Bell 505 for Sale: Price, Specs and Buying Guide

Who the Bell 505 suits in Africa

This is a training, tourism and light-utility aircraft, bought mainly by schools and operators refreshing an ageing fleet rather than by first-time buyers entering the market cold. Kenya's training and safari-support environment around Nairobi's Wilson Airport is a natural fit for the mission profile, alongside similar work across the region. Because the type is still relatively young in African service, insurers and lenders are still building a track record for it, so ask early in the process whether your preferred insurer or financier already has appetite for the model.

If your budget or mission needs more seats, the Bell 407GXi is a step up in the same brand family. If you are comparing it against a piston option, the Robinson R66 is the other turbine most often cross-shopped against the 505 at a similar price point.

Photos and full spec sheets of specific Bell 505 airframes are available on request via WhatsApp.

What to check before you buy a Bell 505

The 505 is a newer type, so the checklist leans toward confirming records completeness as much as component condition. None of this is unique to the 505, but it matters more on a young type where a below-par example has fewer peers to compare it against.

• Borescope the single Arrius 2R engine and track time-to-overhaul.
• Inspect the composite main rotor blades for condition and check them against their life limits.
• Pull the Garmin G1000H NXi avionics fault history.
• Check the skid gear and airframe for corrosion.
• Inspect the large glass canopy for crazing or cracking, a real risk in high-UV African climates.
• Confirm compliance with every Bell 505-specific Service Bulletin and Directive, since this is still a relatively new type with an evolving service history.
• Check logbook and records continuity carefully. Fewer pre-owned 505s exist in Africa so far, so any gap in the paperwork stands out more than it would on an older type.

Bell 505 price in 2026

Pre-owned Bell 505s trade at roughly $1.1 million to $2.7 million as of 2026, averaging around $2.0 million to $2.3 million. Because the type only entered production in 2017, almost every example on the market is a young airframe by helicopter standards, so year of build compresses into a narrower price factor than it does on a 20-year-old type.

What moves the price instead is total hours against the Arrius 2R engine's time-to-overhaul clock, avionics options fitted at the factory, and whether the canopy and airframe show UV or corrosion wear consistent with African basing. A low-hour 505 with a clean canopy commands the top of the range.

Operating costs

Budget an estimated $500 to $700 an hour, the lowest figure on this page and consistent with the 505's position as an entry-level turbine single. That makes it a reasonable step-up path for an operator currently running a Robinson R44 on piston economics who wants turbine reliability without jumping straight to H125 or 407GXi operating costs. As always, treat this as a planning estimate: get the specific utilization and maintenance-program numbers from a maintenance organisation that supports the type before finalising a budget. That range assumes fuel and a maintenance reserve; crew, insurance and hangarage sit on top, the same as any other type on this page.