don't know how correct I'm about that.