First flights of Bell 429 helicopter

Beautiful bird.

wow. can't wait till they start using them in the Gulf so I can try one!

The Main Rotor of the 429 is comprised of two yokes superimposed on one another, thus two of the 4 blades are flying slightly higher therefore giving the illusion of shakeyness.

Shhhhh, you are not allowed to post comments on YouTube if you actually know what you are talking about.

Stop that!

X-P

Hi there, can you tell me, if you can, what are the aerodynamics advantages of the superimposed yokes? Maybe a cleaner air each time each blade crosses the path? Should that brings more vibrations to the main rotor hub if not well calibrated and since it's more complex, calibration it's more difficult.

Regards.

I don't know if there are any aerodynamic advantages in having a superimposed yoke. What I was told was that it is much cheaper to fabricate and that it was a much more predictable design. Other Bell products use this configuration as well such as the 412 and 430. As far as the 429 is concerned, The rotor system seems to be very effective as it has acheived speeds of over 160kts without any vibrations during testing. From what i have heard, the ride is smooth throughout every phase of flight.

maybe its the Pilot not the aircraft thats shakey

I hope this is a vibe analyis run or you will be replacing that head very soon

Another fail as the B-427? looks to shakey have to work a lot to compite with Sikorsky and Eurocopter.

Looks nice for EMS work and it can do the job !