Bell's Valor tiltrotor comes together ahead of 2017 first flight

[Zarvan]

A mock-up of the V-280 Valor seen at a defence exhibition in 2015. The prototype is currently being assembled ahead of the planned first flight in 2017. Source: Bell Helicopter
Bell Helicopter is on track to conduct the first flight of its V-280 Valor tiltrotor next year, as the technology demonstrator prototype begins assembly at its Amarillo production facility in Texas, a company representative said on 18 January.

Speaking in London under the Chatham House rule, the representative noted that, with the fuselage having been handed over by Kansas-based Spirit AeroSystems in September 2015, the process to begin mating all of the aircraft's components and systems is now well under way ahead of its planned maiden flight in 2017.

"The fuselage is now done and painted, and out at Amarillo. The wing is almost done, and we will be mating the nacelle structure to the wing in just two months, and then a month after that we will be mating the wings and the nacelles to the fuselage. Then we will start stuffing the aircraft with all of the systems, so that by the end of the calendar year 2016 it will look like a complete aircraft, except for the rotor systems being installed. Then we will go into test ahead of first flight in 2017," he said.

The JMR-TD is an effort currently being run by the US Army to inform its future helicopter requirements and capabilities. As well as Bell and its Valor, the army has also contracted a joint Sikorsky-Boeing team to develop its SB>1 Defiant compound co-axial helicopter under the programme (and has allocated funding to AVX and Karem to continue their research in the field). Both teams will build prototype demonstrators with the goal of flying them towards the end of 2017. Based on this 'fly-off', the army will downselect to one to go and develop the FVL family of rotorcraft.

The Valor and Defiant are being proposed for the FVL (Medium) requirement, which will see the army's current UH-60 Black Hawk and AH-64 helicopters replaced in the 2030 timeframe (although not necessarily by one platform).

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Bell's Valor tiltrotor comes together ahead of 2017 first flight | IHS Jane's 360