Turkey's Sancak Air is taking delivery of a Bell 407 in September and expects to be among operators in Europe and the Middle East that are generally very satisfied with the aircraft.

Sales and marketing manager Yavuz Murat Yuzgen says: "The Bell 407 is four bladed, more stable and comfortable than 206 helicopters. And, as Sancak Air is JAR 145 maintenance facility we have a team capable of doing main-tenance. We always use original Bell parts and supply our parts directly from Bell." But Atilla Samdancioglu of Unver Air points out that almost all Bell operators are in or around Istanbul. "Unfortunately the Bell service centre is in Ankara, a distance of around 200 miles."

Samdancioglu is very satisfied with the 407's oper-ating capability, satisfied with dispatch reliability and value, and confirms it is reliable and easy to fly and operate.

"But the spare parts are expensive and fuel capacity and avionics are poor." His improvements wish-list includes cheaper spares, fewer ASBs, increased range and better autopilot and avionics. "Bell Helicopter is still the best in market but needs to improve communication with customers and their CSF service capabilities."

Peter Thoma of Heliteam Sud praises the outstanding performance and reliability and says the most desirable upgrade is a glass cockpit. Both he and LongRanger owner Prof. Jeremy Stone are very satisfied with the maintenance support, dispatch reliability and operating capability. While Thoma is also very satisfied with the value, Stone is satisfied and says parts are expensive. "Performance and flexibility are the best things about the 407," says Stone.

Manufacturer's comment

"Bell is aggressive when it deals with operational safety, both in our products and within the helicopter industry. While not considered better when in volume, the number of ASBs reflects our rigorous safety review procedures. Likewise, our spares are genuine Bell products and will not jeopardise our aircraft's integrity. Customer communication in general has not been a detriment to our No. 1 rating in customer support, however we can always improve and will take the input as constructive.

"The 407 is Bell's volume leader and is considered a core product in our commercial business. Bell has conducted a comprehensive market review of single engine helicopter performance requirements and any upgrades noted in our study are being evaluated to determine if or when they can be incorporated into our 407 production line. Customers specifically cite the desire for upgraded avionics, for which we are studying potential configurations along with other modernisation technology, but we have not finalised any plans for product introduction.

"Bell views the European market as extremely important to its global presence and is studying ways to improve regional support."