A little known fact of the aviation history of helicopters is the record flight taken by an Iranian army Bell 214 helicopter with respect to (a) altitude and (b) time to height categories. The reports of these achievements were reported in the Flight International Journal (March, 9, 1975). Below is the page from the Flight International journal which provided this report.
The International Flight journal of March 9, 1975 with the report on the Iranian Bell 214A helicopter.
The Journal reported the following statistics. The first was Maximum altitude achieved at 29,750 feet. This broke the previous record set in 1964 for 25,418 feet set by a UH-D. The other statistics are cited below:
- Maximum sustained altitude in horizontal flight – 29,500 feet: 90 seconds
- Time to 3,000 meters – 9,842 feet: 2 minutes 25 seconds
- Time to 6,000 meters – 19,685 feet: 5 minutes 55 seconds
- Time to 9,000 meters – 29,527 feet: 15 minutes 38 seconds
The commanding pilot who set this world record was Major General Manouchehr Khosrowdad (General of Iranian Army aviation). His co-pilot was Clem A. Bailey (Bell assistant chief helicopter test pilot).
An Iranian army Bell 214 helicopter in the 1970s (Source: کروچیف). By March 1975, Iran had received a total of 287 Bell 214 helicopters from the United States.
