AE 4314 ROTORCRAFT MECHANICS AND

DESIGN: ASSIGNMENT 1
Abdul Rozak Rivai Fassah, Delft University of Technology Study no.: 4625692

1 Bell 412 Overview

Figure 1: Bell 412 Medium Helicopter.

Bell 412 is a Canadian-manufactured multirole single main rotor medium helicopter capable
for civil and military utility purpose. The helicopter started its active service with first delivery
on January 1981 and more than 860 helicopters of its kind are now in active service across
the world. Originally built by Bell Helicopter in Canada, Dirgantara Indonesia (Indonesia) and
Augusta (Italy) also obtained the license of production of Bell 412.
Bell 412 is later development of medium helicopter of its kind such as Bell 2014/205, Bell
212, and Bell 214. Unlike its predecessors, Bell 412 owns 4 blade for the main rotor instead of
two blades. This allows the main rotor to produce more lift and higher disc loading (35.0kg/m2 )
compared to Bell 204/205 (25.0kg/m2 ) and Bell 212 (30.0kg/m2 ). A higher disc loading then
can be translated as higher maximum take-off weight that the helicopter Bell 412 can carry. The
performance specification of Bell 412 as follows in the Table 1.
In terms of performance, Bell 412 has superiority above most of the Bell "Huey" helicopter
family since all predecessor of Bell 412 is smaller in terms of capacity (e.g. Bell 212, the closest
predecessor of Bell 412, can only carry half maximum take-off weight of Bell 412 with service
ceiling 2,600 ft below that of Bell 412). While compared to other multirole medium helicopters
tabulated in 2004 Janes All The Worlds Aircraft book, Helicopter Bell 412 also has some
performance advantages despite being comparably smaller than its competitors. As seen in
Table 2 and 3. It can be concluded that despite lack of power with most of the compared
helicopters are powered by two engines, the helicopter Bell 412 can attain higher service ceiling
compared to other helicopters of its type. In terms of hovering performance, Bell 412 can hover

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 Table 1: Bell 412 Performance Specification
DESCRIPTION
Never-exceed speed (VN E ) 259 km/h (140 kts)
226 km/h (122 kts) Sea-level
Maximum cruise speed (VC ) 230 km/h (124 kts) FL50
241 km/h (130 kts) Long range, FL 50
One Engine Operative,
1,920 m (6,300 ft)
Service ceiling 30 minutes power rating
6,096 m (20,000 ft) Design
Hovering ceiling 3,110 m (10,200 ft) IGE
1,585 m (5,200 ft) OGE
FL 50, long-range cruising speed,
Range 744 km (402 n. miles)
standard fuel, no reserves
Endurance 222 minutes
Empty weight 3,079 kg (6,789 lb)
Maximum take-off weight 5,397 kg (11,900 lb)

higher in condition of IGE 1 and hover in comparably the same altitude in OGE 2 condition.
Bell 412 is also able by design to fly longer than other helicopters of its type, proven with its
higher endurance and its flying range at standard fuel condition.

2 Moment of Inertia (Iyy) Calculation

The value of the moment of inertia of the helicopter is influenced by mass and the arm of each
helicopter part with respect to the centroid of the whole helicopter. Several assumptions have
to be made to ease the calculation process, those are:

1. the horizontal stabilizer is located at the tip of rear end of blade disc (see Figure 2).

2. The structure of the helicopter uses the aluminium material ( = 2800kg/m3 ) with the
whole thickness of 0.1 inch (2.54 mm). This already includes the thickness of skin and
stringers.

3. The vertical stabilizer is approximated by tilted square.

4. The origin of the axis is located on the forward edge of the helicopter nose.

5. The weight of the helicopter equals its empty weight (3,079 kg).

6. The centroid of the helicopter is located between the forward longitudinal limit and the aft
longitudinal limit of the helicopter 3 , which is located 3.48 meters from the nose edge.

1
In-Ground Effect
2
Out-of-Ground Effect
3
Bell 412 Rotorcraft Flight Manual, BHT-412-FM-2, page 1-7

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 Table 2: Multirotor Medium Helicopters Comparison (1)
Eurocopter SuperPuma
Bell 412 Mil Mi-17
Mk. I
Never-exceed speed (VN E ) 259 km/h (140 kts) 270 km/h (178 kts) 250 km/h (135 kts)
Maximum cruise speed (VC ) 226 km/h (122 kts) 261 km/h (141 kts) 240 km/h (129 kts)
Service ceiling 6,096 m (20,000 ft) 4,600 m (15,080 ft) 5,650 m (18,535 ft)
Hovering ceiling, IGE 3,110 m (10,200 ft) 3,250 m (10,660 ft) -
Hovering ceiling, OGE 1,585 m (5,200 ft) 2,300 m (7,540 ft) 1,760 m (5,775 ft)
744 km (402 n. miles) 831 km (449 n.miles) 495 km (267 n.miles)
Range (standard fuel)
FL50 S/L +5% fuel reserve
Endurance 222 minutes - -
Empty weight 3,079 kg (6,789 lb) 4,460 kg (9,832 lb) 7,100 kg (15,653 lb)
Maximum take-off weight 5,397 kg (11,900 lb) 8,600 kg (18,960 lb) 13,000 kg (28,660 lb)

Table 3: Multirotor Medium Helicopters Comparison (2)

Never-exceed speed (VN E )
Maximum cruise speed (VC )
Service ceiling
Hovering ceiling, IGE
Hovering ceiling, OGE
Range (standard fuel)
Endurance
Empty weight
Maximum take-off weight
Kamov Ka-62 Sikorsky S-70A
300 km/h (162 kts) 361 km/h (195 kts)
275 km/h (148 kts) 257 km/h (139 kts)
5,150 m (16,096 ft) 5,700 m (18,700 ft)
2,900 m (9,520 ft) 1,645 m (5,400 ft)
2,100 m (6,880 ft) -
592 km (319 n.miles)
615 km (332 n.miles)
+30 min. reserve
- 138 minutes
- 5,118 kg (11,284 lb)
6,000 kg (13,228 lb) 7,708 kg (16,994 lb)

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 Figure 2: Bell 412 Medium Helicopter.

Figure 3: Bell 412 Gross weight center of gravity.

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 The helicopter is broken down into several parts,

1. Main rotor blades weight is approximated by

WbM = 0.026b.66 cR1.3 (R).67 (1)

which yields the value of 12.155 kg. The centroid of the main rotor blade is located above
the main rotor hub or x=4.02 meters from the helicopters nose.

2. Main rotor hub and hinges weight is approximated by

gJ .53
WhM = 0.0037b.28 R1.5 (R).43 (0.67WbM + ) (2)
R2
which yields value of 36.043 kg with the same position of centroid with that of the main
rotor blades.

3. Horizontal stabilizers weight is approximated by

WH = 0.72(AH )1.2 (A.R.H ).32 (3)

This equation yields 2.909 kg, with location of centroid at rear tip of the main blade (see
Figure 2) at x=11.03 meter.

4. Tail rotor blades weight is approximated with the same equation as Eq. 1, which yields
weight of 0.811 kg with its centroid at x=13.52 meter

5. Tail rotor hub and gearboxs weight is approximated by using the same equation with
the main rotor hub and hinge equation. This yields value of 0.811 kg with its centroid
x=13.52 meters.

6. Helicopter nose (Part 14 ) is approximated by using cone shape with a height (h) of 1.37
meter and cone base radius (r) of 1.08 meter (equal to the difference between fuselage
ground clearance (0.40 m) and tail ground clearance (1.48 m)). The surface area is A =
r(r + h2 + r2 ) = 3.41m2 with weight of 24.25 kg and the centroid is located two third the
height of the cone (x=0.913 m).

7. Fuselage (Part 2) is approximated by using ellipsoid shape with height radius (c) of 1.56
meters, longitudinal radius (a) of 2.50 meters, and width radius (b) 1.43 meters. This
1.6 +(ac)1.6 +(bc)1.6
yields surface area of A = 4( (ab) 3 )0.625 = 41.27m2 with weight of 115.56 kg
and the centroid is located on x=1.37+2.50=3.87 meters.

8. Tail boom (Part 3) resembles trapezoid shape with parallel lines (a.b) of 1.35 meter and
0.27 meter with length (l) of 7.7 meters. There is a trapezoid for each side. The area of
trapezoid is then A = 2 a+b 2
2 l = 12.474m , yielding the weight of 34.97 kg. The centroid of
(b+2a)l
the local area is calculated as c = 3(b+a) = 2.994m which is positioned at x=9.364 m from
the nose edge.
4
see Figure 2

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 9. The vertical horizontal (Part 4) of the helicopter is approximated with two rectangular
shapes with each sides of 0.27 m and 2.04 meters with angle of cos1 2.04
1.62
= 37deg with
respect to the longitudinal axis. This yields total area of A = 2 0.27 2.04 = 1.102m2
with the weight of 3.085 kg with centroid at x=12.91 meters from the nose edge.

10. System and Miscellaneous properties of helicopter is the redundant weight of empty
weight reduced by all structure and blades weight mentioned in preceding items. This
yields weight Ws = 2848.4 kg. The centroid of the system can be derived from centroid
equation, given that the helicopter centroid at xh =3.48 meters.

Wempty xh 9i=1 Wi xi
P
xs = (4)
Ws
where i represents the item number of preceding items. The calculation yields the systems
centroid located at xs = 3.381 meters from edge nose.

The moment of inertia is calculated as

10
X
Iyy = Wi (xi xh )2 (5)
i=1

Iyy = 12.155(4.02 3.48)2 + 36.04(4.02 3.48)2 + 2.909(11.03 3.48)2 + 0.811(13.52 3.48)2 +

0.811(13.52-3.48)2 + 24.25(0.913 3.48)2 + 115.56(3.87 3.48)2 + 34.97(9.364 3.48)2 +
3.085(12.91 3.48)2 + 2848.4(3.381 3.48)2
(6)

Iyy = 2033.3 kg/m2 (7)

3 References
1. Prouty, Raymond (2002). Helicopter Stability and Performance. PWS Engineering, Uni-
versity of Michigan. USA.

2. Frawley, Gerard (2003). The International Directory of Civil Aircraft 2003-2004, p. 44.
Aerospace Publications Pty Ltd.

3. (1998). Bell 212 Rotorcraft Flight Manual BHT-212IFR-FM-1 revision 3.

4. (2007). Bell 412 Model, Rotorcraft Flight Manual BHT-412-FM-2 p.1-7. Bell Helicopter
Textron, Canada. Retrieved from http://www.bellcustomer.com/files/Storage/412-FM-
2Rev10.pdf

5. (2004). Janes All The Worlds Aircraft 2004-2005. Thanet. Great Britain.

6. Saranga, Dr.Dan (2013).Bell 412 Standard Gear. Retrieved from https://www.the-blueprints.com/blueprin

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