An overhaul of the 609 followed. “We looked
at where the aircraft was in its development,” Sunick says. “We talked to a lot of our customers and got a good feeling for what capabilities they were looking for.” Pratt & Whitney Canada (P&WC) gained
certification of a PT6C-67A engine capable of producing 2,000 shaft horsepower (2,500 at one-engine inoperative conditions) and doing so through the proprotor nacelles’ full 95-degree movement arc. Te engines can operate contin- uously in the vertical position. Upgrades included an advanced-aerodynamics compressor and turbines made with state-of-the-art materials that increase power and reduce fuel consumption, P&WC says. Te extra power allowed a maximum takeoff-
weight increase to 18,000 lb. from 16,799 lb. Tat, in turn, required landing-gear and structural changes. Te smaller, side-hinged cabin door was replaced with a 35-in.-wide, 50-in.-high clamshell design, with segments hinged top and bottom. Te 609’s changes also included a redesigned cockpit with Pro Line Fusion avionics from Collins
Above, the Leonardo Helicopters Training
Academy, opened in Philadelphia in 2021, includes a roll-on/ roll-off, AW609 full-flight motion
simulator developed by the OEM’s Rotorsim joint
venture with CAE.
Below, the tiltrotor’s mid-2010s redesign
included a clamshell door, in part to
facilitate air medical patient loading and search-and-rescue hoist operations. (Leonardo
Helicopters US Photos)
1983 an enlarged XV-15, which became the V-22. In 1994, Bell started the Model D-600 commercial tiltrotor
program. Boeing joined it in 1996, launching the Bell Boeing 609. In 1997, Boeing bought McDonnell Douglas, focused on military helicopters, and ended its 609 work. Later that year, Bell brought Agusta into the renamed BA609 develop- ment; the latter would manufacture and assemble tiltrotors destined for Europe and elsewhere. Test pilots Roy Hopkins and Dwayne Williams flew the first prototype Mar. 7, 2003, near Bell’s Texas headquarters. Bell was struggling to sustain its
commercial and military helicopter lines, having lost civil ground to Eurocopter and military work to Sikorsky’s H-60s. Meanwhile, the V-22 program was plagued by scandal and problems, including two fatal crashes in 2000 that killed 27 Marines. Bell sold its BA609 stake in 2011
to Agusta parent Finmeccanica, which set up an arm (now AgustaWestland Philadelphia Corp.) as program owner, technical lead, and type certificate applicant. (Bell is designing and cer- tificating components that it will supply when the AW609 enters production.)
34 ROTOR MARCH 2023
Aerospace, a new air data system, upgraded flight control computers, and a new environmental control system. “We wound up with a whole other development program,” Sunick says. “Tere’s essentially nothing we didn’t change.”
Preparing for Takeoff Flight test and certification work are progressing, Sunick notes, including completion of 30-minute run-dry testing of the tilt-axis and proprotor gearboxes.
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