Rotorcraft
Bell V-280 Celebrates First Year Of Flight
The Bell V-280 tiltrotor has achieved a variety of performance milestones over the course of 85 flight test hours.
2018 was a busy and successful year for the V-280 Valor test program. The military tiltrotor amassed 85 flight hours and completed more than 180 rotor-turn hours, while demonstrating in-flight transitions between cruise mode and vertical takeoff and landing. Upcoming challenges include achieving full speed in forward cruise flight and low-speed agility tests.
2018 was a busy and successful year for the V-280 Valor test program. The military tiltrotor amassed 85 flight hours and completed more than 180 rotor-turn hours, while demonstrating in-flight transitions between cruise mode and vertical takeoff and landing. Upcoming challenges include achieving full speed in forward cruise flight and low-speed agility tests.

Bell is reporting critical milestones in its V-280 next-generation tiltrotor flight test program. The V-280 is a current competitor in the U.S. Army’s Joint Multi-Role Technology Demonstrator (JMR-TD) program. The aircraft made is first flight a year ago, and in the past 12 months it has flown 85 hours and completed more than 180 rotor-turn hours. During flights, the V-280 has achieved 250 knots true airspeed, performed 50-degree banked turns at 200 knots, demonstrated a climb rate of 4,500 feet per minute and sustained flight at 11,500 feet, and flown a single ferry flight of over 370 miles.