Story ID: 756Bell
Bell 525, 505 gets MAGed
By: Mark Huber
Caption: Bell Helicopter (Booth 219) and Mecaer unveiled the MAGnificent VVIP 8 passenger interior for the Bell 525 super-medium twin helicopter
Word Count: 322
Bell Helicopter (Booth 219) and Mecaer unveiled the MAGnificent VVIP 8 passenger interior for the Bell 525 super-medium twin helicopter for the first time in North America this week at NBAA 2016. The companies also announced their intent to develop a luxury interior for the smaller Model 505 Jet Ranger X single.

The 525 interior is installed in a full-scale mock-up of that helicopter in Bell’s NBAA booth. Bell is also displaying a 429 light twin fitted with a corporate interior at the static display. Bell and Mecaer previously collaborated on a VVIP interior for the 429 that is just now beginning customer deliveries.

Larry Thimmesch, vice president of 525 sales, said the helicopter is attracting a lot of interest from potential corporate and VIP clients and has critical systems similar to what is found on modern large cabin corporate jets, including fly-by-wire flight controls, and triplex hydraulic, electrical, air data and actuation systems. “It truly is a clean sheet, state-of-the-art aircraft,” Thimmesch said, citing the aircraft’s Garmin G5000H touchscreen avionics with enhanced and synthetic vision and flight envelope protection.

The helicopter also will be certified for operation into known icing. It will have a range near 500 nm, a top cruising speed of 185 knots and be able to carry up to 20 passengers. Thimmesch said the 525 is a “perfect VIP aircraft" because of its advanced vibration control that "isolates vibration at its source.”

The Mecaer interior was developed by the company's Italian design studio and includes proprietary technologies, including I-Feel wireless cabin control and communication technology via personal smart device and the Silence passive noise-abatement system. The interior is available in a variety of different configurations. Certification of the interior for the 525 is pending.

For the 505, Mecaer said it would create an interior with high-end materials, multiple storage consoles and "trim options" to create “an added level of comfort and technology that is unique for each customer.”