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Interesting civilian VTOL


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https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/first-production-aw609-tiltrotor-finally-flies-after-decades-of-development/ar-AA13c8jJ?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=99fea1f34d9040ae89516a217b0435ef

 

 

I get nervous looking at the thin wings having to support those big engines with vibrations plus having to pull the fuselage forward at speed, but then what do I know?

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https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/first-production-aw609-tiltrotor-finally-flies-after-decades-of-development/ar-AA13c8jJ?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=99fea1f34d9040ae89516a217b0435ef

 

 

I get nervous looking at the thin wings having to support those big engines with vibrations plus having to pull the fuselage forward at speed, but then what do I know?

 

A pair of PT-6C engines power the AW609. Literally the most reliable engine in history. The AW609 has been designed to develop Full Transport Category/Class 1 performance to operate safely even when flown under single engine conditions.

I cannot think it would be so if weight was a concern, and I'd need to know more about the gearbox arangement before daring to offer an opinion. As for engine power, it has more than twice the power of a AW169 Helicopter and is NOT susceptible to Vortex Ring State. How it transfers power from one side to the other in the event of engine failure is my only question?

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I'm sure the engines are fine, my concern was the weight, resulting movement stress and vibration with potential metal fatique. Those wings look pretty slim!

 

You DO realise the V-22 Osprey has used a very similar approach for over a decade..? More than 400 in service.

https://www.bellflight.com/products/bell-boeing-v-22

The main difference is that the AW uses a pressurised fuselage where the Osprey is unpressurised. So I guess the AW609 is built tougher than the Osprey...

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  • 2 months later...

The V-22 has never been approved for full production, only short series production runs.

Search "V-22 Issues" and you will find many detailed article chronicling the myriad problems with the V-22.

The BV-347 was proposed, but it was politically easier to get an "airplane that hovers" than a "helicopter that is fast."

Too many service members lost to an aircraft that was built for one reason, work out the kinks so that the civilian version will be safe.

 

Always Aviate, then Navigate, then Communicate. And never be low on Fuel, Altitude, Airspeed, or Ideas.

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Laptop, Intel Core i7 CPU 1.80GHz 2.30 GHz, 8GB RAM, 64-bit, NVIDIA GeoForce MX 130, Extra large coffee-black.

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Yeah, I heard the V22 was a major problem. Frankly, I'm even surprised to see this as a civilian model.

 

It was already an engineering feat just to get the V22 off the ground!

 

Perhaps design it just like one big quadcopter. No wings or any of that. Now you take a MASSIVE engineering nightmare out of the equation in regards to a VTOL and plane config. aircraft me thinks.

 

Be interesting to see a quadcopter like design for Med-Evac... But, the width would be larger so that would have to be dealt with.

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On 10/23/2022 at 6:19 AM, mallcott said:

NOT susceptible to Vortex Ring State. How it transfers power from one side to the other in the event of engine failure is my only question?

First, vortex ring state has been a significant problem, most likely due to low mass-high speed-small diameter rotors having to generate large downward airflow to support such a large aircraft. Easy to recirculate the flow and create a vortex ring.

Second, power is transferred from one engine/nacelle to the other in the case of a power failure with sprag clutches and synchronization shafts. Think of the  V-22 as an H-46 or H-47 flying sideways. After seeing the XV-15 in the 1970's at MCAS Tustin, I asked the Boeing engineer what would happen if the sprag failed. His response, which is the wrong answer to a pilot was, 'It can't happen."

On 20 July 1992, pre-production V-22 #4's right engine failed and caused the aircraft to drop into the Potomac River near MCB Quantico with an audience of Department of Defense and industry officials. Flammable liquids collected in the right nacelle and led to an engine fire and subsequent failure. All seven on board were killed. The power did not transfer, in part, due to melting of the sprag clutch. 

Always Aviate, then Navigate, then Communicate. And never be low on Fuel, Altitude, Airspeed, or Ideas.

phrog x 2.jpg

Laptop, Intel Core i7 CPU 1.80GHz 2.30 GHz, 8GB RAM, 64-bit, NVIDIA GeoForce MX 130, Extra large coffee-black.

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