Textron subsidiary Bell Textron, and PT Dirgantara Indonesia (PTDI) celebrate the achievement of the delivery of the 70th helicopter from Bell to PTDI. The Bell 412EPI helicopter was one of nine aircraft orders from the Army earlier this year.
“I am very happy to be here for the achievement of cooperation between Bell and PT DI. This is important to us and proves the close relationship between the two companies,” Asia Pacific Managing Director David Sale said in Shangri-La, Central Jakarta, on 27 November 2019.
In the cooperation contract, Sale continued, Bell will send nine 412EPI helicopters to PTDI, who then make adjustments before being sent to the Army. To date, PTDI has received two of the nine helicopters at its operational office in Bandung.
The Bell 412EPI adopts 2x Pratt & Whitney PT6T-9 Twin Pac engines, compared to the previous Bell-412 EP series which uses 2x Pratt & Whitney PT6T-3D engines. In the official Bell Helicopter Textron website, PT6T-9 has a 15 percent greater take-off power than other Bell-412 engines.
“It is appropriate that the 70th helicopter is the Bell 412EPI, because it has been operated by the Army on various missions for more than 20 years,” Sale said. “We hope to continue to work closely with PTDI in meeting the needs of the Indonesian army.”
Another feature of the PT6T-9 is automatic engine start with a feature of temperature limitation, full digital engine control. While the avionics device, carrying 4-axis flight control technology, full glass cockpit instrument. In a solution called the Bell Basix Pro Integrated Glass Cockpit System also includes the Bell PSI presentation, the Garmin GTN-750 NAV / COM / GPS, and WAAS GPS.
PTDI Vice President of Marketing Gatot Mulya Pribadi explained that PTDI and Bell’s industrial cooperation began in 1982 or more than 37 years ago. This cooperation starts from production under license, Bell 412 helicopter components to support the progress of the Indonesian defense industry.
“At present, PTDI has handed over to customers approximately 448 aircraft. Of these 448, 253 are helicopters and of these 253 helicopters have delivered 63 of which are Bell 412 series,” Gatot said.
Gatot continued that today PTDI and Bell celebrate the achievement of sending 70th aircraft from Bell to PTDI. “This is Bell 412EPI which is one of the nine orders of the Indonesian Army on the contract late last year and the signing at the beginning of 2019,” Gatot continued.
Under the contract, PTDI will receive nine helicopters from Bell to make adjustments before sending them to the Army, and to date PTDI has received two of the nine helicopters.
“Of course, we hope that this good collaboration with Bell can continue and be improved in order to meet the needs of the Indonesian government, especially the Indonesian Army, Indonesian Air Force and Navy, including the Indonesian National Police,” Gatot said.
