Bell 206L LongRanger

The Bell 206L3 is a light single-engine turbine helicopter and is a much improved version of the stretched Bell 206 Jet Ranger launched by Bell in 1973. The stretch added only 1.7 feet to the aft cabin, but allowed installation of two seats canted slightly towards the centerline. This increased seating capacity to seven and allowed a more private cabin for four or five passengers behind the pilot. This proved to be an instant hit particularly with the air charter, corporate and EMS operators. Those who study the Model numbers of this helicopter will note that the Model numbers went from 206L1 to 206L3 and that there is no 206L2. The best explanation available is that the marketing folks decided to match the Model number with the number after the ?LongRanger? name ? the 206L1 is also the LongRanger II, which proved to be quite confusing. Thus the 206L2 was skipped so that the Model number (206L3) would match the name number (LongRanger III).