![[Picture] 427i and 429](/files/bell1grid5.jpg)
Articulating the language of luxury
Bell 427i and 429 2004
327 Lillie Road
London SW6 7NR
United Kingdom
London SW6 7NR
United Kingdom
The newly-launched 427 helicopter (4 blades/2 turbine engines/7 passengers), was experiencing disappointing levels of sales. Not only was the existing interior undifferentiated and typical of the current old-fashioned luxury marketplace (akin to a 70's executive office suite with 'throne' seating set in lacquered wood), but the helicopter itself had other problems: its cockpit was too small for tall pilots, its instrumentation didn't allow night or bad weather flights and, most crucially of all, there wasn't enough room inside to allow for a full range of missions, including serving as a world class corporate interior.
Nick Talbot, Design Director, Seymourpowell.
The new 427 design led to Bell receiving a total of 11 initial orders within the space of 3 days at the HAI Expo for the new airframe and interior.
Following the reaction to the 427, Seymourpowell are now working on a further-developed model – the 429 - with a completely new airframe and interiors, inspired by the 427.
View the 427 movie
See 429 renderings and models
Read about how we created luxury language through design
The building blocks of luxury language
Space
The Seymourpowell and Bell teams worked extremely closely, especially as the design challenges extended far beyond mere styling. It was soon evident that there was no choice but to chop and stretch the airframe to suit customer needs properly; a difficult task with an all-composite, unriveted carbon fibre frame, but one which was achieved.
Extended flight times
The new, longer frame allowed for more passenger space, whilst a newly reconfigured electronic, rather than manual, cockpit would now allow for night and bad weather flights, giving passengers far more potential usage of the new helicopter.
Modularity
From the beginning, modularity was key to the design. This is a helicopter that aims to please. Rather than being typical of the market and only offering small changes for individual tastes (to fabrics, for example), the new 427 offers a complete menu of features that can be altered to suit from complete colourways to numbers of seats. This flexibility to suit individual needs is the very essence of luxury.
Luxury Handshakes
The second design key was the discreet and understated integration of design detail 'handshakes', inspired by limousine travel, to underline a sense of luxury, from the aircraft grade aluminium door handles with brass and glowing logo insets to the pad of soft leather that greets your hand as you open or close the helicopter door.
Ergonomic design
The ergonomically-designed sumptuous, saddle-stitched leather seating also has a safety angle and is energy-attenuating (which helps prevent spinal injury).
Lighting Control
Multi-coloured LED lighting is set within the roof, under the seats and also into the floor (which has never been done before in rotorcraft). The lighting design, which allows for a full colour spectrum under the complete control of the client inside, is a very strong element in the creation of a limousine-style cocoon atmosphere once the doors close.
Noise Insulation
Helicopters are notoriously noisy (the gear box and jet engines are only inches above passengers’ heads) and rides are plagued by the constant vibration of the blades. To counter this and emulate the luxurious smoothness of limousine travel, Seymourpowell borrowed a utility solution from military helicopters and lined the roof with sound-deadening fireproof quilting, but changed the material to tactile moss suede for a luxury twist. The flooring is sound-absorbing chocolate-brown carpeting, whilst the seats and sidepanels are all padded, so that the whole interior works to damp down intrusive noise.
C-Rings and Champagne
Once installed, passengers can use the C-Ring central utility station to control the environment further with interior lighting control, DVD screens, reading lights as well as button-controlled champagne drawers. Special champagne glasses, bespoke-designed by Seymourpowell, are stem-free and sit within LED-illuminated acrylic rings, gimbled to avoid spillage as the helicopter turns.
"We believed the challenge was to help produce an integrated offer where the helicopter's overall functionality and its interior were given same kind of attention as the exterior hull shape and rotor technology. We set out to create a Bentley or Jaguar of the skies, where passengers would feel cocooned within a non-stop 'limousine' luxury experience."
Nick Talbot, Design Director, Seymourpowell.
The new 427 design led to Bell receiving a total of 11 initial orders within the space of 3 days at the HAI Expo for the new airframe and interior.
Following the reaction to the 427, Seymourpowell are now working on a further-developed model – the 429 - with a completely new airframe and interiors, inspired by the 427.
View the 427 movie
See 429 renderings and models
Read about how we created luxury language through design
The building blocks of luxury language
Space
The Seymourpowell and Bell teams worked extremely closely, especially as the design challenges extended far beyond mere styling. It was soon evident that there was no choice but to chop and stretch the airframe to suit customer needs properly; a difficult task with an all-composite, unriveted carbon fibre frame, but one which was achieved.
Extended flight times
The new, longer frame allowed for more passenger space, whilst a newly reconfigured electronic, rather than manual, cockpit would now allow for night and bad weather flights, giving passengers far more potential usage of the new helicopter.
Modularity
From the beginning, modularity was key to the design. This is a helicopter that aims to please. Rather than being typical of the market and only offering small changes for individual tastes (to fabrics, for example), the new 427 offers a complete menu of features that can be altered to suit from complete colourways to numbers of seats. This flexibility to suit individual needs is the very essence of luxury.
Luxury Handshakes
The second design key was the discreet and understated integration of design detail 'handshakes', inspired by limousine travel, to underline a sense of luxury, from the aircraft grade aluminium door handles with brass and glowing logo insets to the pad of soft leather that greets your hand as you open or close the helicopter door.
Ergonomic design
The ergonomically-designed sumptuous, saddle-stitched leather seating also has a safety angle and is energy-attenuating (which helps prevent spinal injury).
Lighting Control
Multi-coloured LED lighting is set within the roof, under the seats and also into the floor (which has never been done before in rotorcraft). The lighting design, which allows for a full colour spectrum under the complete control of the client inside, is a very strong element in the creation of a limousine-style cocoon atmosphere once the doors close.
Noise Insulation
Helicopters are notoriously noisy (the gear box and jet engines are only inches above passengers’ heads) and rides are plagued by the constant vibration of the blades. To counter this and emulate the luxurious smoothness of limousine travel, Seymourpowell borrowed a utility solution from military helicopters and lined the roof with sound-deadening fireproof quilting, but changed the material to tactile moss suede for a luxury twist. The flooring is sound-absorbing chocolate-brown carpeting, whilst the seats and sidepanels are all padded, so that the whole interior works to damp down intrusive noise.
C-Rings and Champagne
Once installed, passengers can use the C-Ring central utility station to control the environment further with interior lighting control, DVD screens, reading lights as well as button-controlled champagne drawers. Special champagne glasses, bespoke-designed by Seymourpowell, are stem-free and sit within LED-illuminated acrylic rings, gimbled to avoid spillage as the helicopter turns.