In a overblown theatrical production much like... a lot of other Bell helicopter product intros, Bell recently rolled out the mock up of their new "super-medium" class helicopter, the Bell 525 Relentless.
Looking something like a cross between an AW139, 214ST, and a stretch S-76, the most shocking thing is that Bell appears to have gone with a clean sheet design, no small step for a company that seemingly begins designing new helicopters with old blueprints and erasers.
16 seats! 18K Max Gross! 140 knots! Five blades! Fly-by-wire controls! Garmin G5000 Avionics! A big baggage compartment! First flight still a couple years off... I hope many of these features survive to production.
I am excited to see Bell moving forward with a new design, and I hope that they can move this project forward soon and build into it the hell-and-back reliability and unmatched product support that made Bell great in the first place.
Still I remember the Bell 417, rapid and frequent Bell CEO changes, and other projects that just didn't make it, but I am still hopeful. Maybe they learned a lot from their involvement in the AW139 (once the Agusta-BELL 139) and don't want to lose that segment of the market.
Good luck to you, Bell. Stay on schedule, and for heavens sake lose that ugly paint job on the prototype!
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