BELL 429

The impetus for developing the Bell 429 came primarily from the emergency medical services (EMS) industry, which was looking for an updated helicopter. The Bell 427 was originally intended to address this market, but the 427’s small cabin size would not adequately accommodate a patient litter, and the systems did not support instrument flight rules (IFR) certification. Bell’s original concept for the 429 was a stretched model 427 but this still did not provide what Bell and its customer advisers were looking for.

The first completed 429 flew on February 27, 2007. Certification was originally planned for late 2007, but program schedule delays, primarily caused by parts and material shortages common to all aviation manufacturers in that time period, caused the manufacturer to stretch the development timetable. In October 2007 the external configuration was set. In February 2008, Bell had three 429s in flight testing that had completed 600 flight hours. The 429 conducted its high-altitude testing in Colorado and its high-temperature testing in Arizona.

As of June 2009, the Bell 429 had received over 301 orders.

Aircraft of similar role, configuration and era are: Bell 427.