The Bell V-280 Valor tiltrotor completed the low-speed agility key performance parameter flight testing for the U.S. Army’s Joint Multi-Role Technology Demonstrator (JMR TD) program ahead of schedule, Bell announced. In so doing, the V-280 completed maneuvers to meet the Army’s Level 1 handling qualities requirements, its highest agility standard.
“This latest flight milestone proves that the V-280 Valor tiltrotor delivers first-rate handling for pilots during low-speed maneuvers without sacrificing speed, range, or payload that the military needs for multi-domain operations,” said Ryan Ehinger, V-280 program manager. Bell said the V-280's design and digital fly-by-wire flight controls combine to provide a high level of agility, reduce pilot workload, and enhance flight safety in all weather conditions and visibilities. The company said it will continue to expand the aircraft’s flight envelope and demonstrate new capabilities to prove out its key technologies and reduce the risk for future vertical lift programs.
Other performance milestones demonstrated by the V-280 to date include forward flight at over 300 knots true airspeed, more than 110 hours of flight and 225 rotor turn hours, 50-degree bank turns, 4,500 fpm climbs, sustained flight at 11,500 feet, single ferry flight of over 370 miles, and in-flight transitions between cruise mode and vertical takeoff and landing.