In Transition

“But the program stagnated from 2005 onwards due to financial reasons with Bell being heavily involved in the V-22 Osprey and other programs it had going on.

None of the suppliers were really involved in anger from 2005 onwards.

” At the time, Bell Helicopter’s parent Textron was pushing Bell to focus on its core business and develop new helicopter models.

AgustaWestland started discussions with Bell to acquire the then BA609 tiltrotor program outright from 2007.

“In 2009, Bell began to thrash out the finer details of anacquisition, and by mid-2011 both parties had agreed on the terms,” said Scott.

“It was a big time for us in November 2011 when we bought out the program.

Many people said ‘is there a problem with the aircraft?’ The answer was clearly no.

But there were problems with the finance side and funding availability.

Then, people were saying ‘well, it can’t be a good product if Bell wanted to sell it’.

It was a financial situation and it took a long time for Bell to let it go, because it didn’t want to let it go.

[But] Bell would not have been able to develop its 505 Jet Ranger X and 525 Relentless had it stuck with the AW609.

” The tiltrotor had already been flying for eight years before AgustaWestland gained full control of the project, with the prototype, registered N609TR, making its first flight in from Arlington, Texas on March 6 2003.

A second prototype, N609GR, joined the flying program in 2006.

“When we picked up the program there were 550 flying hours on the program,” said Scott.

“Bear in mind all that flying had taken place between 2003 to 2011.

Since then, in a little over three years, we’ve done 650 more flying hours, so the flight rate is ramping up exponentially.

This year we will be doing even more flying and we know how many hours we have left to do before we get to certification.

” By December 2013, AgustaWestland had achieved envelope expansion, testing every aspect of the tiltrotor’s capabilities, validating its flight envelope including a 25,000ft service ceiling with a pressurised cabin and a maximum cruise speed of 275kt, both of which were performed at maximum weight.

More recent milestones include stalling and autorotations, while engine upgrades, landing gear modifications and optimised flight control techniques have allowed

Both prototypes have now flown a combined 1,200 hours.

an expansion of the flight envelope including a 8,165kg (18,000lb) maximum takeoff weight, flight up to 293kt and to an altitude of 30,000ft.

Underwing auxiliary fuel tanks are currently in development to increase range to 1,100nm (2,040km), and the cabin door is also being enlarged to improve access for the SAR role.

Both prototypes have now flown a combined 1,200 flying hours of the 2,000 hours AgustaWestland is aiming towards for certification – double the flying hours the company does when certifying a new helicopter type.

A third AW609 prototype is currently being manufactured at AgustaWestland’s Vergiate, Italy facility.

It completed a pressure test in mid-April and is due to fly in June before being shipped to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where it will join the flight test program, focusing on icing.

Prototype three will be fitted with heated blades and de-icing boots on its leading edges, engine intakes and spinners and fitted with cameras and instrumentation to test flight into known icing.

“By the end of the year prototype three will be doing some artificial ice testing over the Great Lakes near Minnesota to test the icing system because this aircraft has to go into certification with icing clearance on it,” said Scott.

“Unlike a helicopter, we have to clear the de-icing and anti-icing systems as part of the basic aircraft – we can’t do it as an STC afterwards.

There will be a following icing campaign next year to confirm any changes we have to make as a result of the findings of the first icing trial.

” While the first two prototypes continue to undertake development and certification flying, a fourth and final prototype will start to be assembled next year in Philadelphia.

Prototype four is expected to fly late in 2016 as an avionics testbed fitted with the Rockwell Collins Pro Line Fusion cockpit and will be closely configured as a production aircraft.

“The fuselage has already been transferred to Philadelphia and the wing is in a box at Vergiate waiting to be shipped across,” said Scott.

“It will undergo full final assembly in Philadelphia in preparation for the assembly of the first production aircraft.

” AgustaWestland made a conscious decision in March 2013 to extend the development program by an extra year, targeting certification at the end of 2017.

This has allowed it to introduce a number of performance improvements on the aircraft such as increasing the power of its engines, further weight and drag reductions and while also re-sourcing a number of key components, predominantly to help with reducing costs.

“We gave ourselves a target for the acquisition price of the aircraft and worked backwards from there looking at the costs of all the parts,” said Scott.

“We cost analyse to understand what each of the parts should cost and if we find what we are actually paying is way too high we then go and re-bid and find another supplier who is more economical.

There were a number of key items that we re-sourced which has reduced the cost of the aircraft.

” With 60 firm orders for the 609 in the book, and more anticipated as certification nears, Scott could not confirm a mooted US$24 million cost for a production aircraft, but he indicated AgustaWestland would be revealing what customers will be paying by the end of this year.

“We said we would be publishing the price around two years out from certification.

Obviously we have some idea of the price, but at the moment we are still agreeing on contracts with suppliers.

”Arlington facility was primarily for experimental testing and not for manufacturing.

Now that we are starting to plan for the production phase, it made sense to relocate the program to Philadelphia.

” AgustaWestland is working with the FAA as the primary certification authority for the 609.

“In terms of regulation and in terms of people, the FAA is far more advanced with tiltrotors than the Europeans, so it makes sense for us to certify the 609 in the US,” said Scott.

“We are doing a concurrent validation with EASA, keeping it close and involving it in every step of the way so when we do certify with the FAA, the EASA certification should take weeks or months and not years.

” The AW609 will be certified in the powered lift vehicle category, in the tiltrotor class.

The certification will be a mixture of the FAA’s Part 29 helicopter rules and Part 25 aeroplane rules with some new rules associated predominately with powered lift vehicles.

An industrialisation phase for the AW609 program is underway across AgustaWestland’s network and associated supply chain, with new equipment and tooling being acquired to guarantee existing orders can start to be fulfilled immediately after FAA type certification.

As announced at March’s Heli-Expo in Orlando, Florida AgustaWestland will use its Philadelphia facility as the final AW609 production line.

AgustaWestland plans to simply slot the AW609 into its already well-established production facility where it produces between 50 and 70 helicopters annually with around 600 manufacturing, development and engineering staff.

“When we bought the program out, we bought a facility at Arlington Municipal Airport, Texas across the runway from Bell,” said Scott.

“We had 123 people from Bell working on the program and the purpose of that facility was to get the knowledge transfer across from Bell as effectively and as cheaply as possible.

The “One of our next-generation products that we are working on could be a tiltwing and that would fall into a similar category as the 609, but in a slightly different class,” said Scott.

“So the AW609 is breaking the ice in many respects for lots of our products in the future.

”

Will it fit?

While the AW609 nears certification, AgustaWestland continues to work on its next generation tiltrotor design, which it says will be larger.

“We are committed to this technology,” said Scott.

“We have already got people working on the next design.

It’s a scalable technology so we’re going to scale it up to something larger and see what we can do with it, although the larger the tiltrotor aircraft becomes, the more the infrastructure will become an issue.

The 609 is a very good size for a number of reasons.

One is the infrastructure is there already in terms of dimensions and weight [similar to] existing helicopters.

”We’re going to scale it up to something larger and see what we can do with it. CLIVE SCOTTF

rom blade tip to blade tip, the AW609 measures a fraction over 18 metres wide, around four metres wider than the AW139.

From nose to tail, the tiltrotor measures 13.

3m, much shorter than the AW139’s 16.

6m length.

“I don’t think the 609 is ever going to be the best EMS primary response machine for landing on the motorway,” said Scott.

“For patient or organ transport is where the AW609 is going to be in its own.

We are not going to replace the EMS helicopter with it, but we are going to have an EMS capability that extends the current capabilities.

” Scott draws the example of transferring a patient from one hospital to another, beyond the economical range of a helicopter.

“We’re going to completely eliminate the trip between the airport and hospital.

In most cases, a patient would be driven from the departure hospital by road ambulance to an airport to meet a fixed-wing aircraft.

On arrival at the other end they are then transferred to the arriving hospital by road.

With the 609, operators can save valuable time by going from helipad to helipad with virtually the same performances as a fixed-wing turbine, flying at speed and above the weather.

There are a number of EMS operators around the world that transfer like this, and in Australia too.

When a patient is in their ‘golden hour’, every minute counts and being able to go from pad to pad will save a lot of time.

” The AW609’s speeds in aeroplane mode will exceed the structural limits of add-on equipment such as a rescue hoist, searchlight and FLIR camera.

Scott says AgustaWestland has taken this into consideration for its SAR variant.

“The rescue hoist assembly will be housed inside the cabin and will fold out once the top section of a verticalopening clamshell door is opened,” said Scott.

“The lower half of the clamshell door will act as a step.

We will do the same with the FLIR and the searchlight – they will stow away into the fuselage and then extend when slow airspeeds permit.

”

Whole lot of noise

As with all new aircraft developments, internal and external noise considerations are high on the list for manufacturers.

With only the external noise footprint of the much larger V-22 Osprey to go by, ICAO approached AgustaWestland on what it thought noise regulations should be for civil tiltrotors.

“The 609’s noise signature is very similar to helicopters when in the hover,” said Scott.

“However, in forward flight mode the noise is significantly lower than a helicopter and more in line with a turboprop from a decibel perspective.

When the aircraft flies over in forward flight mode, I describe it as a flutter sound.

It’s not like the whine of a turboprop.

It has a very different type of noise, both from the inside and out, which we think will be far more appealing to operators and to the community.

”

The AW609’s fly-by-wire system makes the tiltrotor easy to handle.

It has a cyclic and collective similar to a helicopter, however AgustaWestland calls the collective a ‘power lever’.

“The power lever is different to the V-22’s thrust control lever,” describes Scott.

“When you are in aeroplane mode, reducing speed to convert it into helicopter mode proves to be a bit of a challenge, you just can’t raise the engine nacelles, because the fly-by-wire system won’t let you until you lower the power lever to reduce the speed.

The aircraft is very stable and easy to handle because it is being controlled by the fly-by-wire system.

” AgustaWestland says helicopter pilots that jump into the 609 are naturally inclined to fly it and the company is talking to the FAA about a training plan and whatqualifications pilots will need to have.

“The likelihood is all pilots will convert from helicopter licences, but with some fixed-wing tasks added,” said Scott.

“In the future there is also a desire to have a conversion course for fixed-wing pilots.

In reality, you only use it in helicopter mode for a short period of time because predominately you want to get into the efficient aeroplane mode as quickly as possible.

The 609 is really an aeroplane that can land and takeoff vertically, rather than a helicopter that can fly as fast and as high as a turboprop.

” Scott says the FAA is also advanced in tiltrotor licence ratings thanks to the V-22 Osprey in USAF, Marines and soon US Navy service.

V-22 pilots leaving the services do so with a powered lift type rating attached to their civilian licence.

Already there are now in excess of 250 civilian pilots in the US with a powered lift type rating.

AgustaWestland test pilot DanWells said the AW609’s one-engine inoperative performance was equivalent to a helicopter’s Category A performance.

“A driveshaft connects our two rotor systems, so if one engine were to fail, both rotor systems continue to operate completely as normal,” said Wells.

“If one engine fails the other engine automatically resets its limits to allow us to go into 30-second power and that vastly increases the power of that one engine.

We can actually loose an engine in the hover at a weight slightly lower than our maximum gross weight and we would continue to hover.

Even at our maximum gross weight we would just land very softly.

There is nothing dramatic about having an engine failure.

” On the power lever, pilots will notice a nacelle controller that is operated using their left thumb.

Pushing the rocker switch forward and the nacelles go forward, pull the switch aft and the nacelles come aft.

“In the hover, we just rotate the nacelles forward to 75 degrees and off we go and it climbs out very quickly because we get through effective translational lift pretty fast,” said qualifications pilots will need to have.

“The likelihood is all pilots will convert from helicopter licences, but with some fixed-wing tasks added,” said Scott.

“In the future there is also a desire to have a conversion course for fixed-wing pilots.

In reality, you only use it in helicopter mode for a short period of time because predominately you want to get into the efficient aeroplane mode as quickly as possible.

The 609 is really an aeroplane that can land and takeoff vertically, rather than a helicopter that can fly as fast and as high as a turboprop.

” Scott says the FAA is also advanced in tiltrotor licence ratings thanks to the V-22 Osprey in USAF, Marines and soon US Navy service.

V-22 pilots leaving the services do so with a powered lift type rating attached to their civilian licence.

Already there are now in excess of 250 civilian pilots in the US with a powered lift type rating.

AgustaWestland test pilot Dan Wells.

“The transition from helicopter to aeroplane mode takes about 40 seconds.

The wing begins to provide lift once the airspeed reaches 100kt.

To wash off speed, instead of pitching up like you would in a helicopter, you just rotate the nacelles aft and you’ll slow down.

We tend to fly at a very low pitch attitude and use the nacelles to slow us down.

”

Oil and gas

One of the markets the AW609 will be aimed at is offshore transport, which, until recently was the fastest-growing sector in the industry.

Airbus Helicopters, Bell and Sikorsky have all invested in new helicopters aimed at offshore transport operations.

AgustaWestland too has also developed the AW189 intended for offshore transport.

But despite the recent signs of slowing oil and gas exploration and production, the race to capture as much of the market as possible continues.

“The AW609 will be cheaper to operate than an EC225 and S-92,” claims Scott.

“The way to look at a tiltrotor is not a cost per hour, like we do with helicopters, but more

The regulatory barriers need to be broken down a little. CLIVE SCOTT

cost per seat mile, like you would with an aeroplane.

Most offshore rig flights are not full up of passengers and I know one Australian operator is flying an EC225 with five passengers on a 309nm radius with one very big auxiliary fuel tank.

The 609 will do this with nine passengers, faster and at a greater altitude to get out of the weather and pressurised.

” While offshore operators can use the AW609 for regular movement of people, the tiltrotor’s appeal will make it a fast reaction aircraft in case of emergency.

“People can get injured pretty badly on oil rigs, so the companies are pushing operators to be able to get an emergency evacuation very quickly,” said Scott.

“The companies are very keen to get their people off to hospital quickly and we will be able to get a medical crew 250nm offshore in one hour to begin emergency treatment and then land the patient back at the hospital’s helipad an hour later.

” Bristow has signed on to support the further development of the 609’s oil and gas and SAR configurations and capabilities.

Under a platform development agreement, announced at Heli-Expo, Bristow will provide contributions to the program’s flying activities to mature the aircraft while addressing commercial aspects for future AW609 acquisitions.

“We see tremendous opportunities for this aircraft for our clients who are flying to more remote and hostile environments,” said Bristow president and CEO Jonathan Baliff.

“With the AW609’s vertical lift and landing capabilities combined with increased speed, extended range and airlinestyle amenities, Bristow will be able to provide more value to clients by offering complete logistics solutions with one aircraft type that will take them faster and farther offshore.

” To reflect the teaming, prototype one was painted in dual Bristow and Eastern Airways red, blue and white livery.

Bristow has a 60 per cent interest in Eastern, which operates in the UK, Norway and France servicing the offshore oil and gas industry.

Also announced at Heli-Expo was a design competition to develop corporate interior concepts for the AW609.

AgustaWestland has invited several design studios to compete, following a similar competition for its AW169 interior design and exterior paint scheme.

The winner will be announced in October.

Challenges

The biggest challenge for Scott with the AW609 program has been regulatory requirements.

Introducing an aircraft into a brand new class of category runs the risk of an unforeseen regulation popping up that could potentially stop certification in its tracks.

“We are working very closely with the regulators and authorities on how we are going to use the aircraft in the airspace, determining what the requirements for landing pads will be and what the approach requirements will be when compared to helicopters – if there’s any difference,” said Scott.

“We are working to ensure that when the aircraft is introduced into service the regulatory side is all in line and we can maximise its capabilities, because there would be nothing worse than having an aircraft that you can’t make the most out of.

There are many opportunities for the tiltrotor but the regulatory barriers need to be broken down a little, a bit like UAVs in some respects, but I don’t think the challenges with the tiltrotor will be anywhere near as tough as UAVs.

” For over a decade the world has waited patiently for its first civil tiltrotor to deliver the capabilities and technology already enjoyed by the US military with the V-22 Osprey.

Now, AgustaWestland’s AW609 is fewer than three years away from transitioning from development to production.