Dwayne Brown

Headquarters, Washington, DC May 20, 1997

(Phone: 202/358-1726)

Mike Mewhinney
Ames Research Center, Mountain View, CA
(Phone: 415/604-3937)

RELEASE: 97-105

NASA TECHNOLOGY SPAWNS NEW CIVILIAN TILTROTOR AIRCRAFT

After 20 years of research and development, an aircraft

known as the tiltrotor, which combines the speed and range of a
turboprop airplane with the vertical takeoff and landing
capability of a helicopter, is poised to enter commercial service.

NASA's Ames Research Center, Mountain View, CA, which

manages NASA's Short Haul Civil Tiltrotor program, will look back
on 20 years of development during a special program there,
celebrating the 20th anniversary of the first flight of the XV-15
Tiltrotor Research Aircraft, on Thursday, May 22 starting at 11:30
a.m. EDT in the Main Auditorium (N-201). Former NASA Deputy
Administrator Dr. Hans Mark will discuss "The Tiltrotor Story: A
Classic American Technology Development" from noon until 1 p.m.
EDT, followed by tours of key tiltrotor research facilities from
1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. EDT. Media are invited to attend.

After pioneering work in the past, Ames is continuing its

work on the tiltrotor concept with studies on the development of a
40-passenger civil tiltrotor. A 1995 Department of Transportation
study concluded that a new air transportation system based on
civil tiltrotor technology could be created and that a 40-
passenger civil tiltrotor is feasible technically, economically
and environmentally.

In July 1999, Bell Helicopter Textron Inc., Forth

Worth,TX, and Boeing Defense and Space Group's Helicopters
Division, Philadelphia, PA, plan to conduct the first flight of
the nation's first civilian tiltrotor, the Bell-Boeing 609, a
nine-passenger executive transport aircraft. The company is
currently building the world's first production tiltrotor, the V-
22 Osprey, a military aircraft that will carry 24 combat-ready
troops. Bell-Boeing estimates a domestic market of about 1,000
aircraft for the 609 over the next 20 years.
 In addition to the V-22 and 609, Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., a
subsidiary of United Technologies Corp., Stratford, CT, is
actively pursuing the technology for the next generation of
tiltrotors, a variable-diameter tiltrotor, which could further
develop the tiltrotor's capability to match those of both a
helicopter and a turboprop airplane. Both the 609 and V-22 are
direct descendants of the XV-15 Tiltrotor Research Aircraft,
developed under a joint NASA/Army/Bell program at Ames.

"The XV-15 was the proof-of-concept vehicle for tiltrotor

aircraft," said William J. Snyder, manager of the Advanced
Tiltrotor Transport Technology Office at Ames. "The XV-15, which
is still flying at Bell Helicopter Textron's flight test center in
Arlington, TX, established the technology database for development
of the world's first production tiltrotor, the Bell-Boeing V-22
Osprey and the Bell-Boeing 609," Snyder said. "It's the single-
most important aeronautical development fully attributable to
Ames."

Tiltrotor technology, as exemplified by the XV-15, has been

one of the most successful aeronautics research programs in NASA's
history. "The XV-15 research aircraft's research contributions
did not end with the initiation of the V-22; it continues today to
be the primary civil testbed for flight evaluation of new
tiltrotor technology, almost 20 years after its first flight,"
Snyder said.

The XV-15 combines standard aircraft cruise flight with

vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) and short takeoff and landing
(STOL) capabilities. A unique feature of the XV-15 are the two
large, three-bladed proprotors mounted at the tips of the wings.
For takeoff, the proprotors and their engines are rotated straight
up, enabling the aircraft to lift off vertically, like a
helicopter. Once off the ground, the proprotors and engines
rotate forward like a conventional aircraft enabling it to cruise
for more than two hours.

These features enable the XV-15 to take off and land at

small landing terminals or vertiports rather than at conventional
airports and thus give them a significant advantage over turboprop
aircraft. "By removing short haul turboprops from the nation's
major airports and replacing them with 40-passenger tiltrotor
transports, airport congestion and delays could be substantially
reduced and substantial savings in time and dollars could be
realized by passengers and by the air transport system," Snyder
said.

"The XV-15 is much quieter in cruise flight than

turboprops. Further, flight research has shown that by converting
the proprotors from airplane to helicopter mode in a certain way,
the noise footprint of the XV-15 has been found to be reduced by
30 percent over that made by conventional helicopters -- a very
significant accomplishment that is important for community
acceptance," said John Zuk, national lead for civil tiltrotor
studies in the Advanced Tiltrotor Transport Technology Office at
Ames.

Twenty years ago this month, the XV-15 successfully

completed its first flight at the Bell Helicopter plant in Texas
under AmesÕ management. The aircraft had a 15-year career in
flight research at Ames before being sent to Bell in 1994 for
further research.

-end-