First developed through a Bell/Boeing partnership that began in 1996, the then named Bell XV-15 design was purchased by AugustaWestland in 2011 and renamed the AW609. Since taking full control of the project Augusta engineers have advanced the original XV-15 idea through a number of prototype phases and have successfully completed both envelope expansion and customer demonstration trials of their AW609 craft in the past six months.
Hot on the heels of their recent flight success Augusta engineers proved their mettle again, successfully completing critical autorotation trials meant to ensure that the craft is airworthy.
In the world of helicopters, autorotation is the concept that a craft’s rotors will continue to spin, propelled by the force of wind circulating through its rotors, even if the engines lose power. Essentially the helicopter’s version of gliding, autorotation capabilities are built into helicopters as a safety measure and are required by the FAA before a chopper can be certified.
Unsurprisingly, during FAA monitored tests of its autorotation system, the AW609 exceeded all performance benchmarks. Over the course of its 10 flight-hour test the AW609 transformed from airplane to helicopter mode over 70 times without any autorotation complications.
Although the AW609 has achieved excellent marks in all of its major tests, the craft still has a long journey ahead if it is to obtain FAA certification. Regardless, AusgustaWestland expects that they’ll have FAA certification sometime in 2017 and plans to begin production of pre-ordered units as soon as the agency reaches its verdict. In fact, the company is so sure of their success that they’ve already ordered tooling and equipment to produce AW609s a full three years before approval.
While the AW609 seems to be an example of excellent engineering and product development, I’m still a little fuzzy about the VTOL’s applications. Will the AW609 be used as a faster moving helicopter ferrying businessmen from office to office? Is it the blueprint for a flying car?
Regardless of its end use, one thing can be said for the AW609, it's quickly bringing VTOL technology out of concentrated military use, and it might just be the first VTOL machine to see commercial flight.
Image Courtesy of AusgustaWestland