The
Bell 206 is a family of two-bladed, single- or twin-engined
helicopters, manufactured by
Bell Helicopter at its
Mirabel, Quebec plant. Originally developed as the
Bell YOH-4 for the
United States Army's
Light Observation Helicopter program, it was not selected by the Army. Bell redesigned the airframe and successfully marketed the aircraft commercially as the five-place
Bell 206A JetRanger. The new design was eventually selected by the Army as the
OH-58 Kiowa. Bell also developed a seven-place
LongRanger, which was later offered with a twin-engined option as the
TwinRanger, while Tridair Helicopters offers a similar conversion of the LongRanger called the
Gemini ST. The
ICAO-assigned model designation "B06" is used on
flight plans for the JetRanger and LongRanger, and the designation "B06T" is used for the twin-engined TwinRangers.