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Bell Helicopter engineers have resolved a performance anomaly that test pilots had discovered when flying the hybrid aircraft in conventional flight mode, also known as the zero-degree position of the nacelles. The BA609 is a six- to nine-passenger corporate aviation tiltrotor, a product the companies expect to begin delivering in 2011. According to Roy Hopkins, Bell's chief test pilot for the BA609, both prototype aircraft had been exhibiting a differential torque between the two prop-rotors in flight tests, causing a left-turning tendency at cruise speeds. The companies are flight testing one aircraft at Bell in the USA and the other...

ST. LOUIS, July 14, 2005 – The V-22 Osprey had a “coming out” of sorts yesterday, when VMX-22, the U.S. Marine Corps Tiltrotor Test and Evaluation Squadron in New River, N.C., hosted media from around the nation. The event was held to share highlights of the recently completed Operational Test and Evaluation and provide a look at where the program currently is and what milestones are yet to come. Those in attendance had the experience of a lifetime when they became some of the first non-government personnel to fly on board a V-22. “The VMX-22 squadron, led by Col. Glenn...

Marines and the Osprey How V-22 Is Progressing and What the Users Think By Margaret Bone Who knows for sure if the Marine Corps really does have a crystal ball that reveals the future, or if there's a swami burning incense at Quantico, or if a bunch of cammied-up psychics are reading tea leaves in the basement of the Pentagon. Whatever it is, the decision made years ago by the Marine Corps to acquire the V-22 Osprey is about to pay off in double digits. It is precisely the right platform for the world of the 21st century, although the...

In one of the strongest indications to date of the US Marine Corps' (USMC's) continued determination to field tilt-rotors and other transformational aircraft types, the service has announced plans to establish a 'centre of excellence' to oversee the future development of the MV-22 Osprey and emerging concepts such as a quad tilt-rotor transport and a canard rotor/wing escort. The ethos behind the new centre is to ensure that mistakes made during the early development of the MV-22 tilt-rotor are not repeated during future programmes, said Lt Gen Michael Hough, the USMC's Deputy Commandant for Aviation. Identifying a shortfall in simulation...

ARLINGTON, Texas(Reuters) - Soon to be taking to the skies of north Texas will be a hybrid aircraft that is part plane, part helicopter and has the potential to change civil aviation. Fort Worth, Texas-based Bell/Agusta Aerospace Co. is just weeks away from conducting its first test flights of a civilian tilt-rotor aircraft, called the BA 609. A tilt-rotor has engines that pivot 90 degrees so the aircraft can take off vertically like a helicopter then fly horizontally like a plane. While the company is banking on obtaining civilian transport category flight certification from the Federal Aviation Administration, a military...

Osprey landings tested V-22 performs well in first sea trials since aircraft was grounded Dallas Morning News 01/15/03 author: Jim Fry Copyright 2001 Gale Group Inc. All rights reserved. COPYRIGHT 2001 The Dallas Morning News, L.P. ABOARD THE USS IWO JIMA – A V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor touched down on the deck of the USS Iwo Jima at 1:11 p.m. Tuesday, the first time in almost three years that the troubled aircraft has landed on a Navy ship's flight deck. "Looking pretty smooth," said Jim Shelton, a Navy civilian avionics engineer who watched the test 53 miles off the North Carolina...

Aerospace Daily: Bell/Agusta BA609 Civil Tiltrotor On Track Following V-22 Progress By Jefferson Morris/Aerospace Daily 10-Dec-2002 10:41 AM U.S. EST Encouraged by the performance of the Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey military tiltrotor aircraft since its return to flight, Bell/Agusta Aerospace Company is moving forward with the development and production of its BA609 civilian tiltrotor. Despite significant differences between the two aircraft, the future of the BA609 had been in doubt after the V-22 was grounded after two fatal accidents in 2000. Bell/Agusta elected to slow production of the civilian version, pending the results of the V-22's return to flight (DAILY, April...