It is not a new product, but Bell Helicopter CEO Mitch Snyder is hoping that the company’s vision for future rotorcraft is one the rest of the industry could get behind.
Snyder, who became CEO of Bell in October 2015, wants to return the company to its innovative past, an era that saw the company develop the first tiltrotor and the first variable-swept fixed-wing jet, the Bell X-5 among others.
And with the unveiling of the FC-X on March 7 at Heli-Expo in Dallas, Snyder is keen to demonstrate his grand futuristic vision to the rotorcraft world.
THE APPEAL OF FC-X
Bell envisions augmented reality and autonomy for future pilots
Hybrid anti-torque system for low noise and low weight
Bell working on several new commercial platforms
“We are pushing industry and pushing Bell,” Snyder told Aviation Week during a visit to the company’s facilities in Fort Worth in January. “You cannot just say, ‘Go and invent stuff.’ There are some [problems] in the industry we want to solve.”
Snyder set his engineering and marketing teams to work on a concept rotorcraft similar to those designed by automobile companies.
Several manufacturers are studying the potential of the electrically actuated anti-torque systems and tail rotors because it saves weight, eliminating the need for tail rotor shafts and gearboxes, and also allows the tail rotor to essentially be split from the main rotor, improving safety on the ground and potentially reducing noise.
Modular cabin envisioned for Bell's FC-X helicopter concept
The wide modular cabin of the FC-X is envisaged for up to 12 people and a single pilot up front. Credit: Bell Helicopter Concept

“The anti-torque system is the quickest way to chase down hybridization on a traditional platform,” says Drennan. The company is still studying how many fans would be needed for the system to provide a level of redundancy, should any fans fail.
Bell also suggests that the airframe could harvest, store, attenuate and distribute onboard electrical energy. Furthermore, helicopter vibration energy could be used to trickle-charge the onboard batteries.
Besides hybridization of propulsion, Bell is also studying morphing technologies and variable-tip main rotor blades. According to Drennan, a variable-sweep tip blade could be adjusted for different needs, optimizing itself in flight for better performance and noise, reaching full extension for hover and sweeping back for forward flight. The engine intakes could also morph to account for different environments.
The landing gear is envisaged with different geometries and materials and would be designed to take more of a shock on a heavy landing, reducing the impact on the passengers and crew. It could also be designed to help keep the aircraft level in the event of a landing on an incline, similar in principle to the robotic landing gear tested by DARPA in 2015.
The flight would be performed by a single pilot, although he would not have normal flight controls nor the standard multifunction displays. Instead, instrumentation, navigation and flight data would be displayed via an augmented reality system, with much of the flying task handled by an automated system, thanks to the fly-by-wire controls. Pilots could customize their cockpit layouts, and would be assisted by artificial intelligence. Logistics missions, such as carrying cargo to an offshore platform, might not require a pilot at all.
“We placed the pilot to do mission control; the computers can do the dumb, dirty, dangerous and dull work,” explains Drennen.
In the modular cabin, passengers could adjust their own environment with mood lighting and access to an onboard entertainment system that could allow them to communicate with colleagues, view personal files or simply watch movies. If necessary, the seats can be removed for certain missions.
“Helicopters are kind of standard today,” says Snyder, “We can be different. . . . We can push the envelope on the things we can do. In a concept car, some technologies will go into new cars; for others that car will go into production. This was the inspiration.” 
Under Snyder’s watch the company has so far begun one new program, the Model V-247, an unmanned tiltrotor under development to meet an upcoming U.S. Marine Corps requirement for a long-range, long-endurance armed surveillance platform that can be operated from surface ships.
However, he says the company is working on several new commercial products for different sectors. But with the rotorcraft market apparently at the bottom of a downturn, Bell is weighing its options carefully.
“We are trying to decide which one is the right one, and which is the right technology to go into the time frame for when we need it,” explains Snyder.
Unlike some of his predecessors, Snyder is enthusiastic about the market potential of commercial tiltrotors. But six years after the company sold its share in the BA609 program with AgustaWestland (now Leonardo), he insists that development would only be possible if the military adopted the technology in scale. Therefore a commercial derivative of the V-280 Valor, currently under development for the U.S. Army’s Joint Multi-Role Technology Demonstration program is now being studied.
“When you have quantities of a military application, that’s what makes the commercial much more viable,” says Snyder. “We believe that a civil tiltrotor is better as a derivative of a V-280, as opposed to a clean sheet.” 
Snyder has two models of a civil tiltrotor in his Fort Worth office, one with the same slab-sided fuselage as the military aircraft, another with a curved business jet-like fuselage that would allow it to be pressurized and operate at higher altitudes.
“The wing and nacelles are the same in the two,” says Snyder. “That’s the part that makes the magic occur.”
Another area of focus for Snyder is fly-by-wire. Having introduced it into the market with the Model 525, he is keen to see the technology trickle down to the smaller light twins and singles. The technologies already exist to put fly-by-wire into the smallest drones, but the cost, complexity and weight of such systems grow exponentially once they are designed for manned aircraft.
“We need to see if we can get more cost-effective and get fly-by-wire into all aircraft,” Snyder says. “There is a band where it is deemed too expensive, and we need to look at what we can do to attack affordability and get rid of those mechanical linkages.” 
Snyder will not say which market he will address next, but is bullish about the future success of the V-280 and the Model 525, and it seems likely the next product launch is just around the corner.
“Just because you haven’t seen it, doesn’t mean we aren’t working on it,” he says.