Bell 525 Relentless

[The Sultan]

525 First Flight

After a brief ground run period the 525 has completed first flight.
The Sultan

[chopper2004]

Yep seen a pic form some1 outside the fence on FB,

No official word as yet,

cheers

[The Sultan]

I had the Youtube video linked, but I deleted it after it was pulled from Youtube.

The Sultan

[John Eacott]

Bell's official photos are now online, here

[laurenson]

have you seen Bell525 first take off, the helicopter looks unstable and with a an aft centre of gravity.

[terminus mos]

This is going to be a good helicopter. Watch out H175 and AW189. At the next show, the Bell Stand will be on my list.

[Nige321]

[The Sultan]

Laurenson

First flight conducted in 20 knots gusting winds so they already doubled the envelope of the S-97 on its first flight. As to aft cg it is designed to carry 18. Since it only had a crew of two, one would expect an aft cg.

The Sultan

[laurenson]

yes, I have thought that the helicopter is empty, but with full fuel and no passager or test recorder in board, the helicopter will be even more aft CG

[Lonewolf_50]

Originally Posted by laurenson

have you seen Bell525 first take off, the helicopter looks unstable and with a an aft centre of gravity.

Laurenson:
Did you arrive at this conclusion from being there during lift off and observing this evolution closely, or from viewing a youtube clip?

Sultan:
What has the S-97 got to do with this?

Double the envelope? Do you have the telemetry data for both first flights?

PS: Tip of the cap to Bell and the 525 team, glad to see the program making progress.

[laurenson]

You have right Lonewolf_50, first congratulation to the team.

Then when I compare the H160 and Bell 525, it seem the bell helicopter is less stable even if the wind could explain that.

[Lonewolf_50]

Originally Posted by laurenson

You have right Lonewolf_50, first congratulation to the team.

Then when I compare the H160 and Bell 525, it seem the bell helicopter is less stable even if the wind could explain that.

Perhaps my eye is not as acute as yours in discerning such things. Hell, I'm getting old and the eyes sometimes need a second look to see things clearly.

Anyway, it's exciting to me when someone gets a new model working.
(I still am sad that Comanche got canned. That was a cool bird).

[ATN]

HI,

Why is the T/R tilted downwards? New trend?

[Ian Corrigible]

ATN,

Here you go:

Why angled/tilted tail rotors?
Canted tail rotor pylons, why?
20 degree cant on CH-53 and HH-60

For its part, Bell says the main benefits of the 525's canted TR are reduced fuel burn (in combination with the 'lift assist tailboom design') and improved CG characteristics.

I/C

[ATN]

IC,

Thank you. It escaped me that the thrust coud be directed the opposite way, as for example the H175.

[heli1]

Can anyone recall any other time when three brand new helicopter designs have made their first flights all within the same six weeks? Ruling out the S-97,which is XP, it will be interesting to see which of the other two gets certificated and into service first?

[noooby]

I take it they are NOT looking at moving into the HEMS/SAR market with this, looking at the size of those main wheels. Or are the photo's deceiving and the wheels are actually bigger than they look??

[whoknows idont]

I take it they are NOT looking at moving into the HEMS/SAR market with this, looking at the size of those main wheels. Or are the photo's deceiving and the wheels are actually bigger than they look??

Why would you want to do civil HEMS with a 20.000 lb helicopter?

[The Sultan]

Noooby

The wide stance of the landing gear on the 525 makes it ideal for rough or at sea landings unlike the Puma series and by observation the new Airbus 175. Example below.

http://flightsafety.org/hs/hs_sept-oct04.pdf

The Sultan

[qwerty223]

175 maybe, but saying Puma has short leg just too far.

Take out the sponson you will see...