Civil Tiltrotor Nears First Flight

The first two prototypes of the Bell/Agusta BA609, the world's first civil tiltrotor, are nearing completion and first flight could happen before the end of the year.

First to fly will be Prototype #1, whose wing and fuselage were mated last November at Bell's plant in Arlington, Texas. Completion of Prototypes #3 and #4 is slated for 2002, with first deliveries following in 2004.

Bell/Agusta claims 80 orders for the 609, from 42 customers in 18 countries. Final assembly for production aircraft will take place at Bell's Amarillo, TX, facility with another assembly line to be established at the Agusta plant in Italy.

Fuji Heavy Industries of Japan has the contract to build all of the production fuselages for the BA609. All parts and components for both lines will come from the same source, Bell said, "yielding aircraft that will be identical whether assembled in Italy or Texas."

Headquarters of the Bell/Agusta Aerospace Company is at Alliance Airport in Fort Worth, TX. BA609 customer training will be conducted at this location, which also will serve as a delivery center.

Planned cruise speed for the BA609 is 275 knots with a maximum range of 750 nmi, or 1,000 nmi with auxiliary fuel tanks. The aircraft is pressurized to fly at altitudes up to 25,000 feet and is equipped for flight into known icing conditions.