XV-15 litho - NASA's History Office

15 July 1984 Bell-Boeing submitted a joint Full-Scale Development
JVX proposal to Naval Air Systems Command.
10-13 September XV-15 flown over the nap-of-the-earth course at
1984 Fort Rucker, Alabama.
18-26 September XV-15 demonstrates air-to-air evasive maneuvers,
1984 slope landings and aerial refueling capabilities at Patuxent
River Naval Air Station, Maryland.
28 September- XV-15 demonstrated at USMC Air Station, Quantico,
2 October 1984 Virginia.
2 October 1984 XV-15 demonstrated flight from downtown New York City
to downtown Washington, D.C., in 45 minutes.
5 October 1984 Bell completed a 3500-mile demonstration tour with
XV-15... 54 flights in 20 flying days, 21 evaluation flights,
five military pilots, and 16 guest pilots.
15 January 1985 Navy Secretary John Lehman announced that the official
name for the JVX aircraft is “Osprey.”
July 1985 Flight evaluation of a three-axis sidestick controller performed
in XV-15 N703NA by Ames.
2 May 1986 U.S. Naval Air Systems Command awards Bell-Boeing
Vertol contract for seven-year Full Scale Development
Program for V-22.
21 May 1986 As part of the Bell “guest pilot” program Colonel Harry
M. Blot, USNAVAIRSYSCOM V-22 program manager,
flew the XV-15 for his first official tilt rotor flight.
June 1986 A new contract is awarded to the Bell-Boeing V-22 team
by NAVAIR following a year of program reassessment and
negotiations. The new contract called for a fixed-price
development for the first three production lots, totaling
228 aircraft. Six prototype aircraft were to be built under
the full-scale development contract.
18 December 1986 Department of Defense approved the full scale development
program for the V-22 Osprey.
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