The grand opening marks one year of the facility's groundbreaking. At the ceremony, guests were able to tour the facility - getting up close with the Bell 505 flight simulator, and view the first Bell 505 engine delivered to the facility - the Turbomeca Arrius 2R.

To date, Bell Helicopter has received more than 350 letters of intent from around the globe for the Bell 505. The five-seat, single-engine, turbine helicopter leverages Bell Helicopter's proven technology and nearly half a century of experience defining the short light single market with the original Bell JetRanger.

"We are excited to have successfully reached this milestone of the facility opening, and our proud to share in this moment with our customers, employees, suppliers and the Lafayette community," said Paul Watts, general manager of the Bell Helicopter Lafayette Aircraft Assembly Center. "This advances us one step closer to production and delivery of this aircraft."

With a cruise speed of 125 knots (232 km/h), range of 360 nautical miles (667 km) and useful load of 1,500 pounds (608 kg), the Bell 505 is designed to be safe and easy to fly while remaining affordably priced. The customer-driven design of the aircraft places safety, performance and affordability at the forefront, blending proven systems with advanced technology and a sleek, modern design.

The Garmin G1000H Integrated Avionics Suite provides pilots critical flight information at a glance to maximize situational awareness. Pilot workload is further reduced by the Turbomeca Arrius 2R engine with dual channel Full Authority Digital Engine Control (FADEC).
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