The Bell 212 Twin Two-Twelve is a twin engined medium lift utility
helicopter with a total seating of 15, including one or two pilots. The
Twin-Two-Twelve has a standard radius of 450 km and is powered by a
1800shp PT6T-3BE Turbo Twin-Pac made up of two Pratt & Whitney Canada
PT6T-3B turboshaft engines linked through a combining gearbox. The Model
212 is a twin engined development of Bell's earlier and highly
successful Model 204 and 205 series. On 1 May 1968, Bell announced its decision to develop the Model 212 in
large part in response to a Canadian Armed Forces requirement for a twin
engined development of the CUH1H (Model 205). Development of the
Model 212 was a joint venture between Bell, Pratt & Whitney Canada and
the Canadian government, the latter providing financial support. The
Model 212 helicopter flew first on 16 April 1969. The military version Model 212 Twin Huey was designated CUH-1N in Canadian and UH-1N in US
military service. The commercial version Model 212 Twin Two-Twelve received its FAA type
certification in October 1970 and the FAA Transport Type Category A
certification on 30 June 1971. In June 1980, an improved variant of the PT6T-3, the PT6T-3B, was introduced which besides giving more power
(1,800shp), also offered improved single-engine performance. On 8
September 1978, the Bell Model 412 program was announced as a
development of the Bell Model 212. In mid-1988, production of the Model 212 was
transferred to Bell's Canadian factory. The
Model 212 also entered production with Agusta in Italy under the AB 212
designation. In addition Agusta developed on its own an ASW naval
version, called AB 212AS. About 900 helicopters of the Bell 212, UH-1N,
CUH-1N and Agusta-Bell AB 212s were built.
The 1977-built Bell 212 c/n 30851 was registered JA9527 in Japan with
Maritime Safety Agency, the Japan Coast Guard.
On 15 October 1997, the Bell 212 was registered N85EA in the USA with Edwards and Associates Inc., Bristol, TN, USA,
a company specializing in helicopter sales, completions, maintenance and aftermarket accessories.
On 23 January 1998, registration N85EA was cancelled as exported to
Canada. On 3 February 1998, the helicopter was registered C-GSLT with
Skyline Helicopters Ltd., Kelowna, BC, Canada. Registration C-GSLT was
cancelled on 17 March 2009, restored and cancelled again on 14 April
2009. On 20 June 2011, the Bell Twin Two-Twelve was registered N268GA with Bank of Utah
Trustee, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. When seen on 21 June 1999 at
Calgary, Bell 212 C-GSLT was still in the basic color scheme of the
Japan Coast Guard.
Luchtvaart déjà vu
