HI HO SILVER, AWAY!

Some helicopters are more memorable than others. For instance, the Hughes 500 has an acute feeling of claustrophobia in its cosy cockpit, while a Squirrel almost always has a way of humbling even an experienced pilot with a wiggle of its skids on landing.

- GEORGE TONKING

THIS MONTH'S ARTICLE is about a member of the Bell family and how this helicopter (with all its quirks) makes its way into my heart every time we fly together: the Bell Long Ranger.

The Long in LongRanger has nothing to do with its range. Weird, I know. In fact, the very first versions of the Bell 206L family had a marked reduction in range over the standard 206 JetRanger.

From the beginning, Bell Helicopters ran with the Ranger name - from the Bell 47G Ranger in the 1950s to the 206 JetRanger, then on to the lengthened 206L LongRanger and ending with the ultimate rendition of the Ranger, the 4-bladed main rotor Bell 407, originally designated the PowerRanger. Yes, it sounds like a toy figure from the 1990s and is now known simply as the 407.

These helicopters all form part of the Bell 206 family for certification conformity, basically allowing newer versions to be type-certified with the Federal Aviation Administration in the USA more easily.

What's so great about the LongRanger?