Name: Leonardo’s AW609 Tiltrotor Progresses Toward Certification
Uploaded: 2021-08-11T13:00:00.000Z
Description: Leonardo’s AW609 Tiltrotor Progresses Toward Certification

It has been a long road, but rotorcraft manufacturer Leonardo is making steady progress towards the certification of the AW609, the first civil tiltrotor. Like the V-22 Osprey it is descended from, the twin-rotor aircraft has had an extended gestation period. 
In 1998 Leonardo, then known as Agusta joined with Bell on the BA609 project. In 2011, it bought out Bell to bring the 609 entirely in-house. Since then the airframer has flown and tested four of the tiltrotors. The fifth unit or P-5, recently rolled off the production line at its U.S. production facility in Philadelphia. That aircraft will be used for indirect effect of lightning tests prior to its first flight.
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Leonardo’s AW609 Tiltrotor Progresses Toward Certification

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