Jeremy Parkin

Jeremy Parkin grew up close to London's Heathrow Airport and has been fascinated by aviation from an early age. For the last 30 years, he has tracked the global helicopter industry in great detail, including building up a global database of every single civil and military helicopter ever built and having six directories published. Since 1999, Jeremy has concentrated on timely helicopter industry news, and the opportunities afforded by the Internet and social media. He is the owner and publisher of HeliHub.com.

Articles by Jeremy Parkin

• The 429 has a weight problem – but is Bell bothered?

  Friday, June 19, 2015

  Bell's twin-engined 429 is seeing greater success than any previous light twin the Texas-based manufacturer has ever produced, already eclipsing each of the 222, 230, 427 and 430 models in sheer airframe numbers. Yet, a big divide continues to be seen in its marketplace. The 429 was built around a set of regulations from the FAA that provide minimum specification and performance requirements to gain certification for rotorcraft with a gross weight of up to 7,000 pounds. Bell, however, wants to be able to fly the helicopter at 7,500 pounds. Bell would like to gain approval for the same helicopter to fly at 7,500 pounds, but this requires adherence to the more stringent FAR29 rules, which apply to any aircraft over 7,000 pounds. Some of the differences between FAR27 and FAR29 are technically infeasible to install on the Bell 429