I have been bitten by the helicopter bug, and I'm close to wrapping up my private helicopter add on.

Which, of course, means I'm shopping for a helicopter! For several reasons I've settled on the Bell 206. I know I'm not going to fly the helicopter enough to come close to justifying it, and I'm working a deal with a local flight school/tour operator to lease it. He'll be doing "turbine transition" classes, perhaps sling loading training, and the occasional tour (yes, he has all the required stuff for this).

Yeah, yeah, Robinson, Enstrom, MD500, whatever. Let's stick to the Bell 206 for this discussion please!

What do I need to know about the 206 when I'm shopping for one? What are must haves, what are things to watch out for, what surprises will there be?

What are the major time limited components? Blades, TT straps, etc?

Likely looking at a BII or BIII, but not really sure what the major differences are - I think I'd be happy with a BII if the price is right.

What about the Allison/RR engine? What's the TBO on it? Do people actually overhaul them or just keep doing hot sections? Any idea what a hot section costs?

Any experience on what I should budget for an annual maintenance cost on a 206?

What am I not asking that I should be?

Thanks for the education - I know there has to be some experience with 206s on BT!

Robert

I have a 206 BIII (It's actually listed for sale here on BT). They are very well built and easy to work on (for a helicopter). I'm an A&P and do most of my own work, so my maintenance costs wouldn't be very representative of what yours will look like.

A couple of random thoughts:

* You want one with the bleed air heater.
* I REALLY wanted one with air conditioning. Now that I have one with A/C I'd rather have one without A/C. Yes, it makes cold air, but it doesn't make enough of it. I'd rather save the weight.
* I like the Van Horn tail rotor blades.
* The only thing on my wish list that mine didn't come with is a KAflex driveshaft. Having serviced the grease couplings on the OEM driveshaft now, I can say that while it's a PITA, it isn't as bad as people make it out to be. But... A KAflex driveshaft would still be on my wish list
* Stay away from spray/Ag ships. The advertised price will look attractive, but they get ridden hard and put away wet.

I think the short answer is there's so much to know on a helicopter that it is scary!

Having said that the 206 is pretty straight-forward.

I have the same problem, it is a serious bug. They are the crack-cocaine of aviation!

We did an acquisition of a new 407GXi... key point being NEW. I wish I knew enough about used helicopters to provide acquisition services!

If you do want someone to help you, I can ask around, the heli world is incredibly small.

If you need door seals in silicone we just finished a run in grey for a operator

He ordered 120 ft for two long rangers and cement.

Good luck with your search


GB

The TCDS will list the life limited parts. That being said almost every ad will have a component times sheet, and if it doesn't it's the first thing you ask for. This stuff is tracked religiously on helicopters, not just logged as you go like on airplanes.

The RR250-C20B is a great little engine. You get 1750 hours or 3000 cycles on the hot section. Pay attention to cycles because if they were using the helicopter for short hops they can add up quickly. Savvy operators log cycles instead of relying on the counter, that way if they accidentally punch the button or abort a start before light off it doesn't count. Compressor section is 3500 hours. Gearbox is on condition but typically gets done with the cold section. Keep an eye on turbine wheels as there's some AD's on them, and what you may think is just a HSI ends up being a 4 wheel replacement ($$$). There are no service life extension programs on any of this that I'm aware of. RR's power by the hour used to be insane, but recently had gotten a lot more competitive.

Roger at Sharkeys Helicopters in NH has forgotten more about Jet Rangers than most of us will ever know. Call him. He's a...ahem, character.

Have you gotten an insurance quote yet? It's not uncommon for low time heli pilots to be uninsurable in Jet Rangers without tons of dual. Like 50-100 hours. Your fixed wing time means nothing to the insurance company. (I think that's BS and that an experienced pilot is an experienced pilot, but I don't insure aircraft so what I think doesn't matter.)

You may want to take a second look at an Enstrom. Easier to insure, less expensive to buy, and less expensive to operate. (Full disclosure, I used to work for them.) Do not, repeat DO NOT buy a R66. MD500's are like Italian sports cars...the good and the bad. All that being said, if I were shopping for a toy I'd be taking a serious look at Gazelles. Fast, agile, and inexpensive to buy. Older and parts support is questionable but the guys that own them say it's not a problem and rave about the helicopter.

I've owned an R44, Agusta 109 and bought a brand new R66. The Robinson is the most reliable, most fun, most reliable, least expensive helicopter out there. I got factory trained to maintain it too.

I've flown a 206 and it's a pig compared to the R66. You can't push it manually and it's significantly more expensive maintain.

Glass cockpit, great autopilot, flies great, no grease, fast, great A/C and burns 18 GPH.

Look at the R66.

Mike

Again, just using your listing as a way to better understand component replacement/overhaul costs.

Thanks!
Robert

Just my .02 those items are all a LONG way from overhaul!

Remember 300 hours in a King Air might be a year, but 300 in a helicopter is a long time... 5 years plus for most operators, so any number you budget today may not be accurate that far out.

Again - not my area of expertise, but I didn't want Brant to sound defensive he he said "that's a long way out!"

Guy, Have You ever considered making a List of what You don't make Seals for?
Might save a Lot of time

Sorry for the Drift Robert

Honestly, I haven't priced most of it out. I've been putting about 30-40 hrs a year on whatever helicopter I've owned at the given time for the last several years. At that rate, none of those items will be due anytime soon. One nice thing about the 206 is that the TT-straps are the only calendar-based life limited item. They're roughly $7k for a set.

From memory, I think blades are $80k-90K each. At one point, I looked up the parts to do the overrunning clutch overhaul, and they were something in the ballpark of $6k.

Thanks.

Looks like VanHorne is $83,500 "per blade" (I'm assuming you need to buy two blades).

https://www.vanhornaviation.com/vha-hol ... rough-2025

Robert

I just looked and OEM main rotor blades are $87,740.00 each.

Ain't this the truth.