Now, it is a state-of-the-art manufacturing center for the only in-service
tiltrotor aircraft in the world.
Now, it is a state of the art manufacturing center for the only in-service
tiltrotor aircraft in the world.'
Caption: Sailors board an MV-22 Osprey
tiltrotor aircraft to fly from Naval Station Norfolk to Marine Corps Air Station New River, N.C.
Bell Helicopter company developed the V22 Osprey
tiltrotor aircraft in the 1990s, which became the world's first
tiltrotor aircraft.
Neither of the concepts themselves are particularly new with both design ideas going back to the previous century: Bell's XV-15
tiltrotor first flew in May 1977 while Lockheed Martin's AH-56 Cheyenne had a fourbladed rigid rotor with a tail mounted pusher propeller that first flew in September 1967.
Two years later, when Cpl Jordan Spears with Marine Medium
Tiltrotor Squadron 163, died after bailing out of an MV-22B Osprey while deployed in the Persian Gulf with the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, the three friends made a decision.
Navy awarded Bell-Boeing, a joint venture between Bell Helicopter and Boeing, a contract to deliver five V-22 Osprey
tiltrotor aircraft to Japan by 2018, the company announced in July.
The first civilian
tiltrotor aircraft is now in development and could reach the market by 2017, officials from AgustaWestland announced at Helicopter Association International's Heli-Expo held in Orlando, Florida, in March.
company, announced today the revolutionary Bell Boeing V-22 fleet of
tiltrotor aircraft has recently passed the 250,000 flight hour milestone.
