FAA Aproves Bell 212 Helicopter Flight Manual Supplement, Increasing Performance with BLR Aerospace Fastfin® System

BLR Aerospace announces an FAA-certified performance increase for its Bell 212 FastFin® System.

The FAA has approved a Flight Manual Supplement (FMS) certifying up to 500 pounds of additional out-of-ground effect hover performance for Bell 212s equipped with FastFin. The same approval is expected soon from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). With the FastFin® System, most Bell 212 operators will increase their useful load between 10% and 15%.

 Installation of the FastFin® Tail Rotor Enhancement and Stability System kit involves modifying a helicopter tailboom with two parallel strips (known as Dual Tailboom Strakes), and reshaping the vertical fin to optimize airflow around the tailboom. This field installed kit delivers a range of important benefits to operators who fly the modified aircraft.

 More than 75 FastFin® Systems have been sold for Bell 412 helicopters since the system was FAA certified in July 2010, and EASA certification is imminent. The system’s advantages — including up to 1,250 pounds of additional in-ground effect hover — are so strong that Bell Helicopter has made the FastFin® System standard on new Bell 412EPs