New Bell Helicopter Program?
Bell Magellan
I think there was a thread on here, regarding a new helo being developed by Bell, prior to this year's Heli Expo however I can't seem to find it on here so please forgive me
Anyhow from what I gather the project - Magellan is development of a medium weight airframe for offshore purposes completely new design from Fort Worth to replace the 412 and can carry up to 15 passengers to compete against the likes of the EC175 and the AW139.
However the other reference to Magellan was retrofitting and upgrading the 412 with Rogerson - Kratos digital cockpit with EVS, improved situation awareness and 4 x digital displays etc etc.
There's plenty of references from various aviation news sources online however I can't seem to find an official Bell Helicopter release let alone an artists impression of whats brewing in the XworX?
Cheers
Anyhow from what I gather the project - Magellan is development of a medium weight airframe for offshore purposes completely new design from Fort Worth to replace the 412 and can carry up to 15 passengers to compete against the likes of the EC175 and the AW139.
However the other reference to Magellan was retrofitting and upgrading the 412 with Rogerson - Kratos digital cockpit with EVS, improved situation awareness and 4 x digital displays etc etc.
There's plenty of references from various aviation news sources online however I can't seem to find an official Bell Helicopter release let alone an artists impression of whats brewing in the XworX?
Cheers
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Bell Magellan
The Magellan project is expected to be unvieled at the next HAI. It's unlikely to be yet another 412 upgrade as this could be announced anytime. I believe Magellan will be a 'clean-sheet' design with a bias towards the lucrative offshore market. BHT fully realise that the 412-family is showing its age against the AW139 and up-coming EC175. The EC155B1 has not caught on as much as some would have hoped while the S76D appears to be a non-starter for offshore work.
If Magellan is a 412 replacement, everyone in the offshore industry will be waiting to see if Bell have eliminated the Achilles Heel of this helicopter and one that is the bane of HLO's world-wide - that with a full load of passengers, it has to be loaded and unloaded from both sides.
If Magellan is a 412 replacement, everyone in the offshore industry will be waiting to see if Bell have eliminated the Achilles Heel of this helicopter and one that is the bane of HLO's world-wide - that with a full load of passengers, it has to be loaded and unloaded from both sides.
Quote
If Magellan is a 412 replacement, everyone in the offshore industry will be waiting to see if Bell have eliminated the Achilles Heel of this helicopter and one that is the bane of HLO's world-wide - that with a full load of passengers, it has to be loaded and unloaded from both sides.
Oh, and here we were thinking that its weak points were the sllloooooow speed, i fuel burn rate and small payload, not to mention its notoriously delicate C Box.
I guess after 3000 hours on it I had it all wrong.
If Magellan is a 412 replacement, everyone in the offshore industry will be waiting to see if Bell have eliminated the Achilles Heel of this helicopter and one that is the bane of HLO's world-wide - that with a full load of passengers, it has to be loaded and unloaded from both sides.
Oh, and here we were thinking that its weak points were the sllloooooow speed, i fuel burn rate and small payload, not to mention its notoriously delicate C Box.
I guess after 3000 hours on it I had it all wrong.
I found the either/both side access was a benefit....not a detriment!
Is sure makes it a lot easier when doing multi-stop flights with just a few passengers getting on and off at each stop.
Is sure makes it a lot easier when doing multi-stop flights with just a few passengers getting on and off at each stop.
It would seem the Eagle Single has been a decent STC. Although their timing was probably a little unfortunate considering the GFC.
Perhaps if bell put the soft-in-plane head and some of the EP upgrades to that engine (or a single PT6-67C), they would have a great alternative to the 205's and 212's without a lot of R&D.
Secondly, I'd love to see a wider cabin, flat floored 407 with something like a HTS900 to really compete with the AS350's (IMHO where Bell has been so lacking in the last 20 years)
Perhaps if bell put the soft-in-plane head and some of the EP upgrades to that engine (or a single PT6-67C), they would have a great alternative to the 205's and 212's without a lot of R&D.
Secondly, I'd love to see a wider cabin, flat floored 407 with something like a HTS900 to really compete with the AS350's (IMHO where Bell has been so lacking in the last 20 years)
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Tottigo (Post #27): Given that the original basic design of the present 412 first flew in 1956, yes 1956 (as the UH-1) and that the Twin-Pac version first flew in 1969 (as the CUH-1N), it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the performance isn’t quite up to more modern types in terms of speed and fuel burn. But with 3,000 hours on type you must know some of the history of the aircraft you fly – don’t you? This is essentially what I meant when I said “…the 412-family is showing its age…” Your comment about a “…notoriously delicate C Box...” seems more of a local issue as the 412 is certainly NOT known for this reason. I suggest you check your maintenance standards and practices.
SASless (Post #28): “…either/both side access was a benefit....not a detriment!...” I couldn’t agree more. However, it does become a detriment when, for example as I witnessed myself, arriving on a helideck with a full load of passengers and the HLO is supervising disembarking them from the right-side and, after a few moments, the two passengers sitting in the left-side outward facing seats feel they’ve been forgotten and get the last passenger to open the right-side door for them and proceed to disembark themselves unsupervised. Then, standing on the helideck on the opposite side of the helicopter from the HLO who doesn’t see them, they suddenly remember that their baggage was loaded in the tailboom so they walk around the rear of the ‘turning-and-burning’ helicopter to retrieve their baggage. All of this time, the co-pilot is screaming at them, the pilot is screaming at the HLO and the HLO is screaming at the two passengers who are blissfully unaware of what has just happened. That is what I was referring to. With your extensive experience I’m sure you’ve come across this scenario, or slight variations of it, and I’m sure that tottigo, with his 3,000 hours of 412 time, has.
SASless (Post #28): “…either/both side access was a benefit....not a detriment!...” I couldn’t agree more. However, it does become a detriment when, for example as I witnessed myself, arriving on a helideck with a full load of passengers and the HLO is supervising disembarking them from the right-side and, after a few moments, the two passengers sitting in the left-side outward facing seats feel they’ve been forgotten and get the last passenger to open the right-side door for them and proceed to disembark themselves unsupervised. Then, standing on the helideck on the opposite side of the helicopter from the HLO who doesn’t see them, they suddenly remember that their baggage was loaded in the tailboom so they walk around the rear of the ‘turning-and-burning’ helicopter to retrieve their baggage. All of this time, the co-pilot is screaming at them, the pilot is screaming at the HLO and the HLO is screaming at the two passengers who are blissfully unaware of what has just happened. That is what I was referring to. With your extensive experience I’m sure you’ve come across this scenario, or slight variations of it, and I’m sure that tottigo, with his 3,000 hours of 412 time, has.
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Bell published its plans for 412 Block upgrades earlier this year, pgs 6-7:
http://www.bellhelicopter.textron.co...9/rb_Q1_11.pdf
http://www.bellhelicopter.textron.co...9/rb_Q1_11.pdf
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New
Can you actually use the words New Design & Bell Helicopter in the same sentence?
Don't they just like to recycle old airframe ideas?
Seems that when they get that urge to build something new, the go in with the Italians or someone as a joint venture, then they seem to lose interest and give the project away. Leaving the other side very happy, especially in the case of the AB/AW139.
Seems to me like Bell has given up.
Here in China, last summer they had their first Heli-Expo. Everyone knows China's helicopter market is set to explode. I went for a look.
Funny that, Eurocopter, Agusta, Sikorsky, Robinson even Rotorway and the Russian manufacturers were there BUT WHERE WAS BELL? No where to be seen. Sound marketing strategy? Mmmm
Don't they just like to recycle old airframe ideas?
Seems that when they get that urge to build something new, the go in with the Italians or someone as a joint venture, then they seem to lose interest and give the project away. Leaving the other side very happy, especially in the case of the AB/AW139.
Seems to me like Bell has given up.
Here in China, last summer they had their first Heli-Expo. Everyone knows China's helicopter market is set to explode. I went for a look.
Funny that, Eurocopter, Agusta, Sikorsky, Robinson even Rotorway and the Russian manufacturers were there BUT WHERE WAS BELL? No where to be seen. Sound marketing strategy? Mmmm
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I have been informed by contacts in Bell that they plan a major announcement of a new product at the Heli Expo in Feb. Most guesses are similar to what has been mentioned previously on this thread with a larger helicopter to compete with the Agusta 139 EC175
Acer, thanks for that link. Perhaps Magellan will help Bell find their way back to being a premier helicopter manufacturing concern. 
, and that Textron consider renaming the tilt rotor division Semper Fly.
Hat, coat, exit ...
This is not a change in our manufacturing and final assembly strategy. Mirabel remains our principle commercial aircraft assembly center and commercial airframe design center of excellence; and Amarillo remains our military assembly and delivery center of excellence. Engineers in Mirabel assigned to the Magellan development team will continue that work.
FWIW: I suggest, on the strength of the article's coda cited above, that the Bell consider renaming themselves Belle Hélicoptère , and that Textron consider renaming the tilt rotor division Semper Fly. Hat, coat, exit ...
I suggest.... that the Bell consider renaming themselves Belle Hélicoptère , and that Textron consider renaming the tilt rotor division Semper Fly.
Humm... 
Bell looks to “Super Medium” for future success with new 525SMT model | Helihub - the Helicopter Industry Data Source
Interesting times
Regards
Aser
16 Jan, 12 Just before Christmas, Bell filed a flurry of Trademark applications with the US Patent and Trademark Office. In particular, theses ones – each one listed as a trademark for a name of a helicopter or aircraft.
- 525SMT
- Super Medium
- Super Medium Transport
- Super Medium Class
- 525SMT
- Super Medium
- Super Medium Transport
- Super Medium Class
Interesting times
Regards
Aser
Bell Helicopter
Altitude is about to get a whole new attitude.
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Don't miss the most exciting product reveal at HELI-EXPO 2012. Join us at 11:30 a.m. on 2.12.12 at booth #9846. And be one of the first to experience just how relentless we are about listening to customers.
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From the Star-Telegram Vision for Bell Helicopter project emerges | Business | Dallas Business, Texas Business,...
Bell Helicopter will soon take the wraps off its most ambitious nonmilitary aircraft development program ever, an estimated $500 million effort to develop a long-range helicopter to haul workers and supplies to oil rigs at least 200 miles offshore.
Fort Worth-based Bell will unveil details about the new commercial helicopter at a trade show in Dallas next month, and company officials aren't talking about it until then. But the Star-Telegram has learned a few key details about the scope of the effort, which could boost the company's employment in North Texas.
Launched a year ago as Project Magellan, the new helicopter will likely be known as the Bell 525 Magellan Super Medium Transport, based on trademark applications Bell filed last month.
According to individuals familiar with the project and internal documents provided to the Star-Telegram, it would be the biggest helicopter Bell has ever built, weighing about 91/2 tons when fully loaded with passengers, baggage and fuel.
With twin turbine (jet) engines driving a new five-blade rotor, the helicopter can carry 16 passengers and a crew of two. It could fly at least 200 nautical miles, perhaps close to 300 miles, then carry back that many people on one tank of fuel, according to the documents provided to potential suppliers.
It's a major undertaking for Bell, which for more than a decade has considered building a big helicopter to serve oil rigs and do other long-range jobs.
"With an all-new, clean-sheet-of-paper design, it's a $500 million investment, at least," to bring such an aircraft to market, said Richard Aboulafia, aircraft market analyst for the Teal Group forecasting firm in Fairfax, Va.
The new helicopter would likely help Bell maintain and perhaps increase employment in Texas.
Bell does much of its research and development work at its Xworx facility in Arlington. Officials have said they plan to assemble the copter at the company's military aircraft facility in Amarillo. Bell factories in the Fort Worth area would likely manufacture many parts, such as rotor blades and transmissions.
It's ambitious in more ways than one. Bell, according to one document, expects to have the aircraft designed, built and tested by mid-2016, with first delivery to a paying customer that year, although such schedules are typically optimistic.
The company also expects robust sales of 60 to 70 aircraft a year by the end of the decade. That would be 50 percent or more of the current sales in the medium helicopter market, a very aggressive forecast for a market with established competitors with modern aircraft.
"Everybody," Aboulafia said of Bell and its competitors, "thinks they're going to get 50 percent of the market."
One company, Italy's AgustaWestland, has taken a big slice of the offshore oil market in recent years with its AW139, which seats 12 to 15 passengers and has a range of 200 nautical miles. Bell was once a partner in that program.
AgustaWestland has sold as many as 80 AW139s a year recently, Aboulafia said, and the company is working on a slightly larger version, the AW189.
Another rival, Eurocopter, expects to deliver its new EC175 this year. It's designed to haul 16 to 18 passengers short distances or to ferry 12 passengers as far as 190 nautical miles one way. At the upper end of the market are even bigger aircraft, such as the Eurocopter EC225 Super Puma and Sikorsky S-92.
Bell's only product in that market segment is its 412EP, a much-upgraded version of the Vietnam-era Huey military helicopter, which lacks the long range and capacity of new aircraft. Bell plans to announce the aircraft's latest version, the 412I, in Dallas as well.
Over the longer term, Bell appears to believe that the new Magellan can cut a large slice out of the middle of the medium offshore market, between the smaller and larger aircraft.
"It's a very difficult proposition for Bell to launch this aircraft now because there's already Sikorsky, Agusta and us," said Marc Paganini, president of American Eurocopter in Grand Prairie, the U.S. arm of the European manufacturer. Paganini doesn't expect the market, now 120 or so helicopters a year, to grow significantly.
The Magellan is an important undertaking for the future of Bell, just its second all-new commercial helicopter. Its launch comes as the company has strong cash flow to invest in development, thanks to its V-22 Osprey and military helicopters.
Military sales are expected to taper off, so Bell will need a strong lineup of modern commercial helicopters to stay successful.
Bell Helicopter will soon take the wraps off its most ambitious nonmilitary aircraft development program ever, an estimated $500 million effort to develop a long-range helicopter to haul workers and supplies to oil rigs at least 200 miles offshore.
Fort Worth-based Bell will unveil details about the new commercial helicopter at a trade show in Dallas next month, and company officials aren't talking about it until then. But the Star-Telegram has learned a few key details about the scope of the effort, which could boost the company's employment in North Texas.
Launched a year ago as Project Magellan, the new helicopter will likely be known as the Bell 525 Magellan Super Medium Transport, based on trademark applications Bell filed last month.
According to individuals familiar with the project and internal documents provided to the Star-Telegram, it would be the biggest helicopter Bell has ever built, weighing about 91/2 tons when fully loaded with passengers, baggage and fuel.
With twin turbine (jet) engines driving a new five-blade rotor, the helicopter can carry 16 passengers and a crew of two. It could fly at least 200 nautical miles, perhaps close to 300 miles, then carry back that many people on one tank of fuel, according to the documents provided to potential suppliers.
It's a major undertaking for Bell, which for more than a decade has considered building a big helicopter to serve oil rigs and do other long-range jobs.
"With an all-new, clean-sheet-of-paper design, it's a $500 million investment, at least," to bring such an aircraft to market, said Richard Aboulafia, aircraft market analyst for the Teal Group forecasting firm in Fairfax, Va.
The new helicopter would likely help Bell maintain and perhaps increase employment in Texas.
Bell does much of its research and development work at its Xworx facility in Arlington. Officials have said they plan to assemble the copter at the company's military aircraft facility in Amarillo. Bell factories in the Fort Worth area would likely manufacture many parts, such as rotor blades and transmissions.
It's ambitious in more ways than one. Bell, according to one document, expects to have the aircraft designed, built and tested by mid-2016, with first delivery to a paying customer that year, although such schedules are typically optimistic.
The company also expects robust sales of 60 to 70 aircraft a year by the end of the decade. That would be 50 percent or more of the current sales in the medium helicopter market, a very aggressive forecast for a market with established competitors with modern aircraft.
"Everybody," Aboulafia said of Bell and its competitors, "thinks they're going to get 50 percent of the market."
One company, Italy's AgustaWestland, has taken a big slice of the offshore oil market in recent years with its AW139, which seats 12 to 15 passengers and has a range of 200 nautical miles. Bell was once a partner in that program.
AgustaWestland has sold as many as 80 AW139s a year recently, Aboulafia said, and the company is working on a slightly larger version, the AW189.
Another rival, Eurocopter, expects to deliver its new EC175 this year. It's designed to haul 16 to 18 passengers short distances or to ferry 12 passengers as far as 190 nautical miles one way. At the upper end of the market are even bigger aircraft, such as the Eurocopter EC225 Super Puma and Sikorsky S-92.
Bell's only product in that market segment is its 412EP, a much-upgraded version of the Vietnam-era Huey military helicopter, which lacks the long range and capacity of new aircraft. Bell plans to announce the aircraft's latest version, the 412I, in Dallas as well.
Over the longer term, Bell appears to believe that the new Magellan can cut a large slice out of the middle of the medium offshore market, between the smaller and larger aircraft.
"It's a very difficult proposition for Bell to launch this aircraft now because there's already Sikorsky, Agusta and us," said Marc Paganini, president of American Eurocopter in Grand Prairie, the U.S. arm of the European manufacturer. Paganini doesn't expect the market, now 120 or so helicopters a year, to grow significantly.
The Magellan is an important undertaking for the future of Bell, just its second all-new commercial helicopter. Its launch comes as the company has strong cash flow to invest in development, thanks to its V-22 Osprey and military helicopters.
Military sales are expected to taper off, so Bell will need a strong lineup of modern commercial helicopters to stay successful.