Van Horn Aviation will offer direct sale of its composite main rotor blades for the Bell 206L LongRanger after expected FAA certification in July. The blades feature carbon-fiber skin and spars, a NASA-designed laminar-flow airfoil, tapered tip, and stainless steel and nickel abrasion strips. Van Horn’s 206L blades use the same installation configuration as the OEM blades which allows for direct replacement without hub modification.
Service life of the Van Horn blades is 20,000 hours, four times the life of the metal OEM blades, according to the Tempe, Arizona-based company. Overhauls of the root grip plates, root nuts and bolts, and bushings are needed every 5,000 hours. These overhauls are expected to take no longer than two weeks and will cost approximately $3,500.
“Essentially customers will have a choice when they hit the 5,000-hour mark on either blade," Van Horn president Dean Rosenlof explained. "Either they can throw away the OEM metal blade and buy a new metal blade for nearly the same price as the VHA blade, or spend $3,500 on an overhaul and go another 5,000 hours with the VHA blade, and do that two more times.”
Van Horn’s introductory pricing for the 206L main rotor blades will list at $55,000 per blade through the end of this year. The company’s other Bell 206 products will continue to be distributed through Aeronautical Accessories. Van Horn also produces a carbon fiber tail rotor blade for UH-1 models.
