Designed To Fly Up To 950 NM Without Refueling

At Farnborough this week, Bell/Agusta unveiled a mockup of a BA609 tiltrotor outfitted for search-and-rescue operations... a role the company says the commercial aircraft was born to play.

"As the most advanced rotorcraft technology innovation that will revolutionize vertical flight in the forthcoming future, the BA609 Tiltrotor features an unparalleled combination of high performance and maximum flexibility which makes it a perfect platform for a variety of Government support roles such as SAR (Search and Rescue) operations, Homeland Security missions, Special Forces insertion/extraction, border and maritime patrol, vertical fleet support/patrolling, head of state transport, Emergency response,  evacuation, interdiction, disaster relief, airborne command and control, and training, etc," said the company.

Bell/Agusta notes a SAR team can dispatch quickly to a scene as far as 300 miles from the coast, hover-mid-mission, and return to base. The tiltrotor features a maximum range of 700 nautical miles with standard tanks (950 nm with aux tanks,) can fly to the scene at speeds much faster than a conventional helicopter, then hover down for recovery of up to six people.

A complete range of SAR equipment including rescue hoist, litters, health care tools, basket & pump, and the standard SAR avionics suite such as search/weather radar, FLIR/LLTV, NVG compatible cockpit, and other customized equipment requested by the customer. Bell/Agusta plan to certify the BA609 for flight into known conditions.

Bell/Agusta say over 80 BA609 units have been ordered so far by approximately 40 customers, including government agencies, in over 20 countries).

FMI: www.agustawestland.com