The Bell 212 (also known as the ''Twin Two-Twelve'') is a two-blade, medium

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

that first flew in 1968. Originally manufactured by

Bell Helicopter Bell Textron Inc. is an American aerospace manufacturer headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. A subsidiary of Textron, Bell manufactures military rotorcraft at facilities in Fort Worth, and Amarillo, Texas, as well as commercial helicopters in M ...

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, production was moved to

Mirabel, Quebec Mirabel is a suburb of Montreal, located on the North Shore in southern Quebec. Mirabel is also the name of a territory equivalent to a regional county municipality (TE) and census division (CD) of Quebec, coextensive with the city of Mirabel. It ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

in 1988, along with all Bell commercial helicopter production after that plant opened in 1986. The 212 was marketed to civilian operators and has up to a 15-seat capacity, with one pilot and fourteen passengers. In cargo-carrying configuration the 212 has an internal capacity of 220 ft³ (6.23 m³). An external load of up to 5,000 lb (2,268 kg) can be carried.

Development

Based on the stretched fuselage

Bell 205 The Bell 204 and 205 are the civilian versions of the UH-1 Iroquois single-engine military helicopter of the Huey family of helicopters. They are type-certificated in the transport category and are used in a wide variety of applications, inc ...

, the Bell 212 was originally developed for the

Canadian Forces } The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; french: Forces armées canadiennes, ''FAC'') are the unified military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air elements referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army, and Royal Canadian Air Force. ...

as the ''CUH-1N'' and later redesignated as the ''

CH-135 The Bell UH-1N Twin Huey is a medium military helicopter designed and produced by the American aerospace manufacturer Bell Helicopter. It is a member of the extensive Huey family, the initial version was the CUH-1N Twin Huey (later CH-135 Twi ...

''. The Canadian Forces took delivery of 50 starting in May 1971. At the same time the United States military services ordered 294 Bell 212s under the designation UH-1N. BMI Bell 212 D-HBZT

By 1971, the Bell 212 had been developed for commercial applications. Among the earliest uses of the type in civil aviation was by Helicopter Service AS of Norway to be used in support of

offshore drilling Offshore drilling is a mechanical process where a wellbore is drilled below the seabed. It is typically carried out in order to explore for and subsequently extract petroleum that lies in rock formations beneath the seabed. Most commonly, the te ...

; it proved popular across the offshore sector in particular as it had been certified for operating under marginal weather conditions. Today, the 212 can be found used in logging operations, maritime rescue and resupply in the Arctic on the Distant Early Warning Line or North Warning System. The 212 is powered by a

Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6T The Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6T Twin-Pac is a turboshaft engine designed for helicopters. Manufactured by Pratt & Whitney Canada, its first application was in the Bell 212 and UH-1N Twin Huey helicopter family. The PT6T Twin-Pac consists of two ...

-3 Twin-Pac made up of two coupled

PT6 The Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6 is a turboprop aircraft engine produced by Pratt & Whitney Canada. Its design was started in 1958, it first ran in February 1960, first flew on 30 May 1961, entered service in 1964 and has been continuously up ...

power turbines driving a common gearbox. They are capable of producing up to 1,800 shp (1,342 kW). Should one power section fail the remaining section can deliver 900 shp (671 kW) for 30 minutes, or 765 shp (571 kW) continuously, enabling the 212 to maintain cruise performance at maximum weight. Early 212s configured with an Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) package were required to have a large and very obvious fin attached to the roof of the aircraft, above and slightly behind the cockpit. This fin was initially determined necessary to alter the turning performance of the aircraft during complex instrument flight maneuvers, but is no longer required due to revised stipulations of the type certificate. Many aircraft still fly with the modification. In 1979, with the purchase of eight by the Civil Air Authority, the 212 became the first U.S. helicopter sold in the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. The

ICAO The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO, ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation, and fosters the planning and development of international a ...

designator for this aircraft as used in a flight plan is "B212". Bell developed the Model 212 further with the Bell 412; the major difference being the composite four-blade main rotor. The last Bell 212 was delivered in 1998."Bell 212"
(subscription article). ''Jane's Helicopter Markets and Systems''. Jane's Information Group, 2 April 2013.

Variants

*Bell Model 212 - Bell Helicopters company designation for the UH-1N. *Twin Two-Twelve - Civil utility transport version. It can carry up to 14 passengers. *Agusta-Bell AB 212 - Civil or military utility transport version. Built under license in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

Agusta Agusta was an Italian helicopter manufacturer. It was based in Samarate, Northern Italy. The company was founded by Count Giovanni Agusta in 1923, who flew his first airplane in 1907. The MV Agusta motorcycle manufacturer began as an offshoot o ...

. *Agusta-Bell AB.212ASW - Anti-Submarine Warfare variant of AB.212 * Bell Model 412 - Bell 212 with a four-bladed semi-rigid rotor system. *Eagle 212 Single - Single engine variant with a Lycoming T53-17 or T53-BCV engine produced by Eagle Copters of

Calgary, Alberta Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Canadian Prairies, Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,30 ...

Operators

Civil and government operators

The Bell 212 is used by many private and commercial operators, it is particularly popular in the oil industries and for law enforcement use. ; *

Argentine Army The Argentine Army ( es, Ejército Argentino, EA) is the land force branch of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic and the senior military service of Argentina. Under the Argentine Constitution, the president of Argentina is the commander- ...

; *

Canadian Coast Guard The Canadian Coast Guard (CCG; french: links=no, Garde côtière canadienne, GCC) is the coast guard of Canada. Formed in 1962, the coast guard is tasked with marine search and rescue (SAR), communication, navigation, and transportation issues ...

- former operator of six 212s ; *

Croatian Police Law enforcement in Croatia is the responsibility of the Croatian Police ( hr, Hrvatska policija), which is the national police force of the country subordinated by the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Croatia, carrying out certain task ...

; * Policía Nacional de Colombia ; *

Greek Navy The Hellenic Navy (HN; el, Πολεμικό Ναυτικό, Polemikó Naftikó, War Navy, abbreviated ΠΝ) is the naval force of Greece, part of the Hellenic Armed Forces. The modern Greek navy historically hails from the naval forces of vario ...

; *

Air Greenland Air Greenland A/S (formerly named Grønlandsfly), also known as Greenlandair, is the flag carrier airline of Greenland, owned by the Greenlandic Government. It operates a fleet of 32 aircraft, including 1 airliner used for transatlantic and ch ...

; *

Japan Coast Guard The is the coast guard of Japan. The Japan Coast Guard consists of about 13,700 personnel and is responsible for the protection of the coastline of Japan under the oversight of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. Th ...

; * Serbian Police Bell 212 Z3-HHB of the North Macedonian Police

; * Slovenian National Police ; *

Royal Thai Police The Royal Thai Police (RTP) ( th, สำนักงานตำรวจแห่งชาติ; ) is the national police force of Thailand. The RTP employs between 210,700 and 230,000 officers, roughly 17 percent of all civil servants (excludi ...

; *

San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department The San Bernardino County Sheriff-Coroner's Department (SBSD) serves San Bernardino County, California, which is geographically the largest county in the United States (excluding Alaska's boroughs) and is headquartered in San Bernardino city. ...

San Diego Fire Department The San Diego Fire-Rescue Department (SDFD) provides fire protection and emergency medical services to the city of San Diego, California, United States. The San Diego Fire-Rescue Department is the second-largest municipal fire department in the st ...

* Ventura County Sheriff's Department

Specifications (Bell 212)

References

External links

The Bell 212 on Greg Goebel's Air Vectors
{{Huey family 1960s United States helicopters 1960s United States civil utility aircraft Search and rescue helicopters 1960s Canadian helicopters Twin-turbine helicopters Aircraft first flown in 1968

212 Year 212 (Roman numerals, CCXII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Asper and Camilius (or, less frequently, year 965 '' ...