When Bell Helicopter unveiled the 407GX and 407AH at Heli-Expo 2011 in Orlando, Fla., it re-assured the commercial helicopter industry that it hadnt stopped making forward progress. Yet, despite the innovations represented in these Model 407 variants, they remained just that variants. Worse, by Heli-Expo time last March, most people in the industry knew Bell had a medium-category commercial helicopter in the works, and the joint 407GX/407AH unveiling wasnt the announcement they were waiting for.

This year, Bell has finally taken the wraps off its biggest commercial development project in recent history: the Bell 525 Relentless, the program formerly known by the code name Magellan. A 16-passenger helicopter in the 18,000-pound gross weight range, the 525 Relentless is Bells largest commercial helicopter to date and a departure from anything in its current product range. It occupies what the company is describing as the super medium category heavier than the commercial derivatives of the UH-1 Huey family that have been synonymous with Bell medium for decades, but more cost-effective than the heavy helicopters now on the market.

Clearly, Bell is looking to reclaim the share of the offshore passenger transportation market it lost when oil-and-gas operators began moving away from the Bell 412 in favor of newer, larger helicopters that can fly farther and faster. However, the Relentless is more than just another long-haul people mover. With a cockpit unlike anything the helicopter industry has ever seen, the Relentless incorporates groundbreaking technologies that may genuinely revolutionize the way we fly.

Bell intends for the 525 Relentless to revolutionize its commercial business, too. In an interview before Heli-Expo, senior vice-president for commercial business Larry Roberts told Vertical, In general terms, [Relentless] represents not only a new product for Bell Helicopter, but a new way we have decided to approach the market. . . . Its a true transition of power to the voice of the customer.

A Value Proposition

First, lets look at the numbers. The 16-passenger, roughly 18,000-pound Relentless will have a range in the neighborhood of 400 nautical miles, and a cruise speed in the neighborhood of 140 knots. It puts us with a product that has performance and range and payload goals that are unique in the industry, said Roberts. By aiming just below what todays heavy helicopters can offer, Bell intends to provide its customers with a value proposition: an aircraft that can handle most long-range offshore missions, at a very competitive price. At least, thats the theory. Roberts continued, You can boil it down to the idea of value. . . . It allows us to put together a helicopter that provides the customer with the best value, from the short missions to the very long ones.

The Relentless will be powered by two General Electric CT7-2 engines rated at a maximum of 1,800 shaft horsepower each. Said Bell VP for commercial programs Larry Thimmesch, We selected the GE engine based on its available power and low fuel consumption, coupled with the proven reliability that is so critical to our customers.

The helicopter will have a five-bladed main rotor optimized to provide a smooth, comfortable ride, and a cavernous cabin that was likewise designed with comfort in mind its 20-inch-wide passenger seats are roomier than the industry norm. We spent a lot of time focusing on seating comfort, said Thimmesch. Passenger safety was an even greater priority: no passenger in the standard-seating configuration is more than one seat away from egress, and life rafts are located just outside the cabin doors.

Transformational Design and Technology

The 525 airframe incorporates a number of design features with benefits that are not immediately obvious. For example, the unique tail boom design reduces downward drag on the helicopter, giving operators basically free performance, according to Thimmesch.

The cockpit, however, is sure to cause helicopter pilots to do a double take. The cyclic has been removed from its traditional position between the pilots legs transformed into a small hand controller at the end of a forearm rest on the pilots right side. The collective remains on the pilots left side, but it has also been dramatically reduced in size. You have a wide-open cockpit, said Roberts. Pilots have never seen this.

The transformation of the flight controls has been made possible by a transition to fly-by-wire technology, with flight control computers (FCCs) by BAE Systems, eliminating the mechanical components that originally dictated the traditional controls sizes and positions. (Roberts was sure to note that pilots will still get reactivity back from the system.) This is the same technology used in the Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey, and, like the Osprey, the 525 Relentless will have triple-redundant systems. And, as with the Osprey, or any other fly-by-wire aircraft, pilots will have to get used to operating within the limits imposed by the FCCs. According to Roberts, however, the FCCs, will provide an impressively wide range of maneuvering capability and not require the need, or, for that matter, the ability, to override. (For more on flying the Osprey, see p.108, Vertical, Feb-Mar12.)

Eliminating the cyclic from the floor of the cockpit has also allowed Bell to move the pilot seats closer to the touchscreen controllers for the Garmin G5000H glass cockpit (see p.16, this issue), a helicopter version of the G5000 system found in the new Cessna Citation X business jet. More than simply a gee-whiz innovation, the touchscreen feature dramatically expands the systems potential, because its functionality is not limited by a finite number of buttons. While in the air, have you ever wondered what things look like in your baggage compartment or behind your tail boom? In the Relentless, youll be able to view real-time camera images on one of the G5000Hs four landscape displays.

The G5000H will also provide an unprecedented window into the helicopters systems for pilots and maintainers alike. Roberts suggested the flight deck could be programmed to let pilots know when theyre operating the Relentless at maximum efficiency, similar to the eco light on many modern cars. It will also enhance the ability of the 525s health and usage monitoring system (HUMS) to analyze and communicate maintenance and performance data. Remarked Roberts, It really is a fantastic new way of being able to bring the diagnostic and HUMS capabilities to new levels.

Another factor that should help optimize maintenance processes and reduce maintenance costs is the fact that the Relentless will be developed through a Maintenance Steering Group 3 (MSG-3) process, something that is still uncommon in the helicopter world. Although Bells last brand-new commercial product, the Bell 429, also went through an MSG-3 process (see p.52, Vertical, Aug-Sept 2009), Roberts said the process for the Relentless will be far more advanced and comprehensive.

The Voice of the Customer

How will the helicopter industry respond to the 525 Relentless?

Bell is confident the response will be positive, because many of the innovations in the Relentless are the direct result of customer feedback. According to Roberts, Bell relied heavily on a customer advisory panel in creating the 525, reaching out to a broad range of owners, operators and end users. We got them all together and asked them to really think as a Bell team.

The launch customer for the Relentless is offshore specialist PHI Inc., as the helicopter is clearly one that is well suited for the offshore oil-and-gas industry. However, Roberts stated that the Relentless is not oil-and-gas centered. . . .

It really is a helicopter for all missions. For example, we think it will be one of the best SAR [search-and-rescue] helicopters in the world today, and in the future. Although the Relentless has been designed from a clean sheet of paper as a commercial helicopter for the commercial market, Roberts is willing to grant that it may also have appeal for government and parapublic operators. The more people who look at it, the more obvious it becomes that there will be parapublic applications.

As previously reported (see p.42, Vertical, Feb-Mar 12), the Relentless will be built in Amarillo, Texas, rather than at the Mirabel, Que., facility that houses Bells current commercial production lines. Accordingly, the initial type certificate will be pursued through the United States Federal Aviation Administration rather than Transport Canada. First flight is targeted for 2014, with certification to follow soon thereafter.

Certification of a new helicopter model is always a lengthy and unpredictable process, but Bell believes the technologies incorporated on the 525 are so innovative they wont be outdated anytime soon. As Roberts said, the Relentless represents the voice of the customer, and a product that will serve their needs in the future industry. The response at Heli-Expo 2012 should indicate whether the industry agrees.

Visit Bell Helicopter at Booth NOs. 20, 21, 22 and 9846