A tiltrotor is a type of vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft that convert from vertical to horizontal flight by rotating propellers or ducted fans from horizontal positions like conventional aircraft propellers to vertical like a helicopter's rotors. [1]
| Type | Country | Class | Role | Date | Status | No. | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aerocopter Sarus | US | Mono rotor | Commuter | 2009 | Project | 0 | [2] |
| American Dynamics AD-150 | US | Twin fans | Scout UAV | 2011 | Project | 0 | USMC Tier III VUAS submission. Ducted fans. [3] |
| AgustaWestland AW609 | Italy | Twin rotor | Civil transport | March 2003 | Prototype | Originally Bell-Augusta BA609. [4] | |
| AgustaWestland Project Zero | Italy | Twin fans | Experimental | June 2011 | Prototype | 1 | Hybrid propulsion. Ducted fans. [5] |
| Baldwin MTR-SD | US | Mono rotor | Experimental | 2010 | Prototype | 1 | Small radio-control mono tiltrotor testbed. [6] |
| Bell XV-3 | US | Twin rotor | Experimental | August 1955 | Prototype | 2 | Originally designated XH-33. [7] |
| Bell XV-15 | US | Twin rotor | Experimental | May 1977 | Prototype | 2 | Developed into V-22 Osprey. [8] |
| Bell X-22 | US | Quad fans | Experimental | May 1977 | Prototype | 2 | 4 tilting ducted fans powered by 4 turboshaft engines |
| Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey | US | Twin rotor | Military transport | March 1989 | Production | [9] | |
| Bell V-247 Vigilant | US | Multirole UAV | 2016 | Project | 0 | [10] | |
| Bell V-280 Valor | US | Heavy transport | 2017 | Prototype | Intended for both commuter and military roles. [11] | ||
| Bell Eagle Eye | US | Twin rotor | Scout UAV | March 1998 | Prototype | [12] | |
| Bell Boeing Quad TiltRotor | US | Quad rotor | Heavy transport | 2005 | Project | 0 | Several redesigns. [13] |
| Colugo Systems ARCopter | Israel | Quad frame | Scout UAV | 2015 | - | Tilting quadcopter frame. [14] | |
| CTA Heliconair HC-I Convertiplano | Brazil | Experimental | 1954 | Prototype | 1 | [15] | |
| Curtiss-Wright X-100 | US | Twin rotor | Experimental | March 1960 | Prototype | 1 | Testbed for radial force principle. Developed into X-19. [16] |
| Curtiss-Wright X-19 | US | Quad rotor | Transport testbed | November 1963 | - | 2 | [17] |
| Doak VZ-4 | US | Twin rotor | Experimental | February 1958 | Prototype | 1 | U.S. Army VTOL research project. Ducted fans. [18] |
| Dornier Do 29 | Germany | Twin rotor | Experimental | December 1958 | Prototype | 2 | Utility VTOL testbed. Inverted rotors. [19] |
| Dufaux triplane | Switzerland | Experimental | 1909 | - | Central rotor and engine. Built but could not fly. [20] | ||
| FLUTR model 1 | Germany | Flying car | 2018 | Project | 0 | [21] | |
| Focke-Achgelis Fa 269 | Germany | Twin rotor | Fighter | 1943 | - | Inverted rotors. [22] | |
| IAI Panther | Israel | Trirotor | Recon UAV | 2011 | Prototype | Third rotor for lift only. [23] | |
| IAI/Hankuk FE-Panther | Israel, South Korea | Trirotor | Recon UAV | 2016 | Prototype | Improved Panther with separate engine for horizontal flight. [24] | |
| Mil Mi-30 | USSR | Transport | 1972 | Project | 0 | "Vintoplan". [25] | |
| Nord Aviation N 500 Cadet | France | Experimental | July 1968 | Prototype | Ducted fans. [26] | ||
| Russian Helicopters Albatross | Russia | UAV | 2015 | Project | 0 | In development; hybrid tiltrotor-tiltwing. [25] | |
| Transcendental Model 1-G | US | Twin rotor | Experimental | July 1954 | Prototype | Single engine. [27] | |
| Transcendental Model 2 | US | Experimental | 1956 | - | Improved Model 1. [28] |
A vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft is one that can take off and land vertically without relying on a runway. This classification can include a variety of types of aircraft including helicopters as well as thrust-vectoring fixed-wing aircraft and other hybrid aircraft with powered rotors such as cyclogyros/cyclocopters and gyrodynes.
A tiltrotor is an aircraft that generates lift and propulsion by way of one or more powered rotors mounted on rotating shafts or nacelles usually at the ends of a fixed wing. Almost all tiltrotors use a transverse rotor design, with a few exceptions that use other multirotor layouts.
The Bell XV-15 is an American tiltrotor VTOL aircraft. It was the second successful experimental tiltrotor aircraft and the first to demonstrate the concept's high speed performance relative to conventional helicopters.
A tiltwing aircraft features a wing that is horizontal for conventional forward flight and rotates up for vertical takeoff and landing. It is similar to the tiltrotor design where only the propeller and engine rotate. Tiltwing aircraft are typically fully capable of VTOL operations.
A tail-sitter, or tailsitter, is a type of VTOL aircraft that takes off and lands on its tail, then tilts horizontally for forward flight.
The Leonardo AW609, formerly the AgustaWestland AW609, and originally the Bell-Agusta BA609, is a twin-engined tiltrotor VTOL aircraft with an overall configuration similar to that of the Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey. It is capable of landing vertically like a helicopter while having a range and speed in excess of conventional rotorcraft. The AW609 is aimed at the civil aviation market, in particular VIP customers and offshore oil and gas operators. It has progressed from a concept in the late 1990s, to development and testing, and is working towards certification in the 2020s.
The Bell Helicopter Eagle Eye, Model 918, was an American tiltrotor unmanned aerial vehicle that was offered as one of the competitors in the United States Navy's VT-UAV program.
A gyrodyne is a type of VTOL aircraft with a helicopter rotor-like system that is driven by its engine for takeoff and landing only, and includes one or more conventional propeller or jet engines to provide forward thrust during cruising flight. During forward flight the rotor is unpowered and free-spinning, like an autogyro, and lift is provided by a combination of the rotor and conventional wings. The gyrodyne is one of a number of similar concepts which attempt to combine helicopter-like low-speed performance with conventional fixed-wing high-speeds, including tiltrotors and tiltwings.
The Bell XV-3 is an American tiltrotor aircraft developed by Bell Helicopter for a joint research program between the United States Air Force and the United States Army in order to explore convertiplane technologies. The XV-3 featured an engine mounted in the fuselage with driveshafts transferring power to two-bladed rotor assemblies mounted on the wingtips. The wingtip rotor assemblies were mounted to tilt 90 degrees from vertical to horizontal, designed to allow the XV-3 to take off and land like a helicopter but fly at faster airspeeds, similar to a conventional fixed-wing aircraft.
A convertiplane is defined by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale as an aircraft which uses rotor power for vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) and converts to fixed-wing lift in normal flight. In the US it is further classified as a sub-type of powered lift. In popular usage it sometimes includes any aircraft that converts in flight to change its method of obtaining lift.
The Bell Boeing Quad TiltRotor (QTR) is a proposed four-rotor derivative of the Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey developed jointly by Bell Helicopter and Boeing. The concept is a contender in the U.S. Army's Joint Heavy Lift program. It would have a cargo capacity roughly equivalent to the C-130 Hercules, cruise at 250 knots, and land at unimproved sites vertically like a helicopter.
A powered lift aircraft takes off and lands vertically under engine power but uses a fixed wing for horizontal flight. Like helicopters, these aircraft do not need a long runway to take off and land, but they have a speed and performance similar to standard fixed-wing aircraft in combat or other situations.
A tiltjet is an aircraft propulsion configuration that was historically tested for proposed vertical take-off and landing (VTOL)-capable fighters.
The Baldwin Mono Tiltrotor project is a research effort into a tiltrotor aircraft that uses only one rotor. Like other tiltrotor configurations, the mono tiltrotor combines the vertical lift capability and structural efficiency of a helicopter with the speed and range of a fixed-wing aircraft.
The Israel Aerospace Industries Panther is a tilt-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) produced by Israel Aircraft Industries in Israel.
Future Vertical Lift (FVL) is a plan to develop a family of military helicopters for the United States Armed Forces. Five different sizes of aircraft are to be developed, sharing common hardware such as sensors, avionics, engines, and countermeasures. The U.S. Army has been considering the program since 2004. FVL is meant to develop replacements for the Army's UH-60 Black Hawk, AH-64 Apache, CH-47 Chinook, and OH-58 Kiowa helicopters. The precursor for FVL is the Joint Multi-Role (JMR) helicopter program.
The Vertical Take-Off and Landing Experimental Aircraft program was an American research project sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The goal of the program was to demonstrate a VTOL aircraft design that can take off vertically and efficiently hover, while flying faster than conventional rotorcraft. There have been many previous attempts, most of them unsuccessful as of 2015.
The Bell V-247 Vigilant is a concept by Bell Helicopter to develop a large tiltrotor unmanned aerial vehicle.
The Leonardo Next-Generation Civil Tiltrotor is a tiltrotor aircraft demonstrator designed and developed by the Italian aerospace company Leonardo S.p.A. Studies for a two times larger tiltrotor than the AgustaWestland AW609 started in 2000. Since 2014, its development is sponsored by the European Union's Clean Sky 2 program. By May 2021, major components were under production By 2023, the maiden flight had been pushed back to 2024, from a 2020 initial plan.