.:BHS - Helicopteros:.
Esta é uma versão otimizada para celulares. Acesse o site completo aqui


XV-3. Fifty-year history of an experimental aircraft
XV-3 was the first aircraft to exploit the new and dangerous industry of tilt-rotors, that is, the one that matches helicopter versatility with the highest speed of airplanes. In these operational zones, in which the aircraft changes from helicopter to airplane, several aerodynamic, aero-elastic and mechanic phenomena that were not understood in the 50s occur. At that time, XV-3 was produced and the simulation and computer techniques so common today were merely dreams for the aeronautical engineers.
Bell, which had a contract with the North American Air Force and Army, developed two experimental prototypes called XV-3. Both aircrafts were built at Bells Factory, in Texas, and, this year, we celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the first XV-3 flight, that took place on August 11, 1955, in Fort Worth.
At the first stages of the program, one of the prototypes suffered an accident and, this way, the other one turned out to be the first tilt-rotor aircraft to have a complete conversion from vertical to horizontal flight, spinning (or tilting) its rotors 90° during the flight, thus demonstrating how practical the concept was. After finishing its services as an experimental aircraft, the army transported the XV-3 to the National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA) (Picture 2). NASA continued the flight tests with Bells veteran until1965 and also performed long tests in wind tunnels aiming to investigate the complex aero-elastic relations between the rotor and the wing. Those investigations contributed enormously to the creation of XV-15 (Picture 3) and, later, other tilt-rotors, such as Bell-Augusta BA609 (Picture 4), still being tested.
After a long and illustrious career as an experimental aircraft, XV-3 (54-148) was taken to several different locations in order to be kept and, later, it was taken to the Museum of Air transport Forces, in Fort Rucker, Alabama. Fifty years after its creation, Bell XV-3 was rescued from forgetfulness by a group of Bell Helicopter workers with the intention of fixing it and preparing it for its final destination: the National Museum of the United States Air Force, in Dayton, Ohio.
Source: ALA Magazine Volume 12, Issue 3 - 2005


Criado em 03/11/2005.
Voltar
Esta é uma versão otimizada para celulares. Acesse o site completo aqui