Bell’s New 525 Super-Medium Twin Takes Shape As Manufacturing Begins

Bell Helicopters is pressing ahead with the secondary design phase for the development of the new 525 Relentless helicopter that it launched in February. Here at the Farnborough International Airshow, the U.S. airframer is displaying a mockup of the super-medium twin, which is on track to make a first flight around the turn of 2013/14 and then enter service in 2015.

“We’re now getting into the detailed design in a secondary level that includes [plans for] on-condition monitoring, ergonomics and maintenance access, and ensuring that the aircraft is corrosion averse,” Larry Thimmesch, Bell’s vice president of new programs, told AIN. Engineers are building a series of mockups aimed at “validating the intersections between the customer and the product.”