XV-15 litho - NASA's History Office

More documents

Recommendations

Info

104 management system was very effective for controlling costs and resolving technical issues and was instrumental in contributing to the overall success of the project. 55 A lesson learned was the advantage of multiple or joint participation, in this case the Army and NASA. This became an important factor in maintaining the continuation of project funding when one agency was able to provide funds during a period that the other agency was experiencing a temporary funding shortfall. This was further emphasized when the Project Office was able to accommodate a request by the Navy for sea trial evaluations of the XV-15 tilt rotor research aircraft (TRRA) to evaluate it for Navy ship board applications. As it happened, this provided further funding at a time of critical need. Yet another important “funding” lesson learned was to include the contractor as a participant in the project funding. In the case of the XV-15 TRRA, this was accomplished contractually by an incentive fee arrangement tied to contractor cost performance. While the incentive fee did not prevent cost increases, it did provide for significant funding participation by the contractor through a negative fee arrangement. Most important are the results of the TRRA flight test program. Within just over two years after the first full conversion of the XV-15 TRRA, sufficient data had been collected to determine that the primary proof-of-concept objectives were successfully completed. This included validation of rotor/pylon/wing dynamic stability, performance, and noise. The XV-15 met its predicted characteristics in all critical areas and was determined to be suitable for advanced flight research investigations, including evaluations of the tilt rotor aircraft’s suitability of civil and military applications. These investigations and related advanced research have been conducted with the XV-15 for nearly twenty years after the completion of the proof-of-concept flight testing, demonstrating the tilt rotor aircraft’s versatility and potential in many VTOL aircraft applications. Without question, the XV-15 TRRA has met or exceeded the goals as specified in the original Program Plan. Although the TRRA was built by the Bell Helicopter Company, it is significant to note this was the first time the Government (the Army and NASA) successfully wrote the specifications for and fostered the introduction of a new aircraft type into the U.S. aviation market. 55 A discussion of the approach and key considerations of the TRRA and other flight research projects at Ames is contained in: David D. Few, “A Perspective on 15 Years of Proof-of-Concept Aircraft Development and Flight Research at Ames-Moffett by the Rotorcraft and Powered-Lift Flight Projects Division, 1970-1985,” NASA Reference Publication 1187, August 1987.
Epilogue The XV-15 continues to contribute to the advancement of aeronautical technology through its flight test activity at Bell, thereby further increasing the benefits derived from the TRRA project. It is appropriate, however, to note the costs incurred by the Government in the performance of this work. By September 1981, sufficient data had been acquired in the two research aircraft flight test program for the Government to declare that the primary proof-of-concept objectives had been successfully completed. At that time, the cost of the TRRA contract was $39.5M. An additional $5.0M was used during this period for supporting research and technology. Research and support work continued with the prime contractor (Bell) for several years under the same contract, and when it was terminated in August 1993, the final cost to the Government was $50.4M. Bell had contributed over $1.5M to the effort in accordance with the incentive fee arrangements of the contract. In recent years it has become apparent that the Government’s investment in tilt rotor aircraft technology, through the new programs now under development, will likely provide thousands of new jobs and may even improve the U.S. balance of trade. The key events leading to the validation of tilt rotor technology by the XV-15, and the subsequent development of production tilt rotor aircraft (discussed later in this section) are listed in the chronology provided in Appendix C. In addition, the contributions of many people associated with these projects over the years have been recognized by leading U.S. technical organizations and societies. A summary of the key awards and new speed and climb records set with the XV-15 are described in Appendix D. A collection of pictures showing the tilt rotor aircraft during the flight program is provided in the photo-gallery, Appendix E. Also, Appendix F contains a comprehensive bibliography of tilt rotor related publications. The remarkable achievements, both technical and operational, of the XV-15 TRRA were directly responsible for the introduction of the world’s first military and civil tilt rotor aircraft. Without the technology validation and the demonstrations provided by the TRRA, it would not have been possible for the leaders of industry and the Government to be confident enough to launch these new aircraft production programs. Thumbnail sketches of these programs, as well as brief summaries of the Government activities spawned by the TRRA project are provided here. JVX/V-22 Osprey Beginning in the late 1960s, and continuing for more than a decade, the Marines studied the options available for their future vertical assault role and transport needs. However, because of the relatively small number of vehicles required, coupled with the specialized missions, they could not establish the necessary level of support in the Department of Defense (DoD) and in the Congress to initiate acquisition of a new purpose-built aircraft. By the end of 1981, the DoD identified additional vertical lift missions for the Army and the Air Force which 105
Page 1:
The History of The XV-15 Tilt Rotor
Page 5:
Contents Prologue . . . . . . . . .
Page 9:
Dedication The story of the success
Page 13:
Foreword The development of tilt ro
Page 17 and 18:
List of Figures Figure 1 Leonardo d
Page 19 and 20:
Figure 41 Simultaneous static test
Page 21 and 22:
Figure A-2 Transcendental Model 2 t
Page 23 and 24:
List of Acronyms AARL Army Aeronaut
Page 25:
TRENDS Tilt Rotor Engineering Datab
Page 28 and 29:
Figure 2. Illustration of vertical
Page 30 and 31:
Figure 4. McDonnell XV-1 compound h
Page 32 and 33:
Figure 7. Henry Berliner tiltpropel
Page 34 and 35:
Top: Figure 9. The Baynes Heliplane
Page 36 and 37:
Figure 13. Illustration from the Ha
Page 38 and 39:
Figure 17. Bob Lichten, extreme lef
Page 40 and 41:
Figure 20. Tiedown tests of the XV-
Page 42 and 43:
16 Research and Engineering), obtai
Page 44 and 45:
18 management continued to show int
Page 46 and 47:
20 Building the Technology Base Aer
Page 48 and 49:
Figure 25. Bell 25-ft. diameter pro
Page 50 and 51:
Figure 28. Performance tests of 5-f
Page 52 and 53:
Figure 31. Bell 25-ft. diameter pro
Page 54 and 55:
28 Tilt Rotor Research Aircraft Pro
Page 56 and 57:
30 During the late 1960s and early
Page 58 and 59:
32 range of loading conditions and
Page 60 and 61:
34 The initial projected cost of $4
Page 62 and 63:
Figure 35. Illustration of the Boei
Page 64 and 65:
Figure 36. 1/5 scale XV-15 model in
Page 66 and 67:
40 under the contract. To accomplis
Page 68 and 69:
42 Aircraft Development The primary
Page 70 and 71:
44 Test stand angle box Test stand
Page 72 and 73:
Figure 40. Proprotor response to co
Page 74 and 75:
Figure 41. Simultaneous static test
Page 76 and 77:
50 helicopters. For the conversion
Page 78 and 79:
52 Prior to the start of flight ope
Page 80 and 81: Figure 44. Initial Bell tiedown sho
Page 82 and 83: 56 degrees 25 and a brief assessmen
Page 84 and 85: Figure 45. XV-15 in the Ames Resear
Page 86 and 87: 60 NAVAIR managers as a means of de
Page 88 and 89: Figure 46. Government and Bell pers
Page 90 and 91: Figure 49. Tiedown test facility at
Page 92 and 93: 66 Wheel height Top: Figure 51. Met
Page 94 and 95: 68 Symmetric beam mode Antisymmetri
Page 96 and 97: Figure 55. XV-15 during short takeo
Page 98 and 99: Top: Figure 56. Flow visualization
Page 100 and 101: 74 during “degraded” flight con
Page 102 and 103: Figure 59. Hover acoustics tests du
Page 104 and 105: 78 Nose weight Top: Figure 61. Typi
Page 106 and 107: 80 Following the completion of cont
Page 108 and 109: 82 After the proprotors stopped, th
Page 110 and 111: 84 sudden stoppage of the right eng
Page 112 and 113: 86 A reconversion to the helicopter
Page 114 and 115: 88 Paris Air Show By early 1981, th
Page 116 and 117: 90 enroute from Farnborough to Fran
Page 118 and 119: Top: Figure 66. Senator Goldwater i
Page 120 and 121: Figure 69. Shipboard evaluations of
Page 122 and 123: Figure 71. XV-15 at the New York Po
Page 124 and 125: 98 Crash (October 16 and 17, 1991).
Page 126 and 127: 100 The End of an Era By the mid 19
Page 128 and 129: Top: Figure 73. XV-15 at the Dallas
Page 132 and 133: 106 could make use of the same flig
Page 134 and 135: Figure 76. The Bell tilt rotor eagl
Page 136 and 137: 110 demonstrations two years earlie
Page 138 and 139: 112 Future Tilt Rotor Aircraft By t
Page 140 and 141: 114 tiltrotor aircraft program. Thi
Page 142 and 143: 116 Model 1-G Characteristics Power
Page 144 and 145: Figure A-3. Transcendental Model 2
Page 146 and 147: Figure A-4. XV-3 three-view drawing
Page 148 and 149: Figure A-5. XV-3 inboard drawing, s
Page 150 and 151: Nacelle angle (degrees) 124 120 90
Page 152 and 153: Figure A-8. General layout and majo
Page 154 and 155: Figure A-9. Side view inboard profi
Page 156 and 157: Figure A-11. XV-15 height-velocity
Page 158 and 159: 132 Weight Design . . . . . . . . .
Page 160 and 161: 134 WBS LEVEL: Bell Army/NASA I II
Page 162 and 163: 136 US Army Air Mobility Research a
Page 164 and 165: 138 Army/NASA (continued) Staff (19
Page 166 and 167: 140 Appendix C—Chronology 1452-15
Page 168 and 169: 142 1968 Boeing Vertol awarded cont
Page 170 and 171: 144 November, Initial piloted simul
Page 172 and 173: 146 24 March 1982 XV-15 demonstrate
Page 174 and 175: 148 30 July 1987 FAA/NASA/DOD Tilt
Page 176 and 177: 150 21 August 1990 V-22 reached 340
Page 178 and 179: 152 14 June 1993 The Department of
Page 180 and 181:
154 Appendix D—Awards and Records
Page 182 and 183:
Figure D-1. Jean Tinsley, first wom
Page 184 and 185:
Figure E-3. XV-15 flying by the Sta
Page 186 and 187:
Figure E-7. Bell test pilots Roy Ho
Page 188 and 189:
Figure E-11. Ken Wernicke, Bell til
Page 190 and 191:
164 Appendix F—Bibliography Tilt
Page 192 and 193:
166 Ball, J. C. “XV-15 Shipboard
Page 194 and 195:
168 Churchill, G. B.; Dugan, D. C.
Page 196 and 197:
170 Edenborough, H. K. “Investiga
Page 198 and 199:
172 Harendra, P. B.; Joglekar, M. J
Page 200 and 201:
174 Kvaternik, Raymond G. “Studie
Page 202 and 203:
176 Magee, J. P.; Pruyn, R. “Pred
Page 204 and 205:
178 Martin, Stanley, Jr.; Erb, Lee
Page 206 and 207:
180 Rutledge, Charles K.; George, A
Page 208 and 209:
182 Tischler, M. B.; Leung, J. G. M
Page 210 and 211:
184 Whitaker, H. L.; Cheng, Yi. “
Page 212 and 213:
186 Daniel C. Dugan Daniel Dugan gr
Page 214 and 215:
188 Carnet, 88 Carpenter, Ron, 91 C
Page 216 and 217:
190 Moffett Airfield, Moffett Field
Page 219 and 220:
Monographs in Aerospace History Lau
Page 222:
National Aeronautics and Space Admi
show all

XV-15 litho - NASA's History Office

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?