Flying the Bell 429 with Henry Wilson

I flew the Bell 429 just after Farnborough. What a brilliant powerful machine that is. It feels like a JetRanger but it is a twin, has FADEC and, of course, has bags more power - flying it you feel like you can do anything.
Bell took a long time to bring out the 429 because they were asking pilots, mechanics, engineers and owners exactly what they wanted in a new helicopter. The result was this composite body helicopter with four blades, very unusual in a Bell, and a four blade scissor tail-rotor, which makes it a lot quieter than most helicopters of its size, while not reducing the manoeuvrability. There are a lot of special features too, for example the fuel system which allows all four tanks to flow into both engine, so even if you lose one engine you won't find yourself running out of fuel on the other engine! For the full test flight have a look at my article in Helicopter Life magazine.
And if you get a chance to fly it - grab it, you definitely will not regret it.