Photos: (From top) At Bell Helicopter, Boeing engineer George Carr inspects a V-22 Osprey’s pitot static tube, which measures airspeed, prior to flight tests and delivery; functional testing of the rotors involves stowage of rotor blades, nacelle tilt and empennage rotation. Support Engineering. Final assembly teams at Bell Helicopter also complete and ensure the critical connections between wing and fuselage systems. They install windows, flight surfaces and subsystem components. Functional testing follows. “It’s an incredible journey and a symbol of the strong ties between our two companies,” said Kristin Robertson, vice president of Boeing Tiltrotor programs and program director of Bell Boeing. The Osprey is operated by the U.S. Marines as well as the U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command. Japan has ordered the Osprey and several international customers have expressed interest in the unique aircraft, which can take off and land like a helicopter but fly fast like a fixed-wing aircraft. In addition to its increasing assault support role with the U.S. military, the Bell Boeing V-22 often is called upon to perform humanitarian missions around the world. More than 280 Ospreys have been built. After completion of flight testing at the Bell factory in Texas, the Osprey is delivered to the customer—the final step in a metamorphosis that begins halfway across the country. n STEPHANIE.J.WEINER@BOEING.COM 46 BOEING FRONTIERS
Frontiers November 2015 Issue
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