Bell Helicopter is describing the Bell 525 Relentless as a “Super Puma replacement” and adopting a strategy to use the fly-by-wire (FBW) control system as a selling point.
In the past the company has categorized the helicopter as a super-medium twin, putting it in the same category as the Airbus Helicopters H175. However, the company is distancing itself from that categorization, said Patrick Moulay, v-p of global sales and marketing. Rather, the company wants the 525 to be compared to the heavier Sikorsky S-92 and Airbus H225. Bell previously marketed the helicopter as a 16-seater for oil-and-gas operations. Now, the company says, “The Relentless will be able to carry 18 passengers in oil-and-gas configuration and we are looking at 19,” he said during a meeting organized by the French association of aerospace journalists on May 17 in Paris. The company claims the aircraft’s payload-range performance is superior to that of a Leonardo AW189.
The company claims the acquisition cost is less than that of an S-92 and the operating costs will be 30 percent lower than those for a heavy helicopter.
Asked about the depressed oil-and-gas market, Moulay suggested operators should see the Bell 525 as a solution that will help them cope with operator and oil company pressure for better safety and lower costs, he said.
He did not comment, however, on whether some customers have postponed planned deliveries. Bell says it holds letters of intent for 80 copies of the 525. Some of them come from oil-and-gas operators PHI and Abu Dhabi Aviation.
Rather than promoting FBW as a technology feature per se, Moulay now wants to emphasize what the system will bring to customers, namely flight envelope protection, automation and failure management. “The market has not fully understood the merits of FBW, which has irritated me,” he said. Bell’s salespeople have been asked to improve this perception.
Another technical attribute is the integrated vehicle health management (IVHM) system. “This is Hums, pushed to the next level,” Moulay said. Thanks to the IVHM system, the 525 can self-diagnose in flight. It can send a report to the maintenance team on the ground. “I am looking for a smart way to require all operators to share data,” Moulay said. This would help the airframer improve its product and the entire fleet would benefit, he suggested.
Moulay hinted that 525 technology will be used in Bell’s future civil products. AIN understands this includes FBW.
The latest flight-tests have pushed speed beyond 200 knots. Cat A takeoff performance has been a major goal. The program is said to be on time for FAA certification and first delivery next year.