Bell Flight: Pushing the Envelope


Bell Flight’s high-speed vertical takeoff and landing (HSVTOL) concept aircraft lifts off vertically like a tiltrotor. But once in flight, the HSVTOL folds back its rotors and switches to a jet-powered flight to achieve cruising speeds in excess of 400 knots.


At present, the HSVTOL is in the development phase. In September 2023, Bell began sled testing its HSVTOL technology at Holloman Air Force Base in Otero County, New Mexico. It is using the Arnold Engineering Development Complex - Holloman High Speed Test Track to test the folding rotor, integrated propulsion and flight control technologies at representative flight speeds.


In other news, Bell announced that the Bell 505 helicopter has become the first single- engine aircraft to fly with 100% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). Meanwhile, “In October 2023, Bell received and installed GE Aerospace’s T901 improved turbine engine from the Army for its submission for the U.S. Army’s Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) competition,” said Grady King, Bell Flight’s director of FARA sales & strategy. “With the engine’s arrival, Bell is prepared to move forward to the next stages of the FARA competition with the Bell 360 Invictus.”


Canadian UAVs Flying BVLOS Drones for Military


If you haven’t heard of Canadian UAVs yet, then take note of the name. Since 2019, this pioneering Canadian company has been licensed by Transport Canada to conduct Beyond Visual Line of Sight


(BVLOS)


UAS/UAV flights in this country for both commercial and military purposes.


“The key component of this effort was the development of Sparrowhawk, a ground- based radar technology to assist in the detection of uncooperative aircraft,” said Jon Brydges, Canadian UAVs’ program manager - commercial. Using Sparrowhawk, the company’s UAV pilots are able to know what is within their airspace, even though it’s beyond their ability to see it directly.


In 2023, “our greatest achievement has been the integration of the Textron Aerosonde 4.7 HQ VTOL UAV system into both Canadian UAVs’ and the Canadian military’s operations within Canada,” Brydges said.


62 Nov/Dec 2023


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84