XV-15 litho - NASA's History Office

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demonstrations two years earlier. The interest generated by the mockup and
flight demonstrations was such that Bell received 36 advanced orders at that time
for the new aircraft. Bell President Webb Joiner, speaking of the early customers
for the Model 609, said that “These are not just customers, these are visionaries,”
noting their commitment to a new aircraft type two years before design freeze
and four years in advance of first delivery. Bell further anticipates a market of up
to 1000 Model 609’s over the next 20 years, serving needs such as executive
transport, offshore oil operations, search and rescue, emergency medical service,
drug enforcement and border patrol.
In March of 1998, shortly after the Boeing Company purchased McDonnell
Douglas Helicopters, and subsequently made the decision to focus on military
helicopters only, Boeing removed itself as a major contributing partner in the
BB 609 program. However, at the Farnborough Air Show in September of 1998,
Bell announced a joint venture with the Agusta Helicopter Company of Italy
wherein Agusta will participate in the development, manufacture, and final
assembly of 609s delivered in Europe and other parts of the world. The 609 was
now renamed the BA 609 (for Bell Agusta 609).
Agusta has had a long history of joint programs with Bell and also worked with
other European aerospace companies on the development of tilt rotor technology
under a program called EUROFAR (European Future Advanced Rotorcraft).
Following the Bell-Agusta teaming announcement, Eurocopter, a French-German
company, stated that it too was seeking funding for a civil tilt rotor project.
As a commuter aircraft operating in a growing worldwide short-haul commuter
market, the BA 609 can operate to/from vertiports or conventional airports and
will go a long way toward relieving congestion and delays at many of the
world’s major airport hubs. The BA 609 will be breaking new ground (or should
we say “new air”) in aviation.
CTRDAC
The development of the V-22 Osprey and the initiation of flight testing provided
the encouragement needed by tilt rotor advocates to press for a civil
application of this new aircraft type. Earlier FAA- and NASA-funded studies,
57 managed by Dr. John Zuk of NASA Ames, showed that the tilt rotor aircraft
had potential worldwide market application and could be economically
beneficial to the manufacturers as well as the operators. In late 1992, results
were brought to the attention of members of Congress who directed Secretary
of Transportation Samuel (Sam) Skinner to establish a Civil Tiltrotor
Development Advisory Committee (CTRDAC) to examine the costs, technical
feasibility, and economic viability of developing civil tilt rotor aircraft
57 Anon., “Civil Tiltrotor Missions and Applications, Phase II: The Commercial Passenger Market,”
NASA CR 177576, February 1991.