Bell 505 completes over 700 flight hours with SAF

Bell Textron announced that the company’s single and dedicated Bell 505 has surpassed 700 flight hours using blended sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in partnership with Safran Helicopter Engines.

“Bell is proud to celebrate this next step in industry carbon reduction objectives,” said Robin Wendling, managing director of Europe, Bell. “Working alongside Safran Helicopter Engines has given us the cutting-edge advantage of exploring opportunities in greener aviation practices.”

Earlier in 2022, the company announced its collaboration with Safran Helicopter Engines to explore technical performance and economic impacts of using SAF on the Bell 505 powered by the Arrius 2R engine.

“The Arrius 2R, like all our engines, are currently able to operate with up to 50% drop-in SAF. Very soon, our engines will be capable of 100% drop-in SAF, paving the way for wider use of this type of fuel for increased sustainability of helicopter operations,” said Jean-François Sauer, Safran Helicopter Engines’ executive vice president for programs.

Following the partnership, Bell 505 completed demonstration flight using 100% SAF to become the first-ever single engine helicopter to fly on green fuel.

Since then, Bell has accumulated over 700 flight hours using blended SAF on a single Bell 505 helicopter at the Bell Training Academy. Assessments of engine operability and aircraft performance as well as engine inspections have yielded positive results to date.