Bell 206 (OH-4) First Flight by Jack Schweibold | The JetAv Blog.
Yes, a half century will elapse this year since its first fight on November 8th, 1962. The OH-4, father to the B206 Jet Ranger, was Bell’s entry in the Army’s Light Observation competition. This article is second in a series evaluating the three contestants: Hiller, Bell and Hughes. (See http://jetav.com/hiller-fh-1100oh-5a-first-flight/ )
Having previously flown the Hiller, this Allison test pilot was sent to Bell to evaluate engine performance, becoming the first to fly all three competitors. Here their ship was found to be a mini-HU-1E in stature, built hell-for-stout. Joe Mashman, Bell’s renowned demonstration pilot had just mesmerized the military brass with his nap-of-the-earth maneuvers … reportedly even cutting his way out of light tree cover with the rotor blades! Bell visualized and knew well the Army’s planned flight profile with accompanying armament to be assigned these airborne Jeeps, the engineers built the structure to handle the abuse. At first glance it appeared as a cast iron bath tub with main and tail rotors attached for flight. I had been flying a Bell 47-J powered by the Allison T63 turbine for months of development test; the differential weight was quite evident. Lifting to a hover the torque or percent power gage read weight like stepping on a Toledo scale, this newly birthed baby was a heavyweight …it would definitely win the landing gear drop test!
Despite the weight differential from the Hiller, the engine still indicated a similar need to improve acceleration out of auto recovery. Allison would make the required engine improvements and Bell’s Art Department would take lead over Engineering to produce over 8,000 (all models) Jet Rangers!
Next week, flying the egg … Hughes OH-6