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Aircraft

Quad TiltRotor (QTR) aircraft development contract awarded

By Mike Hanlon
September 24, 2005
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An artists impression of the Quad Tiltrotor delivering Strykers into the desert
An artists impression of the Quad Tiltrotor
V-22 in a recent demonstration
V-22s land on an aircraft carrier during trials
View gallery - 6 images

September 24, 2005 The team of Bell Helicopter and Boeing has been awarded a $3.45 million contract by the U.S. Army to perform conceptual design and analysis of its Quad TiltRotor (QTR) aircraft for the Joint Heavy Lift (JHL) Program. "The Bell Boeing team is exceptionally pleased to have been one of the teams chosen by the Joint Service Team to take the first step in providing a truly transformational vertical lift cargo aircraft," said Mike Redenbaugh, chief executive officer of Bell Helicopter. "The critical need for long range, high speed, heavy lift without access to runways is being highlighted around the world every day."

"We view this as an important first step toward defining the next generation of high-speed, heavy-lift rotorcraft," said Ron Prosser, Boeing Phantom Works vice president and general manager of Integrated Defense Advanced Systems. "This Bell Boeing effort is a great opportunity to demonstrate the utility of cutting edge technology in meeting joint service needs."

Bell Boeing's QTR is an evolutionary application of its tiltrotor technology utilized in the V-22 Osprey. The QTR is a tandem-wing, four-proprotor aircraft with a large cargo fuselage and a rear-loading ramp. Four turboshaft engines, each mounted in one of four tilting wingtip nacelles, power the proprotors through interconnected transmissions for redundancy.

The QTR design will be sized, refined and analyzed over the next 18 months to determine program requirements and feasibility of further development. Bell Helicopter , a subsidiary of Textron Inc., is a leading producer of commercial and military helicopters and the pioneer of the revolutionary tiltrotor aircraft.

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Mike Hanlon
As a photojournalist, Mike’s work has been published in a dozen languages across 20+ countries. He has edited or managed over 75 different print publications, each with a different target audience: sports, automotive, advertising, marketing, design, ad infinitum. Mike has been working in the internet for more than 25 years and was the veteran of five internet start-ups before founding New Atlas in 2002.
3 comments
donwine
QIR\'s are dangerous. Look at all that weight on the extremity of the wing. Precision is everything here. If an engine goes - you are done. Fuel efficiency at its worst I\'d say. We are working on an electric plane that sends the power out to the props and keeps the weight centered. It uses the thermals and can land on water or self launch on water. It can fly on zero fuel. A video will be ready soon.
windykites
donwine, It can fly on zero fuel? That is amazing! Why not have the engines in the fuselage, and run drive shafts to the props. Surely you don\'t have an electric vertical take off plane?
Facebook User
Donwine,
by no fuel, you mean electric power? and it has a drive system to the props mounted on the wings? which of course deals with the other side of the coin in having gearboxes handle the power distribution and risk of failure etc. Any tilt rotor ac is going to have a high risk profile in helicopter mode, and due to structural limitations with having four engines on the end of wings the glide ratio is going to be bad etc. but all this with a grain of salt considering that modern turbines are as reliable as we can hope for. With your project where can I find additional info?
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