Bell 525 Relentless

[Senior Pilot]

Bell's latest teaser:

[SASless]

In a Class all by itself.....

Not a Huey then.....must be yet another rendition of a Jet Ranger. Perhaps it will be some new thingy in the dashboard....say oh.....Sirius Sat Radio with an MP3 port for an iPhone or iPad.

Even if they bring out a "new" model....how much you want to bet the Rotorhead shall be old time Bell stuff....and nothing along the lines of an articulated rotor head....or have all the rotors in the same plane....and certainly it shall have an even number of blades....either 2 or 4.

You can also count on the seats being akin to sitting on a 2x10 plank....with no adjustment to it.

Do I sound cynical?

[Matari]

Senior Pilot's teaser (post 19) is kind of fun to try and figure out.

For example:

At :07 is that skid landing gear?
At :23-25 I see the crew door/window then three pax windows, so at least maybe 12 pax (4 across x 3 rows?)
At :28-29 the main rotor head appears, with big old lead-lag dampers (no fancy composite construction?)
At :11 and :34 a nice riveted panel joint (again, no fancy composites).

So, from all this I can glean we have a 12 pax, skid-gear equipped, conventional aluminum fuselage constructed, multi-bladed helicopter with a fairly standard main rotor head.

I guess we shall know soon enough!

[helihub]

Yes, it will be in a class by itself because they are inventing a new class name - Super Medium. Bell are Relentless in their marketing and cannot hide their trade mark applications ;-)

For a big corporation to seemingly put a lot of R&D money into a Super Medium really makes you wonder what the PR guys were doing that day. Maybe they were down at the Super Clairvoyant with the Finance Director?

Let's wish them the best of luck. If it is genuinely a new aircraft (they've said that before, right?), I reckon on 7-tonne auw to face the EC175 head-on. You can all mark me out of 10 within a few days....

Matari - I think there are a total of five windows down the side around 22-25 secs through that video

[Encyclo]

I Think we have finally broken the code on this latest Bell offering;

3 diesel engines,
9 blades
at least 3 skid tubes (redundancy?)
Full CRT cockpit

Come on guys, let's be a little creative

[SASless]

Latest rumor....Bell 214ST air frame, Y model Huey dynamics, Television Dashboard, retractable gear.....mix of old and legacy improvements....but not in any way a "New" helicopter.

We'll know before not too much longer won't we?

[Gordy]

Latest rumor....Bell 214ST air frame, Y model Huey dynamics, Television Dashboard, retractable gear.....mix of old and legacy improvements....but not in any way a "New" helicopter.

We'll know before not too much longer won't we?

Was on the show floor last night----Bell has their whole stand surrounded by a temporary wall so that no-one get get a look.

[John Eacott]

Originally Posted by SASless

Latest rumor....Bell 214ST air frame, Y model Huey dynamics, Television Dashboard, retractable gear.....mix of old and legacy improvements....but not in any way a "New" helicopter.

We'll know before not too much longer won't we?

Here you go, SASsy

[topendtorque]

Large and "substantial looking" tail boom, presumably room for the billy lids.
tet

[griffothefog]

Bells 525 looks like a mini EH101...

[tottigol]

If your new designs are too heavy, just copy older ones from others.

Reminds me of this:


And is just as ugly.

[SASless]

I have been warned I shall eat my words upon the unveiling....comes from someone who is in the know!

We shall see!

[Tcabot113]

Tot,

On the 525 none of you are even close.

TC

[Savoia]

Bell 525

The about-to-be-disclosed Bell 525 certainly 'looks' the business and, from all accounts so far, will offer a capacity and range with the potential to successfully engage her competitors across the OAG market.

I sincerely hope that this time Bell gets it right. Technical merit and reliable performance are the minimum requirements of those serving the market which Bell now pursues but to experience the success they seek will mean matching this with real economic performance. This, with the latter addressed, will give them a chance.

Will they achieve it?

Here's a look at some of Bell's civilian blunders!









Congrats to the Bell 525 team for coming up with a sleek design and my best wishes for their success in this project.

This site presumably to come online later today? http://bell525smt.net/

[Gordy]

SASless...

I have been warned I shall eat my words upon the unveiling....comes from someone who is in the know!

I have it from someone "in the know" also---new model, he would not say much more, but I am guessing 5 blades..

[SansAnhedral]

I have been warned I shall eat my words upon the unveiling....comes from someone who is in the know!

We shall see!

Didnt you wonder why you were "quoted for posterity"?

[Savoia]

.. I am guessing 5 blades..

Bell do have a habit of prefixing their models using a numerical value which reflects the number of main rotor blades.

[SASless]

Sans.....I clearly stated I was guessing....and noted that I am cynical when it comes to Bell's history of innovation post the UH-1 series. Any one with inside info can of course think themselves sage and all knowing. I am outside the loop in that regard which any dullard would see as putting me at a disadvantage.

There is an old Greek Proverb that fits this situation....

"I should smell my hand and know what you are thinking?"

In this case my hand knows naught of what Bell is thinking....beyond what a little birdie told me yesterday. In due time we all shall learn of what Bell's latest offering holds.

We do know they have gone after a copyright for the "525" name.

Following their past record...first number denoting numbers of rotor blades...then odds are it shall be a five bladed head but that would be a first for Bell as it seems the Engineering Department has to use a thumb to count which limits them to no more than "four". As the second number could mean anything...and the third number being ever more nebulous...who knows what they shall roll over.

As you work for Bell...why don't you enlighten us...rather than sounding like a smart ass...errrrr...rather a Christian holding four Aces?

I am still putting my money on a 214ST Clone of some sort.....as if that aircraft had been modernized and improved it would have been a real Dandy....especially if it had anything other than a huge whopping two bladed rotor system and such a sorry excuse for an engine starting system. If Bell had done so...there would not be an AW-139 today probably.

[206Fan]

Starting shortly.

Bell Helicopter

[Epiphany]

I'll bet it looks like a Bell 412 / AW139 hybrid - with the same UH1-H windscreen wiper motors.