Bell BA609

The Bell/Agusta BA609 Tiltrotor is making its first ever appearance at the Farnborough International Air Show. The second prototype, aircraft #002, is showcased by the Bell/Agusta Aerospace Company having flown for the first time in November 2006 at AgustaWestland’s Cameri facility in Northern Italy. The BA609 tiltrotor flew to Farnborough from Italy demonstrating excellent performance, unique aircraft flexibility and high reliability while exercising its envelope in both vertical lift and high cruise speed airplane mode.

Bell/Agusta

What a beautiful aircraft. Without having to have the load carrying capacity of the V-22 this turns it from a flying hippo to a dainty swallow!

Looks good in the search and rescue colours too!



Hope they release a video of it going through its flying routine, would be interesting to see how rapidly it can go from hover to forwards and back again.

another flying brick. I thought after the Osprey fiasco, they would leave the chopper functions to choppers. I am a fan of C130's if you are bringing props to the party. This just looks like a turd with props. Sorry if you like it Dan. Just voicing my opinion.

reply to post by Mason mike



Hey i can agree that the C-130 is an awesome airframe, but for those times when you need to speed out, then hover, these are pretty damn neat for the role.

Thats not saying I think they should replace all helicopters per se, just those where time is critical. This would make an awesome hospital / hospital transfer airframe.

It's already an old design, but because it can hover, it should be able to act as a fire fighting aircraft.

With such big props you could hold a lot of water and you can deliver it with precision.

for the rest I also see no use in this, I also rather fly a real helicopter...

Originally posted by Grey Magic
It's already an old design, but because it can hover, it should be able to act as a fire fighting aircraft.

With such big props you could hold a lot of water and you can deliver it with precision.

for the rest I also see no use in this, I also rather fly a real helicopter...

You fly a real helicopter and you don't know that engine size / airframe tolerances dictates how much load you can carry?

No more uses? fast SF insertion and extraction? Fast casualty evacuation? major time cuts in hospital to hospital tranfere of ill persons? extended range over 'normal' helicopters..... I can think of many, many uses and I don't fly a helicopter....

Dan Tanna - Although I don't entirely agree with Grey Magic, he/she did not say they flew a real helicopter. Why do I say that? Because they said: "I also rather fly a real helicopter..." .

Grey Magic - By the way, you should change "also" to "would". The sentence would make it clearer for Dan Tanna as well as for others who might read your post.

No disrespect intended,
Anonymous

I was at Farnborough today and this aircraft gave a very impressive demonstration. Looked like it handled very well and the transition between chopper and aircraft seemed very quick and smooth.

At Dan.

I do not fly helicopters myself though I would like too.

you are right that for medical stuff and so on it can also be a good use.

And Anonymous poster was right, English isn't my native language so I made an error and I am sorry for that.

Grey Magic

Originally posted by Grey Magic
At Dan.

I do not fly helicopters myself though I would like too.

you are right that for medical stuff and so on it can also be a good use.

And Anonymous poster was right, English isn't my native language so I made an error and I am sorry for that.

Grey Magic

No dude, my late night comprehension skills were lacking. My bad and apologies to you.

Originally posted by CodexKeeper
I was at Farnborough today and this aircraft gave a very impressive demonstration. Looked like it handled very well and the transition between chopper and aircraft seemed very quick and smooth.

Any pics? that would be sweet if you have any - but if not, looks like I got some people going there so i hope they take some.

no apologies needed Dan.

by the way I found this video



[edit on 19-7-2008 by Grey Magic]

reply to post by Grey Magic


That was bloody awesome! Thanks for linking that. Now I see there a potential helicopter replacement for all jobs bar CAS / anti armour roles.

You sure find some interesting stuff Mr. Dan.

Starred & flagged.


Going from memory it looks like this aircraft has a rotor diameter considerably smaller than the Osprey . . . I do realize the size disparity between the two.

With a smaller rotor, more strength.

Looks to be an ideal aircraft for the Coast Guard of any country.

Probably a faster response time on-site of the disaster and it looks like it may have more capacity than the usual rescue copters.

It would be interesting to read the pilots manual on this one.

Agusta Pdf

The brochure for it. The Pdf is a bit tempermental, so i cut out this little pic from it.



700 nautical miles range (max no reserve) so say 600 miles leaving 100 miles spare, thats a long legged bird indeed.

What happens if one of the engines fails?...."making downward spiral with finger"...

Looks a bit like the Mitsubishi MU-2 retrofitted with tilt-rotor. They do realize that the first crash of this think is going to kill any perceived commercial viability?

Originally posted by HatTrick
Looks a bit like the Mitsubishi MU-2 retrofitted with tilt-rotor. They do realize that the first crash of this think is going to kill any perceived commercial viability?

Chinooks crashed, didn't harm them. Pumas crashed, didn't harm them. V-22 crashed, didn't harm them. Air bus crashed, didn't hurt them........

Long list of aircraft that crashed and still made it in markets around the world.

Well, as a person who loves these new toys, i got to say if I wa stinking rich i'd want one to ferry me about in for sure!

Does anyone know if this thing still has the capability to auto-rotate in the event it loses power?

I know this requirement was removed from the Osprey, but I'm hoping that without the military breathing down their neck, the manufacturer of this bird has had an attack of sanity.

KW

Originally posted by Dan Tanna

Originally posted by CodexKeeper
I was at Farnborough today and this aircraft gave a very impressive demonstration. Looked like it handled very well and the transition between chopper and aircraft seemed very quick and smooth.

Any pics? that would be sweet if you have any - but if not, looks like I got some people going there so i hope they take some.

Nope, sorry, I was saving all my film for the Vulcan. So awesome to see it back in the sky again, makes the best noise!

Cheers

CodexK

I know that this thread is 14 years old, but the BA609 tiltrotor was renamed AW609 after Bell in 2011 dissolved its joint venture with AgustaWestland (which later became the Leonardo Helicopters subsidiary after being sold to Leonardo in 2016). I found the latest news on the AW609 tiltrotor:
theaviationist.com...
verticalmag.com...
www.ainonline.com...