Bell 407
Vertical rate at touchdown
Up to 100fpm
Full marks for the vertical rate at touchdown up to 100 fpm, on the rotorcraft curve; no note for a soft touchdown.
- G-force
- 1.20Gfull marks, the general curve
Not part of this aircraft's grade: an approach-speed target, a tail-strike check and a touchdown-zone window.
The Bell 407 is a popular single-engine light helicopter, turbine-powered, 7-seat, the workhorse of news/medical/utility operations. In MSFS it's one of the most well-modeled helicopters available. 'Landing' a helicopter is more about controlled descent to a hover than runway technique, but the Roundout's scoring still applies to touchdown rate of descent.
Landing technique.
Approach to a hover: slow to 60 KIAS at the IAF, 40 at 200 ft AGL, 0 at 10 ft AGL above the landing point.
Establish a 3-foot hover; check torque, RPM, instruments.
Lower collective smoothly to touch the skids down, descent rate near zero, vertical motion only.
Wind into the rotor: nose into the wind for the hover and the touchdown.
Run-on landings (forward speed at touchdown) only on prepared surfaces and only when hover power isn't available.
Common mistakes.
Rapid collective reduction causing a hard skid-on touchdown.
Drifting across the landing pad instead of holding station, practice the hover before the touchdown.
Crosswind issues: failing to crab into wind on the approach, ending up sideways at the hover.
How its touchdown is scored.
The score at each point of its curves. Between the points, scores fall in a straight line; the full method is in the scoring methodology.
No shared landings or board for this aircraft yet. Its figures appear once pilots with a public profile have shared 5 graded landings in it, and a board once at least 5 opted-in pilots have flown it 10 or more times each. See the boards there are.
For reference.
Aircraft data
- Manufacturer
- Bell
- Model
- 407
- Variant
- 407
- FAA approach category
- A
- MTOW
- 2,268 kg (5,000 lbs)
- Vref in flight
- Not used
- MSFS source
- Default Std
- Category
- Rotorcraft (Helicopter)
Roundout recognizes it in a title that contains
Bell 407407
The rest of the Bell 206 / 407 family
Read next
$23.99 once.
Every landing in the Bell 407, graded against these numbers. Every update included, and tax or VAT in most countries.