Patins du Bell 429 : Bell a copié, mais...
le 01/02/2012 à 19:44 La justice canadienne reconnaît que Bell a copié sur Eurocopter le design des patins du Bell 429, mais seulement sur la version de présérie.
Bataille de communiqués entre Eurocopter et Bell : "la Cour fédérale du Canada juge que Bell Helicopter a violé intentionnellement un brevet d’Eurocopter" titre le premier. "La Cour se prononce en faveur de Bell Helicopter" répond le second. L’objet de la discorde ? Les patins du récent hélicoptère biturbine Bell 429, qu’Eurocopter dit copiés sur ceux développés pour les EC120 et EC130.
Dès 2009, l’Européen indigné avait déposé une plainte au Canada, où Bell fabrique le 429. Cette même année au Salon du Bourget, la première grande apparition européenne du Bell 429 avait été ternie par une soudaine présence policière sur le stand de Bell, pour inspecter lesdits patins…
Mais ce 30 janvier, la cour férérale du Canada a rendu sa décision. Comme l’affirme Eurocopter, elle reconnaît "un cas d’aveuglement délibéré ou de détournement intentionnel et planifié […] de l’invention". Bell a bien copié le design de "patins traîneaux" d’Eurocopter pour l’appliquer à son Bell 429, et de surcroît le présenter comme le premier hélicoptère offrant ce type de technologie. En conséquence, Bell devra verser des dommages et intérêts d’un montant restant à fixer.
Mais si l’Américain s’estime aussi vainqueur, c’est que sur sa version de série le Bell 429 est équipé de patins dont la Cour reconnaît qu’ils ne violent en rien le brevet d’Eurocopter. Car, dès le dépôt de plainte, Bell en avait modifié le design ; si bien que la décision de justice ne devrait pas affecter la clientèle de l’hélicoptère. Les deux constructeurs disent toutefois considérer un appel : Bell car il estime que le brevet n’aurait jamais dû être accordé à Eurocopter, et Eurocopter parce qu’il considère que le nouveau design de patins viole toujours son brevet.
Ajoutons à cette mésentente le fait que le 12 janvier, le Bell 429 a obtenu du Canada une exemption à la limitation en masse de sa catégorie. Ce qui lui permet de gagner 225 précieux kilogrammes (soit au total 3.400 kg). Autant dire qu’Eurocopter voit d’un mauvais œil ce "tour de passe-passe" qui fait du Bell 429 un concurrent redoutable.
Source "Air et Cosmos"
Exemption à la limitation en masse de catégorie:
L'hélicoptère Bell 429 ira deux fois plus loin qu'avant.
Bell Helicopter donne un nouvel élan à son plus récent appareil, le Bell 429, en obtenant de Transports Canada la permission d'augmenter son poids maximum au décollage.
Cette hausse du poids maximum permettra d'augmenter la quantité de carburant transporté, et donc, le rayon d'action de l'appareil.
«Les clients trouvaient le 429 intéressant, avec toutes ses caractéristiques, mais ils estimaient que sa portée n'était pas suffisante», a déclaré le vice-président de Bell Helicopter pour le secteur commercial, Larry Roberts, dans une entrevue téléphonique avec La Presse Affaires.
Le Bell 429 est un hélicoptère bimoteur léger construit à l'usine de Bell Helicopter à Mirabel depuis 2009. En vertu de sa certification, son poids maximum au décollage était fixé à 3175 kilos. Bell Helicopter a toutefois fait valoir auprès de Transports Canada que les données obtenues au cours des essais montraient que ce poids maximum pouvait être porté à 3400 kg sans problème.
Après des mois d'essais et de révisions, Transports Canada a permis l'augmentation. L'appareil pourra être doté d'équipement additionnel, comme un enregistreur de données de vol perfectionné, un altimètre radar et un feu stroboscopique. Mais surtout, il pourra transporter plus de carburant.
«Ça va pratiquement doubler le rayon d'action de l'hélicoptère», a indiqué M. Roberts.
Il s'attend à ce que ces améliorations stimulent les ventes de l'appareil.
«Ça change le produit, a soutenu M. Roberts. Si on regarde le paysage concurrentiel, on voit que l'appareil occupera une place au beau milieu des compétiteurs. Avec le train d'atterrissage rétractable que nous développons présentement, nous ferons concurrence non seulement à Eurocopter, mais aussi à Agusta.»
Bell Helicopter fondait beaucoup d'espoirs sur le Bell 429. Avant son premier vol, l'appareil faisait déjà l'objet de 300 lettres d'intention. Mais le 429 s'est heurté le nez à la récession de 2008-2009: un grand nombre de clients potentiels se sont désistés après avoir perdu des millions de dollars sur les marchés ou après avoir été dans l'impossibilité de trouver du financement.
«Le rayon d'action un peu court nous a peut-être aussi fait mal», a ajouté M. Roberts.
Résultat, le carnet de commandes pour le 429 tourne autour d'une centaine d'appareils. Le vice-président croit cependant qu'avec la nouvelle portée de l'appareil, les commandes entreront et Bell pourra mettre en oeuvre le plan de production de l'appareil qui avait été prévu au départ.
«C'est une bonne nouvelle pour nous et pour Mirabel», a lancé M. Roberts.
Avec la permission de Transport Canada en poche, Bell Helicopter espère obtenir l'assentiment de la Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) des États-Unis et de l'European Aviation Safety Administration d'ici la fin de l'année.
Source "La Presse"
Transport Canada officials are defending their recent exemption which allows Bell Helicopter to increase the maximum internal weight of the Bell 429 twin-engined helicopter from 3,175kg (7,000lb) to 3,402kg.
The increase puts the 429 in a certification class (above 3,175kg) normally covered by Part 29 transport helicopter rules, which are more rigorous than the Part 27 normal category rules under which the 429 was certificated.
Additional requirements for Part 29 include safety features such as continued safe flight and landing after hitting a 1kg bird at maximum speed. The boost is also helping Bell to market the medium twin in terms of additional range and/or payload.
The exemption has also incensed competing helicopter manufacturers, including AgustaWestland. "This is a change in the rules after the game is being played," said Roberto Garavaglia, senior vice-president of marketing for AgustaWestland. "The 429 will benefit from a grant that is not available to any other models."
Garavaglia pointed out that AgustaWestland certificated its Grand New twin at 3,175kg, the maximum weight for Part 27. "The definition of normal category and transport category appears to be more flimsy," he said.
Transport Canada, however, said the decision to grant the exemption "took into consideration the fact that the helicopter model in question was built to the most recent standards, whereas other helicopter models were certified to older standards".
"The department also conducted a safety risk assessment and concluded that granting the exemption would be acceptable provided certain design and operational conditions are imposed," Transport Canada added.
To qualify for the exemption, each helicopter must have a forward strobe light to frighten birds, a cockpit voice recorder, a terrain awareness and warning system and a radar altimeter. Bell said a retrofit kit with the items is available for $115,000.
Transport Canada said it "took the exceptional step" of consulting the US Federal Aviation Administration and European Aviation Safety Agency as part of the exemption process.
"Should any other company apply for an exemption, it would be given similar considerations," Transport Canada said.
Bell has applied for a similar exemption with both the FAA and EASA.
Source "FlightGlobal"
Bell Announces Weight Increase for 429
A 500-pound weight increase for the Bell 429 is big news for Bell and the helicopter industry.
Bell Helicopter has announced approval from Transport Canada for a 500-pound maximum gross weight increase to the Bell 429 — a key development for Bell and its customers that carries far-reaching implications for the helicopter industry at large.
The new approval increases the maximum gross weight of the 429 from 7,000 pounds to 7,500. That puts it 500 pounds in excess of the weight limit for normal (as opposed to transport) category rotorcraft, and Bell will now have to petition the Federal Aviation Administration for an exemption to the Federal Aviation Regulations Part 27 weight requirement.
Based on the groundwork laid by Transport Canada, however, Bell expects FAA approval in the near future, with approval by the European Aviation Safety Agency to follow. The weight increase dramatically improves the 429’s instrument flight rules capabilities in particular, opening the door to IFR operations by more helicopter operators, more of the time.
“I think it bodes well for the entire helicopter industry,” said Vertical contributor and former Bell test pilot Shawn Coyle. “For many more people, IFR capability is now within reach.”
According to Larry Roberts, senior vice president for Bell Helicopter’s Commercial Business, the 500-pound weight increase was driven by customer requirements. Roberts told Vertical, “At the end of the day, customers were adamant that they loved the aircraft, but they wanted more useful load.” Among other things, customers wanted to take better advantage of what Roberts called “the best WAAS [Wide Area Augmentation System] capability in the business,” which allows the 429 to make point-in-space, precision-like GPS approaches to areas that were previously off-limits to IFR ops.
Because of IFR fuel reserve requirements, the limited range of the 429 when restricted to 7,000 pounds has severely constrained its usefulness in the IFR environment. With the higher maximum gross weight, however, the 429 can carry enough fuel to undertake IFR flights that it couldn’t in the past. “Having the capability to make those very tight WAAS approaches with the extra range is a beautiful combination,” said Roberts.
Roberts said he expects the 429’s newly enhanced IFR capabilities to be of particular interest to the emergency medical services and corporate sectors, which are also target markets for the wheeled version of the 429 now in development (Bell hopes to certify a version of the 429 with wheels by mid-2013). With the empty weight of an EMS-equipped 429 averaging around 5,100 pounds, EMS operators will now enjoy a useful load of around 2,400 pounds — enough to throw an extra person or additional medical equipment in the back while still improving the helicopter’s range. However, customers in all sectors are likely to welcome the extra 500-pound weight capacity, including law enforcement customers, who can translate it into increased loiter times.
Roberts said that Bell has been working with Transport Canada for several months to secure the approval. “Outside of the previous certification limit at 7,000 pounds, all the test data indicated that the Bell 429 would suffer no technical constraints by increasing the gross weight to 7,500 pounds,” said Roberts. He suggested that the 7,000-pound weight limit in Part 27 is “arbitrary,” a characterization that Coyle agreed with. According to Coyle, superior modern engines and aircraft components have greatly increased the inherent performance capabilities of new normal category rotorcraft — including the 429, which received its original certifications in 2009.
However, Roberts told Vertical that evaluating the 429 at a weight typically associated with Part 29 [transport category] helicopters did involve “[taking] a look at where the 429 stood compared with other Part 29 helicopters.” Because the modern, WAAS-equipped Bell 429 is already certified for single or dual pilot IFR, Category A/JAR-OPS Performance Class 1 at maximum gross weight, it compared favorably. “We were pleased to discover that the 429 was more compliant with Part 29 than many existing Part 29 aircraft,” Roberts said.
The increased maximum gross weight will not impact any service life limits and will reduce the 429’s never-exceed speed by only a few knots. However, it requires the installation of a retrofittable kit including a helicopter terrain awareness warning system (HTAWS), a radar altimeter, a cockpit voice/flight data recorder and strobe lights. Roberts said the kit costs about $115,000 and is available on a limited basis starting immediately. Operators can contact Bell Helicopter’s worldwide customer support network for more details.
Roberts emphasized Bell’s gratitude to its customers for having “the faith and the trust to wait with us” for the long-anticipated weight increase. “We are deeply appreciative to our customers and the market,” he said, adding that Bell hopes to receive FAA approval for the increased gross weight within the next few months. “We have deep respect and a very good relationship with both the FAA and EASA. We believe they will support Transport Canada’s decision; after all, the exemption would allow for product improvements that increase operational capability for owners and operators making it a win-win for everyone.”
Source "Verticalmag"
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,on peut faire dire la meme chose a un EC 135 !mais dans la realite ,tout le monde sait que les chargements des que l equipe medical met tout son materiel ..... 
d ailleurs c est amusant a voir les differences entre les SAMU,il doit y avoir le samu du pauvre et le samu du riche! 
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