Helikopter - Den første Bell 525 produksjonsmodell blir levert i olje- og gass konfigurasjon - AIN

 

March 25, 2021

BUSINESS AVIATION

Bell Nears Milestones With 525, 505 Helos

by Jerry Siebenmark

 - March 19, 2021, 9:00 AM

Bell expects to wrap up certification flight testing of the 525 Relentless super-medium helicopter in the first half of this year. (Photo: Bell)

About six years after the first flight of Bell’s newest and largest civil helicopter, the 525 Relentless, its development and flight-test certification program is nearing an end. "Generally speaking, the plan is to complete our testing required for certification in the first half of this year,” Bell 525 senior program specialist Brendan Lanigan told AIN. “We’re actually running out of tests to perform. So that’s exciting for those of us that have been involved in the program for quite some time

Specifically, company flight testing is complete while ground endurance testing is 50 percent complete and FAA pilot testing is 65 percent complete, noted 525 program v-p Byron Ward during a conference call with reporters on March 24.

However, development of the 16-passenger super-medium helicopter hasn’t been easy, with the fatal, in-flight breakup of 525 flight test vehicle 1 in July 2016 as well as the introduction of new technology such as fly-by-wire in a helicopter that will be certified as Part 29. “In the Part 29 helicopter world, fly-by-wire wasn’t considered in those regulations,” Lanigan added. “There’s a lot of new ground that had to be charted.”

Lanigan declined to speculate on when FAA type certification for the twin-engine rotorcraft might happen. As of mid-March, the 525 flight-test program had accumulated a little more than 1,800 hours, which has provided Bell with knowledge of the helicopter’s performance in areas such as fuel burn, speed, and range capability, he said.

In addition to fly-by-wire, other features of the 525 include Garmin G5000 avionics that are “very intuitive to use,” Lanigan explained. “Garmin is an expert in human factors…so we really used their expertise on the human factors side for the avionics to try to make an intuitive interface. Like on the touchscreen display, you don’t have to dial down into a million different folders to get to what you need. So there was a lot of effort to make this avionics system easy to use, displaying what pilots need to see when they need to see it.”Another of the 525’s special features is the addition of a reduction gearbox outside of the main transmission, which reduces RPMs and eliminates the need for high-speed components in the main transmission. “So, if you did lose oil there’s less heat being generated, less stress to the system, so the system is going to perform better when it’s run dry,” Lanigan said. A “triplex” of redundant systems including electrical and hydraulic also increases the safety of the 525. “On a conventional twin-engine helicopter, if you lost one of your hydraulic systems you’re now one bad thing away from having a really bad day,” he said. “On the 525 you’ve gone from three to two…and you still have full control authority.”

Despite waning demand in the oil and gas sector for new offshore helicopters, Lanigan noted Bell has accounted for that and sees demand for the 525 in other sectors such as military, utility, and VIP. “The 525 was designed to be a multi-mission helicopter from day one,” he said. “So as far as the market shifting away from new oil and gas helicopters, that’s something we’re completely prepared to deal with.”

He added that there still is an opportunity in the oil and gas space because the super-medium and heavy helicopters used in that sector quickly reach a point where they reach high flight hours and need replacement. “In Norway, they can fly some of those helicopters up to 2,000 flight hours a year, which is a massive amount,” Lanigan said. The first 525 to be delivered to a commercial customer will be in an oil and gas configuration, Ward added. It and three other 525s are currently on the company's Amarillo, Texas, production line.

Also, demand to move people and equipment offshore isn’t reserved just for the oil and gas sector. The renewable energy market, specifically offshore wind farms, will need air transport for people and equipment as that sector grows. “So we see that as a potential market for 525 and for Bell at large,” he said.