Various Bell tilt-rotor projects

[VictorXL188]

Further to the artwork of the camo XV-15 posted above, let me present you with two pics of the XV-15 during service evaluations. The first pic shows Bell XV-15 (mfr 024615) during shipboard suitability trials on board USS Tripoli (LHD 10). The second shows Army demonstration flights when the XV-15 was indeed painted in a camo scheme. Both pics sourced from SDASM.

 

[yasotay]

A young Army Aviator saw a video of the cammo'ed 15 dodging around the desert at NOE altitude and thought "Oh this is going to be so cool!" 35 years later *sigh*

 

[hesham]

A real Project for Bell Extended-Wing concept (See reply # 35);

Bell wing-extending twin stowed rotor aircraft by Stingray-24 on DeviantArt

www.deviantart.com

 

[Stingray]

While I appreciate the inclusion, I'm not sure my teenage fan art is qualified to be here.

 

[hesham]

Hi,

http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19740026393_19740026393.pdf

 

[Basil]

Can anyone ID this TR? its probably an early Bell design, although the pusher props confused me. Any ideas?

Of course this cannot be a pusher prop concept because it would fly backwards when rotors are tilted down. I assume the rotors are stowed streamlined in the rear facing pods.

 

[hesham]

Hi,

was this a Bell D-262 or not ?.

 

[hesham]

was this a Bell D-262 or not ?.

From where I got this Info ?;

https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/bell-aircraft.2776/#post-163643

 

[hesham]

was this a Bell D-262 or not ?.

From where I got this Info ?;

https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/bell-aircraft.2776/#post-163643

Now I am confuse,

in many site and in this forum,the D-262 was a scale down
version of Iroquois helicopter,what is the right ?;

Bell D-255, D-262 "Iroquios Warrior" helicopter - development history, photos, technical data

 

[hesham]

From Air Force 1967.

 

[hesham]

From this report of 1983.

 

[Tailspin Turtle]

Further to the artwork of the camo XV-15 posted above, let me present you with two pics of the XV-15 during service evaluations. The first pic shows Bell XV-15 (mfr 024615) during shipboard suitability trials on board USS Tripoli (LHD 10). The second shows Army demonstration flights when the XV-15 was indeed painted in a camo scheme. Both pics sourced from SDASM.
View attachment 636584 View attachment 636585

Trivia: The LHD trials were scheduled for the same west coast trip as the demonstration to the Army at Fort Huachuca, AZ. We wanted to present the XV-15, which at that point was in the overall white with blue trim NASA scheme, to each service in its own color scheme. We therefore repainted the airplane in the gray Navy scheme and then repainted it again with tan and brown water-soluble paint for the first demo, which was to the Army. One wash-rack visit later, it was on the LHD in a Navy-appropriate color scheme.

 

[yasotay]

Somewhere in a box I have a VHS tape (probably useless now) of the XV-15 doing nap of the earth work I think in Texas. Being a Cobra guy the acceleration and maneuvers were amazing to me. As mentioned earlier it was heady stuff back then for a junior birdman with visions of low level "derry-do". Troy Gaffey smiled and patted me on the head at Quad A as I regaled him with how great a pilot I was going to be in one of those.

 

[Tailspin Turtle]

As attractive and capable as the XV-15 was (and I have first-hand experience flying it), it was only going to transition from demonstration to production because there was 1) enough confidence in the concept and 2) a pressing replacement requirement. The XV-15 fulfilled the first (supporters who flew it became zealots; skeptics who flew it became supporters); however, the only near-term replacement opportunity with any prospect of being funded was the USMC’s CH-46, a medium helicopter, not any of the potential applications in the XV-15’s size class. The Bell Helicopter marketing team (over the strident objections of Bell engineering) therefor proposed a tilt rotor for the Navy’s VSTOL A program, which had been created to take advantage of the lift-fan concept and included the CH-46 replacement as part of its raison d’etre, along with the E-2, S-3, and C-2. After the Navy VSTOL Program Office realized the lift fan wasn’t ready for prime time and was unwilling to consider a tilt rotor for the fixed-wing replacement requirements, Charlie Crawford of the Army’s Aviation System Command created a program (JVX) combining Army, Air Force, and USMC rotary-wing requirements to replace medium helicopters and some fixed-wing Army reconnaissance airplanes. Meanwhile, the Marine Corps had become enamored with the tiltrotor’s speed and range compared to a helicopter as a CH-46 replacement, in part as a result of some of their aviators flying the XV-15; as a result, JVX fell by the wayside and the Navy created the V-22 program to replace the CH-46 and to my great surprise recently, the C-2.

 

[yasotay]

As attractive and capable as the XV-15 was (and I have first-hand experience flying it), it was only going to transition from demonstration to production because there was 1) enough confidence in the concept and 2) a pressing replacement requirement. The XV-15 fulfilled the first (supporters who flew it became zealots; skeptics who flew it became supporters); however, the only near-term replacement opportunity with any prospect of being funded was the USMC’s CH-46, a medium helicopter, not any of the potential applications in the XV-15’s size class. The Bell Helicopter marketing team (over the strident objections of Bell engineering) therefor proposed a tilt rotor for the Navy’s VSTOL A program, which had been created to take advantage of the lift-fan concept and included the CH-46 replacement as part of its raison d’etre, along with the E-2, S-3, and C-2. After the Navy VSTOL Program Office realized the lift fan wasn’t ready for prime time and was unwilling to consider a tilt rotor for the fixed-wing replacement requirements, Charlie Crawford of the Army’s Aviation System Command created a program (JVX) combining Army, Air Force, and USMC rotary-wing requirements to replace medium helicopters and some fixed-wing Army reconnaissance airplanes. Meanwhile, the Marine Corps had become enamored with the tiltrotor’s speed and range compared to a helicopter as a CH-46 replacement, in part as a result of some of their aviators flying the XV-15; as a result, JVX fell by the wayside and the Navy created the V-22 program to replace the CH-46 and to my great surprise recently, the C-2.

Thank you! Excellent summation of how we got to where we are today.

 

[hesham]

Hi,

the V-22 Osprey variants;

http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19880007274_1988007274.pdf

From the same source.

 

[isayyo2]

Spotted this neat trailer at NASA Ames' "DART" yard in their back corner, though the area is more like a junkyard now...

 

[yasotay]

There are numerous bits and pieces of Aviation history languishing in the varied yards at Ames. I discovered one of the wind tunnel models for one the USAF stealth transports efforts peaking out from under a rather large tarp over by the wind tunnel.

 

[RAP]

...

 

[hesham]

From Interavia 1966.

 

[publiusr]

I imagine a larger concept might have two wings…forward two rotors tractor—back two look like pushers—but are tractors just on the back end of the nacelles and mounted higher..both sets rotate—-good clearance?

 

[hesham]

From Aviation magazine 1981,

please have a look,and tell me what is so weird in picture # 1 ?!.

 

[Firefinder]

Is that a missile ladder with 8(?) Mavericks or Hellifires on the 5th image?

If so that is the most interesting missile storage launcher on an aircraft I have ever see.

 

[hesham]

please have a look,and tell me what is so weird in picture # 1 ?!.

It's ; the turboshaft is mounted above nacelle and not below it ?!.

 

[hesham]

From Aviation magazine 1987.

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

View attachment 525829View attachment 525831View attachment 525833

Seems to be a photo of Kenneth Wernicke holding a D-266 tilt-rotor model.

[Photograph of a Kenneth Wernicke holding a airplane model]

Photograph of a Kenneth (Ken) Wernicke holding an airplane model.

digital.library.unt.edu

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

D-327G Gunship Brochure

[A Gunship Derivative of the Marine Vertical Assault]

Booklet: B8208.1 A Gunship Derivative of the Marine Vertical Assault Tilrtrotor (V/HMX).

digital.library.unt.edu

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

V-22 Gunship derivative.

[Illustrated image of Marine V-22 Osprey]

Illustrated image of Marine V-22 Osprey - Artist Concept.

digital.library.unt.edu

 

[robunos]

D-327G Gunship Brochure

[A Gunship Derivative of the Marine Vertical Assault]

Booklet: B8208.1 A Gunship Derivative of the Marine Vertical Assault Tilrtrotor (V/HMX).

digital.library.unt.edu

Images made up into a PDF . . .

cheers,
Robin.

 

[hesham]

From Army Aviation Digest 1966.

 

[hesham]

Hi

here is a strange Bell Tilt-Jet Project ?.

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From Aeroplane 1959,

a 120-passenger VTOL design.

 

[hesham]

From NASA report 19720022363,

the D-270 and D-272.

 

[hesham]

From Army Aviation 1975/11-12.

 

[Stargazer]

A beautiful company illustration of the Bell D270B transport project of 1969, which used trailing rotors for takeoff and jet engines in underwing pods for horizontal flight.
Original image: https://catalog.archives.gov/id/354359014

 

[Stargazer]

The Tactical Tilt Rotor (TTR) competition of the late 1980s became the LHX competition along the way.
Interestingly, Bell's design was first labeled as a "Bell-Boeing" under the initial TTR program in 1989, then became a "McDonnell Douglas-Bell Textron" under LHX in 1990. They even used the same artwork (remember that MDD was NOT part of Boeing at the time, they were still a separate entity).

 

[Scott Kenny]

Well, the Marines just use AIM-9 for A2A, and would probably do so on a Tilt-Rotor gunship. An interesitng concept had theS-67 gone into service was to mount 10-12 AIM-9s. It would function as a difficult-to-detect very mobile SAM site.

That would have been wild!

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