"Shaber CJ" wrote in message
...
The 427 rotor was ported over virtually unchanged from the 407. It was
originally designed for the Bell Model 400 back in the '70s, a design
that
was never fielded but was very similar to the unlamented Soloy Twin
Ranger,
was produced in quantity for the OH-58D, and was maxed out in terms of
disc
loading and gross weight capacity before the 427 came along. The 427
will
never have competitive range and payload with the current rotor,
something
that was obvious when it was still on paper 7 years ago. Bell's late,
great
Ed Covington, Chief Engineer for rotor design, calculated in the spring
of
'97 that the 430 hub could be ported to the 427 with little change. It
should have been done then.
Jim, thanks for the information. It is rather a same that American
Helicopter
manufacturers are not competitive with Europe. Maybe a clean sheet of
paper
would help. It seems the B206 has been recertified enough. It is just
poor
engineering and poor management to have to re-rotor already certified
helicopters.

Gotta agree with this statement. I have been a diehard Bell supporter for
many years (205, 206, 212) and I am also S-70 (UH-60) trained. Last year I
switched allegances to Eurocopter (EC-665 Tiger) and I must confess that in
my opinion (only), EC have it all over Bell and Sikorsky for rotorcraft
design and their manufacturing technologies. This Tiger is an absolute work
of art.