Interface, Inc. (USA) - Bell Helicopter recently announced the successful first flight of their new Bell 525 Relentless in Amarillo, TX.

"The Bell 525 was announced at Heli-Expo in 2012, and we are proud to have achieved this milestone. We have diligently executed our schedule to design, develop, build and test the aircraft, and look forward to the next phase of flight testing as we work towards certification,” said Matt Hasik, executive vice president of commercial programs at Bell Helicopter. “The marketplace has been awaiting the transformational capabilities of the Bell 525 and we continue to see growing customer demand from around the globe for this aircraft.”

Interface load cells are used by Bell to test their helicopters for a variety of performance tasks and reliability. The super-medium helicopter will be used for a variety of missions under very challenging conditions. Bell relies on the performance of Interface load cells to provide them with the most accurate assessment of the design and safety of their helicopters.

“The Bell 525 performed extremely well today,” said Troy Caudill, senior flight test pilot at Bell Helicopter. “I am excited to be a part of the development of this advanced aircraft and help define the future of vertical lift.”

“The first flight test started with taxi testing and maneuvers and then went into an initial hover, performing various hover maneuvers and then tested low speed handling qualities with winds gusting to 20 knots,” added Jeff Greenwood, senior flight test pilot at Bell Helicopter.

The Bell 525 is the world's first fly-by-wire commercial helicopter designed to operate safely and reliably in austere environments with decreased pilot workload. The aircraft features the first fully-integrated touch screen avionics suite designed for helicopters, the Garmin G5000H®. Best-in-class payload, cabin, cargo volumes, and passenger comfort complement the technological advancements on the aircraft.