Tiltrotors 1

[FrenchCAD]

I just read an article about Bell/Augusta BA609 going to be tested in flight and V22 problems.

The tiltrotor technology is very impressive and I wanted to know what you think about it? Do you think we will achieve it? will the transition problems be solved?

Cyril Guichard
Mechanical Engineer

 

[GraviMan]

Tilt rotor transition seems to be a fundamental problem, although extreme cyclic control could help. Sounds like it'll just end up with an extreme height-velocity curve for operation.

Given the problems with the tilt-rotor approach to high speed rotorcraft, are we likely to see a return of pusher props on rotorcraft? I'm thinking Cheyenne here.

This won't solve the VTS problem, since this is a fundamental fact of aircraft needing to find clean (i.e. static) air for flight. It does, however, allow optimisation of the rotor for various flight regimes, by allowing it to remain horizontal (or even a slight negative pitch) in high speed forward flight.

I'm curious about others views...

Mart