Aerospace

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

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.