Now entering the final stages of designing its Model 525 Relentless medium twin, Bell Helicopter is taking lessons not only from its own past, but from another major manufacturer. Build will start in the second quarter, aiming for a first flight in 2014.

Grows faster than rivals, but struggles to build international hub

We fly the latest update of the popular intermediate-size helo.

An Embraer ERJ-145 can be had for as little as $2 million.

In Washington nobody likes to talk about the “s-word” but as March 1, the deadline for the across-the-board budget cuts grows closer, conversations about sequestration are becoming all-consuming. “It is just occupying everyone's time,” says Pentagon industrial base chief Brett Lambert. Unless lawmakers pass a new agreement by the end of the month, $85 billion in across-the-board budget reductions will take place for fiscal 2013. It is the first increment in a 10-year, nearly $1 trillion package of spending cuts.

Despite the financial and legal issues that have recently afflicted its parent, Finmeccanica, AgustaWestland is pushing ahead with development and flight-testing of three new rotary-wing aircraft at the same time.

As brand-new 787s continue to stack up at its Everett, Wash., facility and others remain idle around the world, Boeing's battery crisis is finally coming to a head as the FAA decides on whether to approve a company plan to return the airliner to the skies.

While industry accepts that the light single-engine helicopter is very much in demand, it is often difficult for manufacturers to justify investment in such machines when medium and heavy helicopters yield greater profit margins. For companies like Eurocopter, which last year sold more than 200 examples of its Ecureuil family, the decision to spend money creating a new light helicopter is a tricky one, especially with no sign of demand for the existing aircraft abating soon.