Bell Helicopter is giving a Heli-Expo debut to its two clean-sheet civil programmes, with prototypes of the light single-engined 505 Jet Ranger X and the super-medium twin 525 Relentless both on display on the show floor.
Flight-test activities on both helicopters are on going ahead of respective certification targets of 2016 and 2017.
Mitch Synder, Bell chief executive, speaking on the eve of the show, said the 505 is “moving with velocity” towards service entry scheduled for later this year.
Three flight-test prototypes have accumulated over 500h, he says. In addition, Bell has taken in over 350 letters of intent (LoI) from prospective customers for the Turbomeca Arrius 2R-engined 505, he says.
Meanwhile, two 9t 525s are presently in flight test, with a third set to join the programme later in 2016. Evaluations have been “going very well” so far, says Snyder.
Bell has long seen the offshore oil and gas segment as the principle market for the 525, but with the sector in crisis thanks to plunging oil prices, the airframer appears to be talking up the Relentless’s prospects in other areas.
Snyder says there has been “strong interest” in the GE Aviation CT7-engined helicopter from the VIP and corporate transportation sectors, as well as from search and rescue operators.
“The focus is more around VVIP and corporate for early deliveries, as well as search and rescue,” he says.
Bell says it has so far amassed nearly 80 LoIs for the type and is “working to transition those” to firm orders. It has “four or five customers” with which it is working to “try and lay out those early deliveries”, he says.
Bell arrives at Heli-Expo having delivered 175 commercial helicopters in 2015, including 52 429s and a combined 99 407 GX/GXPs.
North America remains its biggest market, taking 69 deliveries, followed by Europe, Middle East and Africa (47), Latin America (31) and Pacific Rim countries (28).
Source: FlightGlobal.com
