Early Helicopters - The Brantly 305 By Willie Bodenstein The five-seat Brantly 305 produced by the Brantly Helicopter Corporation that had its first flight in January 1964 is an enlarged version of the company's smaller two-seat B-2. The enlarged cabin has room for five passengers, two side-by-side forward-facing seats and a bench seat at the rear for three passengers. Photo © RuthAS / commons.wikimedia.org The helicopter is powered by a Lycoming IVO-540 flat six piston engine. The enlarged cabin has room for five passengers, two side-by-side forward-facing seats and a bench seat at the rear for three passengers. Forty-five of the Lycoming IVO-540 flat six piston powered 305s were built during the mid-60's by Brantly and Brantly-Hynes produced an improved version in 1985 of which 4 were built. General characteristics: Crew: 2 Capacity: 3 passengers Length: 24 ft 5 in (7.44 m ) Rotor diameter: 28 ft 8 in (8.74 m) Height: 8 ft 0? in (2.44 m) Disc area: 35.8 sq ft (3.33 m²) Empty weight: 1,800 lb (817 kg) Max. takeoff weight: 2,900 lb (1,315 kg) Powerplant: 1 × Lycoming IVO-540-A1A air-cooled flat-six engine, 305 hp (227.5 kW) Performance: Maximum speed: 120 mph (104 knots, 193 km/h) at sea level Cruise speed: 110 mph (96 knots, 177 km/h) (75% power) Range: 220 miles (191 nmi, 354 km) Service ceiling: 12,000 ft (3,3660 m) Rate of climb: 975 ft/min (4.95 m/s)

History

Copyright © Pilot's Post PTY Ltd
The information, views and opinions by the authors contributing to Pilot's Post are not necessarily those of the editor or other writers at Pilot's Post.