Jul 26 1979
From The Space Library
NASA reported successful demonstration July 24 of in-flight switch from helicopter mode to airplane mode, by a research aircraft combining features of helicopters and conventional turboprop airplanes. The aircraft, designed and built by Bell Helicopter Textron under a joint program of ARC and the U.S. Army Research & Technology Laboratories, had a 7.5-meter (25-foot)-diameter rotor at each wingtip, each powered by a turboprop engine and capable of pivoting from a straight-up to a straight-ahead position. Oriented up, the rotors would take the craft up or down and hover like a helicopter; rotated forward, the blades would function as propellers, and the craft would fly like an airplane. The demonstration at the Bell plant of conversion from helicopter to airplane mode proceeded gradually, with steady-state flight at each 5° of nacelle rotation; the craft was designed to be much quieter than current helicopters and turboprop planes. The XV 15 craft had logged about 15 flight hours since tests began in April, in preparation for delivery to ARC for a proof-of-concept flight program. (NASA Release 79-98)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
