Rotorcraft
Fifth Leonardo AW609 Tiltrotor Joins Flight-test Program
The first production AW609, AC5, will fly soon and then join the ongoing flight-test program in Philadelphia.
Leonardo's first production AW609 tiltrotor, AC5, has joined the test program and will fly soon. The company has still not provided an estimated date for certification, however. (Photo: Leonardo)
Leonardo's first production AW609 tiltrotor, AC5, has joined the test program and will fly soon. The company has still not provided an estimated date for certification, however. (Photo: Leonardo)

Leonardo's first production AW609 civil tiltoror, AC5, has joined the test fleet and will fly soon, after which it will join the ongoing flight-test certification program in Philadelphia, according to William Sunick, the company’s head of tiltrotor marketing. Rotors turned on AC5 in January and it has already been used for ground-based certification trials, including indirect effects of lightning strikes and high-intensity radiated fields testing. Components for AC5 were contributed “from across the Leonardo ecosystem,” including PZL-Świdnik in Poland and Leonardo UK, Sunick said.


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