Features
Commercial
Bell Delivers Canada’s First Bell 407GXi
November 27, 2019 By Helicopters Staff
The Bell 407GXi for Municipal Enterprises was completed and delivered at Bell’s facility in Mirabel, Quebec. (Photo: Peter Handley) Bell Textron Inc. has delivered Canada’s first Bell 407GXi to Municipal Enterprises Limited, a subsidiary within the Municipal Group of Companies based in Bedford, Nova Scotia. Led by Dexter Construction, described as the largest civil contractor in Atlantic Canada, the Municipal Group is comprised of diversified business units focused on sectors like construction, environmental, asphalt and quarry, utilities, emulsions, demolition, mining and disposal, among others.
Founded more than 40 years around, Municipal Group today has a presence in New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Northern Quebec and the Caribbean. Bell explains the 407GXi for Municipal Enterprises, which itself focuses on providing aggregate and asphalt construction materials, is outfitted in newly certified on-board equipment and features a custom designed interior.
In 2018, Bell introduced the enhanced Bell 407 platform at the Helicopter Association International’s annual Heli-Expo. The 407GXi features the Garmin G1000H NXi integrated flight deck and a new Rolls-Royce M250-C47E/4 engine with dual channel FADEC, which delivers better high and hot performance, fully automatic relight, and the ability to cruise at 133 knots.
“Canada is home to Bell’s final assembly centre for all current commercial aircraft, and we are proud to have completed and delivered Municipal Enterprises Limited’s customized Bell 407GXi at our Mirabel facility,” said Susan Griffin, executive vice president, commercial business, Bell.
Since 1986, Bell has assembled and delivered more than 5,000 helicopters from its Mirabel facility and employs 1,200 personnel across Canada. More than 1,000 Bell aircraft operate in Canada, including those with the Royal Canadian Air Force and the Canadian Coast Guard.
Additional options for the 407GXi include the Garmin FlightStream 510 that allows pilots to upload flight plans from smart devices, Garmin SurfaceWatch that provides runway identification and alerting technology, a 3,100-lb. cargo hook, and Health Usage Monitoring (HUMS) for aircraft system diagnostics.
