XV-15 litho - NASA's History Office

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Figure 44. Initial Bell tiedown showing metal protective shields. (Bell Photograph 240178) 54 transmissions in the Bell Transmission Test Laboratory). Functional checks of the aircraft’s electrical system, hydraulic system, proprotor RPM governor, and other systems were also conducted. First Flight With the completion of the integrated systems test and with substantial progress being made in the ground tiedown runs, the Bell and Government TRRA project offices initiated discussions addressing the start of the flight test program. While each was anxious to explore the new technology, the Government approach, as
defined in the TRRA Project Plan, called for a wind tunnel test prior to flight to “be certain all critical mode analyses are valid and that the (analytical) methods properly assess the dynamic characteristics, capabilities, limitations, and operating behavior of the tilt rotor flight research aircraft.” Bell, however, argued for the initiation of a limited flight program as soon as practical, which would have been their usual practice, in order to reveal issues that may require further analytical investigations or additional attention during the wind tunnel test. The early detection of problems would allow more time for their resolution and could ultimately accelerate the program. This rationale for an early flight evaluation had sufficient technical merit for the Army/NASA TRRA Project Office to present the plan to the Ames Airworthiness and Flight Safety Review Board (AFSRB). 24 After establishing the readiness and airworthiness of XV-15 N702NA located at the Bell Flight Test Center, and examining the test results from the ground-based operations, the Ames AFSRB approved a limited hover and air-taxi flight test activity. Since the Ames 40- by 80-foot wind tunnel could not produce steady airflow at very low wind tunnel airspeeds, the AFSRB restricted flight speeds to 40 knots, where data at steady-state conditions could be obtained from flight tests. In addition, this hover and air-taxi evaluation was limited to a maximum of three flight hours and to low altitude operating conditions. On May 3, 1977, following a series of ground-taxi and systems tests, the XV-15 TRRA became airborne for the first time. The initial liftoff, conducted by Bell test pilot Ron Erhart and copilot Dorman Cannon, was executed according to plan. With Bell Test Director Shep Blackman and a team of XV-15 project engineers carefully watching the critical flight parameters in the Bell Flight Test Center control room, the XV-15 was accelerated in helicopter mode along the runway by the application of power and the forward movement of the center control stick. After a short ground roll a slight increase in the power provided the additional thrust needed for liftoff. As planned, the power was immediately reduced, the aircraft settled back on the runway, and a rollout was performed. This first flight demonstrated satisfactory handling qualities and safe structural loads. In subsequent operations, longitudinal and directional controllability were verified and a hover over a fixed point was made. The initial flight pilot report stated “In general, the aircraft hovered almost exactly as predicted, based on the simulator evaluations,” a clear validation of the extensive TRRA simulation program. Further testing performed by the Bell pilots at the Arlington, Texas, Municipal Airport during this initial test period included flights in the helicopter mode in hover and in forward, sideward and rearward flight. Testing also included an assessment of the SCAS and the FFS. For the first time in this flight program, the nacelles were tilted to 85 24 The Ames Airworthiness and Flight Safety Review Board was a panel of senior members of the Ames staff, including technical/research specialists, who were charged with the evaluation of planned aircraft activities to ensure that adequate design, testing, planning, and training had been done in order to achieve proposed mission objectives safely. The AFSRB members were appointed by the Director of Ames Research Center and had no direct involvement in the project being reviewed. 55
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 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 130 and 131:
104 management system was very effe
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
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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
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