Bell 525 Relentless

The Model 525 is the first Western commercial helicopter to be equipped with a fly-by-wire control system, something the company hopes will be a key selling point because of the reduced pilot workload and automation the system can provide.

The aircraft’s fly-by-wire control system offered “no surprises,” Matt Hasik, Bell’s executive vice president of commercial business, told Aviation Week hours after the first flight.

“That fly-by-wire control system performed extremely well today… Not all the capability was enabled yet as we work deliberately through the flight test program to incrementally increase capability,” Hasik says.

Ground running of the prototype began June 11; the aircraft gathered 21 hr. of ground run time before the first flight. Bell had hoped to fly the 525 last week, but issues needed to be rectified before the aircraft could safely get airborne. Hasik hopes to have the prototype 525 perform its second flight as early as July 2.

Bell had set an aggressive timeline for the new helicopter’s development. The company originally had hoped to fly it in late 2014 and have it certified in late 2016, but last month at the Paris air show Bell CEO John Garrison said that schedule slipped due to a mix of supply chain issues and paperwork.

NTSB investigating this morning's crash of a Bell 525 helicopter in Chambers Creek, TX.

— NTSB (@NTSB) 6 juillet 2016