Bell 222

Bell 222
Bell 222 "Triple Two"
Type:	Light multipurpose helicopter
Design country:	United States
Manufacturer:	Bell helicopter
First flight:	August 13, 1976
Commissioning:	1979
Production time:	1980 to 1995
Number of pieces:	Bell 222: 199, Bell 230: 38

The Bell 222 (English: Bell "Triple Two") was a twin-engine civil helicopter manufactured by Bell Helicopter . It was replaced in 1992 by the visually very similar 230 , until production was completely discontinued in 1995 because of the successor Bell 430 . A visually modified Bell 222 achieved great fame through the TV series Airwolf .

history

In 1974, Bell announced the development of the United States' first light twin-engine civil helicopter. The maiden flight of the first of five prototypes took place on August 13, 1976, production started in 1978 and the first delivery took place in January 1980. In 1982 the Bell 222B with more powerful engines and a larger rotor was introduced, in 1983 the Bell 222 UT with rigid skid chassis.

The Bell 230 version was marketed from 1992 and had more powerful (520 kW) Allison 250 C30G / 2 engines. Production ended in 1995 after 184 Bell 222 and 38 Bell 230, when the helicopter was replaced by the Bell 430, which was created and enlarged on its base .

construction

A Bell 222-UT with landing skids instead of wheels

The Bell 222B has a wheel running gear that can be retracted into the stub wings , while the special UT version has a skid landing gear. The two-blade main rotor consists of a stainless steel, glass fiber and synthetic resin construction with elastomer bearings and is driven by two turbines with an output of around 500 kW. The two-bladed tail rotor is on the left. The helicopter has three tanks, two of which are in the booms.

The Bell 222 is operated by a crew of one to two people and can accommodate a total of seven to eight people.

commitment

In Germany , helicopters of the type Bell 222 were used by the special helicopter service . The "main actor" of the Airwolf television series was also sold to the HSD in Germany after the filming was over and flew under the registration number D-HHSD. However, it crashed on June 6, 1992 during a rescue operation during a storm, killing three people.

The Bell 222 is often described as looking very elegant and is widely used as a "VIP shuttle".

Technical specifications

model	222	222B	222U	230
announcement	1974	1982	1982	1990
First flight	August 13, 1976	1982	1983	August 12, 1991
Admission	December 1979	August 1982	April 1983	March 1992
delivery	1980	1982	1983	November 1992
Seats	Front: Pilot + 1 Rear: 4–6 (depending on seat type) Maximum 10 (pilot and 9 passengers)
height	3.56 m		3.71 m	3.56 m
Hull length	12.85 m		12.78 m	12.88 m
Rotor diameter	12.2 m	12.80 m
length	15.1 m	15.32 m
Engines (2 ×)	Lycoming LTS-101-650C-3	Lycoming LTS-101-750C		Rolls-Royce 250-C30G / 2
Power (2 ×)	461 kW	505 kW		520 kW
Top speed	240 km / h	250 km / h		260 km / h
Rate of climb	8.03 m / s	8.79 m / s		8.13 m / s
Service ceiling	3900 m	4800 m		4700 m
Standing altitude	2,750 m	3150 m		3800 m
Tank capacity	710 + 182 l		710 + 460 l	710 + xl
Range	600 km	700 km	900 km	700 km
Empty mass	2066 kg	2076 kg	2058 kg	2312 kg
Max. Takeoff weight	3560 kg	3742 kg		3810 kg
Serial numbers	47001-47099 †	47131-47156	47501-47574	23001-23038

Sources: Airliners.net, Helicopterdirect, Others

See also

• List of helicopter types

Web links

Commons : Bell 222  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION, TYPE CERTIFICATE DATA SHEET NO. H9SW (Bell 222 and others) (PDF; 76 kB)
• Bell Model 222 (en.)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Calculated from the serial numbers in the data table.
2. ↑ FliegerRevue July 2009, p. 67, Bell 222/230 collection series
3. ↑ FAA Type Certificate Data Sheet  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
4. ↑ Bell 222 & 230 page on airliner.net
5. ↑ Bell helicopter technical data, helicopterdirect.com
6. ↑ Bell 222 technical data on airwolf.tv-series.com ( Memento of the original from December 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
7. ↑ Serial Numbers ( Memento of the original from June 20, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.