Boeing Vertol/Grumman BV-222 tilt-rotor projects

fightingirish · 31 January 2008

Hi folks,
today while flicking through magazines at a bookshop near my local train station, I saw a picture of the Boeing Model 222 tilt rotor aircraft featured in an article about the "X-series Aircrafts (Part 19): AD-1 and XV-15" published in the German magazine "Fliegerrevue" Issue 02/08.
At home I found the same picture in a NASA document about the XV-15.

Boeing provided a proposal based on the new Model 222. This design used the
Boeing-developed 26-foot diameter soft-in-plane hingeless proprotor on nacelles
that tilted only the proprotors. The engines of the 222 were mounted in fixed
horizontal wing-tip nacelles. To minimize research aircraft development costs,
the Boeing 222 was to use the fuselage, landing gear, and empennage of the
Mitsubishi Mu-2J twin turboprop executive transport aircraft. The 222 wing
incorporated leading edge “umbrella” flaps and large deflection trailing edge
flaps to reduce download. An artist’s illustration of the Boeing 222 in flight is
shown in figure 35.

Figure 35: Illustration of the Boeing Model 222 tilt rotor aircraft.
(Boeing-Ames Photograph AC86-0140-1)

Source (PDF): http://history.nasa.gov/monograph17.pdf (31.01.2008)

Dear mods, please feel free to move this post to a suitable topic if necessary.

hesham · 1 February 2009

Hi,

a strange tilt-rotor aircraft.
http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19860022115_1986022115.pdf

Aeroengineer1 · 6 February 2009

Without Reading through the report, I am pretty sure that the tiltwing proposal that is shown is based upon a Mitsubishi Mu-2 fuselage.

Adam

hesham · 24 April 2009

The Boeing-Vertol BV-222 stowed rotor concepts.
http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19730021277_1973021277.pdf

Just call me Ray · 10 June 2009

The top one looks like...well I've said it an awful lot in VSTOL topics....

robunos · 11 June 2009

The top one looks like...well I've said it an awful lot in VSTOL topics....

Hesham missed this one from page 56 of the linked PDF.........

and..... the model number is frustratingly illegible, think it's 222, but........

cheers,
Robin.

Just call me Ray · 11 June 2009

Yeah, for some reason they sure thought that Mu-2 fuselage was pretty neat for VTOL applications, maybe even moreso than for being a fixed-wing aircraft!

robunos · 13 October 2009

Just call me Ray said:
The top one looks like...well I've said it an awful lot in VSTOL topics....

Mystery solved..........
From page 36 of 'Monograph 17- The History of the XV-15 Tilt-Rotor Research Aircraft from Concept to Flight', available at :-

http://history.nasa.gov/monograph17.pdf

"Boeing provided a proposal based on the new Model 222. This design used the
Boeing-developed 26-foot diameter soft-in-plane hingeless proprotor on nacelles
that tilted only the proprotors. The engines of the 222 were mounted in fixed
horizontal wing-tip nacelles. To minimize research aircraft development costs,
the Boeing 222 was to use the fuselage, landing gear, and empennage of the
Mitsubishi Mu-2J twin turboprop executive transport aircraft. The 222 wing
incorporated leading edge “umbrella” flaps and large deflection trailing edge
flaps to reduce download. An artist’s illustration of the Boeing 222 in flight is
shown in figure 35."

cheers,
Robin.

Stargazer · 13 October 2009

Don't know if these have been shown here before next to each other... Two artist's views of the proposed Boeing 222 reflecting a design change between the initial MU-2 fuselage and a much more streamlined cockpit (second image initially posted by Jemiba).

elmayerle · 13 October 2009

The top picture shows a rather revised windshield and canopy while the bottom pic looks to have a standard MU-2 canopy. Granted, the MU-2 fuselage is a good choice for such a conversion since the wing mates to the top of the fuselage with four bolts and there are no hydraulic connections to worry about (MU-2 didn't use hydraulics).

F-14D · 13 October 2009

Stargazer2006 said:
Don't know if these have been shown here before next to each other... Two artist's views of the proposed Boeing 222 reflecting a design change between the initial MU-2 fuselage and a much more streamlined cockpit.

Apologies if this was mentioned earlier, but a modified MU-2 was Boeing's submission to NASA for a Tilt Rotor demonstrator that was eventually won by the Bell Model 301 which became the XV-15

elmayerle · 14 October 2009

Well, it was mentioned "way back when" in the Aerophile cover aticle on the XV-15; though that came out years ago.

hesham · 26 January 2010

Hi,

also anther design to Boeing-Vertol as tilt-rotor projects,and also
they called it D238,I am suspicious in this impression,and also they
said it was developed from Model-222.

http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19770010060_1977010060.pdf

Stargazer · 27 January 2010

I'm wary of the fact that it is called "D238", because this usually indicates a Bell project... Yet this CAN'T be a Bell because Bell D238 was a projected derivative of HSL-1 tandem rotor helo.

overscan (PaulMM) · 27 January 2010

D238 is not a project designation. The model is dynamically scaled from the Model 222, i.e. its a scale model of the 222 with minor adjustments to cater for the smaller size.

hesham · 27 January 2010

Thank you my dears Overscan and Stargazer for your explanations.

elmayerle · 6 February 2010

hesham said:
Hi,

also anther design to Boeing-Vertol as tilt-rotor projects,and also
they called it D238,I am suspicious in this impression,and also they
said it was developed from Model-222.

http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19770010060_1977010060.pdf

This design looks more like Boeing's entry in the XV-15 competition than like anything else. I notice they're using the long MU-2 fuselage for this design, Given that there are no hydraulics involved on the MU-2 and that the wing/fuselage interface is simply, that seems like a good approach for a research aircraft. I always thought that a long MU-2 fuselage with a wing and engines design similar to NASA's QSATOL design would make an excellent testbed for this approach in a an executive/light feederliner environment.

Stargazer · 7 February 2010

This is consistent with the fact that this would be a development from the Boeing 222. Indeed, this was precisely based upon an MU-2 fuselage.

Stargazer · 17 June 2011

Two three-view plans of the Boeing Vertol Model 222 displaying notably some alternate rotor (four/five blades) and tail (rectangular/angled) changes. I reworked the images to remove some of the scan's warp on the edges.

Source: http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19730023205_1973023205.pdf

hesham · 16 October 2012

Here is the Military versions of Boeing Vertol Model-222;

http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19730014237_1973014237.pdf

joncarrfarrelly · 24 May 2013

Boeing 222 project drawing from Aerophile Volume 2, Number 2.

hesham · 28 December 2014

Hi,

http://arc.aiaa.org/doi/abs/10.2514/3.58730

AeroFranz · 28 December 2014

I just noticed the curious leading edge arrangement in hover, with both upper and lower elements opening up. Does the AIAA paper clarify what that's for? my guess is reducing download, but maybe there is also an element of hover control.

[edit] The report on DTIC shows something called a "geared flap" and it's some sort of pitch control mechanism in transition and hover.

"The Geared Flap control system* provides a means for controlling
a tiltwing V/STOL aircraft in hover and transition flight without
the use of auxiliary systems such as cyclic propeller pitch
or tail jets/rotors. The system is based on using the flap as
an aerodynamic servo to position the wing relative to the fuselage."

However, that seems to be a trailing edge device, separate from whatever they're doing with that split LE.

hesham · 28 December 2014

My dear AeroFranz,

if you want that file,please send to a special message with your E-mail.

Tailspin Turtle · 28 December 2014

AeroFranz said:
I just noticed the curious leading edge arrangement in hover, with both upper and lower elements opening up. Does the AIAA paper clarify what that's for? my guess is reducing download, but maybe there is also an element of hover control.

[edit] The report on DTIC shows something called a "geared flap" and it's some sort of pitch control mechanism in transition and hover.

"The Geared Flap control system* provides a means for controlling
a tiltwing V/STOL aircraft in hover and transition flight without
the use of auxiliary systems such as cyclic propeller pitch
or tail jets/rotors. The system is based on using the flap as
an aerodynamic servo to position the wing relative to the fuselage."

However, that seems to be a trailing edge device, separate from whatever they're doing with that split LE.

The Boeing Vertol 222 tilt-rotor wing mechanisms were to reduce the download on the wing. It's a relatively minor problem with a tilt rotor because the "proprotor" is big relative to the chord of the wing and it's mounted at the wing tip. Make the proprotor more the size of a propeller and you have to get the wing completely out of the way, i.e. tilt it. (You also have to move the propellers inboard because the conversion corridor depends on the prop wash to keep the wing from stalling.) Note that you don't want the wing of a tilt rotor to tilt because the "rotor wash" isn't enough to keep the wing from stalling when it is partially tilted, particularly in a descent when the power is reduced. I didn't look at the DTIC report you're referring to, but it states tilt wing and the purpose of the geared flap control system is to tilt the propeller, via the wing, for pitch control. Two different critters.

AeroFranz · 28 December 2014

I must 've gotten my wires crossed...
i was actually reading the thread on the Boeing 147 tilt-wing here

http://www.secretprojects.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,1756.0.html

and found the link to the DTIC report that describes the geared flap. I should quit drinking spiked eggnog...

hesham · 3 April 2022

From Aviation magazine 1973.

hesham · 11 March 2024

From Army Aviation 1972/12.

Boeing Vertol/Grumman BV-222 tilt-rotor projects

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