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The Leonardo AW609, formerly the AgustaWestland AW609, and originally the Bell-Agusta BA609, is a twin-engined tiltrotor VTOL aircraft with an overall configuration similar to that of the Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey. It is capable of landing vertically like a helicopter while having a range and speed in excess of conventional rotorcraft.
Bell Agusta Aerospace Company (BAAC) was a joint venture formed in 1998 by Bell Helicopter and Agusta (now AgustaWestland), who collaborated on a variety of products dating back to 1952. The joint venture was dissolved in 2011, when AgustaWestland took full ownership of the project, renaming it as the AgustaWestland Tilt-Rotor Company ( AWTRC ).
Both XV-15s were flown actively throughout the 1980s testing aerodynamics and tiltrotor applications for civilian and military aircraft types that might follow. The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale classifies the XV-15 as a Rotodyne, and as such it holds the speed record of 456 kilometres per hour (283 mph), [ 5 ] and the 3 km [ 6 ...
The civilian world is finally getting a tiltrotor aircraft of its own, and it could mean the start of non-stop flights from Lower Manhattan to Miami.
Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey, the only crewed tiltrotor in production to date. A tiltrotor is a type of vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft that convert from vertical to horizontal flight by rotating propellers or ducted fans from horizontal positions like conventional aircraft propellers to vertical like a helicopter's rotors.
Bell teamed with Boeing in developing a commercial tiltrotor, but Boeing went out in 1998 and Agusta came in for the Bell/Agusta BA609. [9] [10] This aircraft was redesignated as the AW609 following the transfer of full ownership to AgustaWestland in 2011. [11] Bell has also developed a tiltrotor unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), the TR918 Eagle Eye.
The resulting AgustaWestland AW609 is the first civilian tiltrotor. [2] [3] In 2000, AgustaWestland began studies for the Next-Generation Civil Tiltrotor (NGCTR), twice the size of the AW609. [4] In August 2014, the European Union launched its CleanSky 2 research initiative, to award contracts advancing aerospace technology. [5]
Bell and AW cooperated also on the AW609 tiltrotor. [6] Bell planned to reduce employment by 760 in 2014 as fewer V-22s were made. [6] A rapid prototyping center called XworX assists Bell's other divisions in reducing development time. [7] The company was rebranded as "Bell" on February 22, 2018. [8]