The fortunes of the Bell/Agusta BA609 are closely linked to those of the U.S. Marines’ MV-22 Osprey tiltrotor transport, still grounded following a pair of well-publicized fatal accidents and even more sensational charges of records falsification and related wrongdoing by senior Marine program managers. In a recent interview, undersecretary of defense Pete Aldridge said he doubted the Marines’ remaining fleet of eight Ospreys would return to flight status before the end of the year.
Bell and program partner Agusta wanted to get their BA609 prototype airborne before the end of the year but have admitted to delays. Work on the first and second prototype BA609s is now proceeding in the same Bell Helicopter hangars from which the first prototype V-22 Ospreys rolled out some 13 years ago in Arlington, Texas, and while the Marines’MV-22 has suffered through an agonizing, sometimes tragic decade-and-change of design, redesign, modification, cancellation and resurrection, the Bell/Agusta BA609 has had smoother sailing so far.
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