AgustaWestland AW609
United States United States Italy Italy
The AgustaWestland AW609, formerly Bell / Agusta 609 is a VTOL tiltrotor aircraft change similar to the Bell - Boeing V- 22nd Since 2011, the project is operated by AgustaWestland.
History
The first ground tests of the BA609 began on 6 December 2002. The first flight took place on 7 March 2003 in Arlington (Texas / USA) by the pilots Roy Hopkins and Dwayne Williams. The aircraft is designed for one or two crew members and up to nine passengers. 80 aircraft have been ordered in 23 countries (as of January 2009).
Due to problems in the development of the V-22 Osprey, this project has been repeatedly delayed, as it is technically closely related with the military used Osprey. How it works, for example, the transmission of the signals for flight control without mechanical parts. The traffic approved by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA ) and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration ( FAA) is planned for 2015.
Flight performance in comparison
The peculiarity of the BA609 is the ability to like a helicopter off and land vertically, while a high airspeed is also possible. This is ensured by two large-sized engines. Compared with a conventional helicopter such as the HAL Dhruv, which can accommodate up to twelve passengers and has a similar payload of 2500 kg, the BA609 has approximately twice the engine power and twice the curb weight. Effective, however, is more than twice as fast and can fly almost four times as far.