Bell Helicopter is displaying a mock-up of its 525 super-medium twin at the static display area and a 429WLG in corporate livery in the booth on the show floor at this year's NBAA. Bell director of marketing Chuck Evans said the corporate market continues to account for a quarter of all company sales. He added that Bell remains committed to the segment with new products, even in the face of an overall challenging global market for rotorcraft due largely to depressed oil prices triggering a decline in offshore energy exploration. “Last year was a year to forget for everyone in our space. The market is better this year than last, and I expect more improvement next year,” Evans said.
“Our corporate market is between 24 and 28 percent in North America so it's a big segment for us—our second most prominent segment—and we'll be putting a lot of energy into it. The Northeast U.S. is a strong market, and we've seen some strong interest in the Southwest all the way out to the California coast and even in Canada. It's about 24 percent of our market up there, even with the unfavorable exchange rate. We're in the trough, and we're headed upwards once the new products get out there and people start seeing them. That's what we're going to see on the [new] 505 [light single],” he said.
Bell received FAA certification on the 505 Jet Ranger X earlier this year and had delivered five through the second quarter. The 505 features the dual-channel Fadec Turbomeca Arrius 2R engine (504 shp) and Garmin G1000H avionics. Available configurations of the new five-seater will initially be utility, law enforcement and corporate/VIP. The base 505 is priced at $1.07 million but typically optioned delivers for between $1.2 and $1.4 million, Evans said. The 505 is designed for a maximum cruise speed of 125 ktas, a maximum range of 360 nm and a useful load of up to 1,500 pounds. Evans said approximately “85 percent” of the 400 Jet Ranger X 505s ordered to date have been in the private pilot-owned/corporate/VIP market. “It's a price point that makes it a value in that space,” he said.
Evans said Bell is in the process of ramping up 505 production. “We'll get to steady state [production] on the 505 in a year or so. We'll get to critical mass mid to late next year. In early September we just delivered another ship in the U.S., and we are currently seeking EASA certification.” He said that Bell is continuing to gain more foreign certification approvals for the 505. “It's pretty typical that you ramp production as you add authority certifications. By the fourth quarter we'll have most of the [505's] options FAA certified.”
Most 505 customers are participating in Bell's new Customer Advantage Plan (CAP), Evans said. “The last five [505] aircraft delivered have it.” Bell launched the fixed-cost-per-flight-hour, parts-only CAPS program in 2016 and already has 100 aircraft (all models) enrolled. CAP features two simple comprehensive plans with holistic coverage options including the standard and premier plans. Both cover the basic helicopter configuration with optional coverage for non-standard kits. Customers get preferred rates at Bell customer service facilities, the plans are transferable upon aircraft resale and there are no “buy-ins” for select premier fleet customers.
Evans said Bell talks to customers at the point of sale and right before delivery about CAP. However, most CAP sales happen right before delivery. “That seems to be the time when customers are more focused about warranties. That's a pretty normal evolution,” he said.
Evans said Bell also expects its new 525 super-medium twin to do well in the upper end of the corporate/VIP market. Bell resumed flight testing of the 525 on July 7, a year after the fatal crash of the program's first flight-test aircraft. The NTSB has yet to issue its final report on that accident. That aircraft was conducting tests near Vne speeds when the main rotor rpm dropped off and the main rotors departed the normal rotation plane and struck both the tailboom and the nose during the in-flight break-up sequence that destroyed the helicopter, according to the NTSB. Bell said the 525 remains on track for certification in 2018. The 160-knot 525 features fly-by-wire flight controls, the Garmin G5000H touchscreen-controlled avionics system, power from two GE Aviation CT7-2F1 engines, and high-density seating for up to 20 or six to eight in executive/VIP configurations.
“We're still feeling our way through flight test and getting back up to speed again. We'll have a lot more to say at NBAA and we have a whole relaunch ready to go as soon as the [final accident] report is released from the NTSB,” Evans said. In early September, one of two completed test aircraft was flying and another two flight test aircraft were being completed. Evans said Bell planned to have all four in the air by year-end. “That's our plan,” he said.
“The 525 is going to be a great corporate ship, particularly in New York, where we have a lot of density in the market,” Evans said. “It will be able to fly single-engine to max gross weight. We've never had that [in a helicopter] before. We've done a lot of work on the interiors and we're continuing to refine those.” Evans pointed to an interior developed for the 525 by Mecaer that quiets the cabin to the point where occupants can speak in normal tones without headsets. “It also will be quite a bit quieter than the existing platforms in that space. With the demise of the oil business, [corporate/VIP is] obviously an area of focus for us, and we're shifting our market focus for this aircraft. We have strong head-of-state interest from foreign customers, and it's a good fit for customers looking at a variety of platforms, from a [Leonardo] AW139 to a [Sikorsky] S-92,” he said.