HeliHub.com interviewed Heli-Charter’s Gary Slater at the weekend as he had a Bell 429 demonstrator aircraft in the static aircraft park at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.  The Festival of Speed is the largest motoring garden party in the world – a unique summer weekend that brings together an impossibly heady mix of cars, stars and motor sport ‘royalty’ to create the largest car culture event in the world. Held in the immaculate grounds of Goodwood House, this annual Hillclimb event is a true celebration of motor sport and all things automotive

Heli-Charter are Bell’s  independent representative for the United Kingdom, appointed by Bell in July 2012

Slater told us that the National Grid 429 – the first on the UK register – is now at Turweston and ready for operations. On top of that, he added that two corporate aicraft are due into the UK in August and December, and there is a possibility of another being imported direct from the US by the end of the year too. So, his expectations are for three or four 429s on the UK register by the end of 2013. We have less than six months to wait to see whether that prediction is good.

Slater was very bullish about the Bell 429 – as you would expect any salesman to be – and added that he had picked up very good leads from the Goodwood and had booked no less than 12 demo flights at the event.  The Bell 429 demonstrator is touring the UK this week and next.

Sepeartely, HeliHub.com understands one of these corporate orders may be a replacement for a Yorkshire-based Eurocopter AS355N, but we have been unable to verify that.

Jeremy Parkin – HeliHub.com