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Hot new helicopter/rotorcraft news

phrogdriver said:
You mean besides crashing and repeatedly failing FAA cert flights?

The 429 has been a disappointment since its inception. Because of the way they certificated it, it often has a lower useful load than a 407. It costs as much as a 145 but carries a third fewer people in a club config that's nice for VIPs, but horrible for utility and military.
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But Bell has sold a buttload of 429's. Spoke to a operator of the type the other day and told it's a workhorse and SPIFR with great range/endurance and comfortable ride for pax. Apparently over 500+ 429's have been delivered and the type requires a fraction of the maintenance of an H145....
 
ChuckMK23 said:
But Bell has sold a buttload of 429's. Spoke to a operator of the type the other day and told it's a workhorse and SPIFR with great range/endurance and comfortable ride for pax. Apparently over 500+ 429's have been delivered and the type requires a fraction of the maintenance of an H145....
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Over 1500 145s have been delivered, and 114 were ordered in 2024, compared to about 30 per year and 500 total for 429, so Airbus is doing something right.

Looking at a Conklin deDecker pocket guide, a 429 costs a little under $1000/hour DOC and the 145 is a little over $1200...so "fraction of the maintenance of a 145" seems like an aggressive statement, unless that fraction is "4/5ths."
 
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