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The AgustaWestland AW609, formerly the Bell/Agusta BA609, is a twin-engined tiltrotor VTOL aircraft with a 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.
The Bell 47 is a single-rotor single-engine light helicopter manufactured by Bell Helicopter. It was based on the third Bell 30 prototype, which was the company's first helicopter designed by Arthur M. Young. The 47 became the first helicopter certified for civilian use on 8 March 1946. The first civilian delivery was made on 31 December 1946 to Helicopter Air Transport. More than 5,600 Bell 47s were produced, including those under license by Agusta in Italy, Kawasaki Heavy Industries in Japan, and Westland Aircraft in the United Kingdom. The Bell 47J Ranger is a modified version with a fully enclosed cabin and tail boom.
The Aerotécnica AC-12Pepo is a Spanish two-seat light helicopter manufactured in 1956 by Aerotécnica.
The Aerotécnica AC-14 was a Spanish five-seat light helicopter of the 1950s, designed by Jean Cantinieau, based on enlarging his Nord Norelfe design.
The Agusta A.115 was a prototype helicopter flown in 1961 in Italy. It was essentially a Bell 47J-3 with an unclad, tubular tail boom, and powered by a Turbomeca Astazou II turboshaft engine. No production ensued.
The Agusta A.101 was a large prototype transport helicopter developed in Italy during the 1960s. Despite prospective orders from the Italian armed forces, no buyers emerged and the project was abandoned in 1971.
The Agusta A.103 was an Italian prototype single-seat light helicopter flown in October 1959. The pilot was enclosed by a perspex bubble with the engine at the rear and the tail rotor carried on an enclosed boom.
The Agusta A.104 Helicar was an Italian prototype light commercial helicopter first flown in December 1960.
The Agusta A.106 was a single-seat light helicopter designed to provide an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) platform for the Impavido-class destroyers of the Italian Navy. The aircraft was provided with a sophisticated electronics suite by Ferranti for autostabilisation and contact identification. Two torpedoes could be slung under the fuselage. The tail and two-bladed main rotor could be folded for shipboard stowage, and the skid undercarriage had fittings for flotation bags.
The Agusta AB.102 was an Italian helicopter produced in small numbers in the early 1960s. The aircraft was based on the mechanical components of a Bell 48 that Agusta incorporated into an all-new, streamlined fuselage. The first flight was on 3 February 1959 and the prototype was exhibited at that year's Paris Air Show in faux military colours. Only two production examples were built, operated by Elivie in a regular air service between Turin and Milan from 1961. However, the advent of turbine-powered helicopters in the 1960s soon rendered the AB.102 obsolete.
The AgustaWestland AW119 Koala, produced by Leonardo since 2016, is an eight-seat utility helicopter powered by a single turboshaft engine produced for the civil market. Introduced as the Agusta A119 Koala prior to the Agusta-Westland merger, it is targeted at operators favoring lower running costs of a single-engine aircraft over redundancy of a twin.
The Agusta AZ.8L, or Agusta-Zappata AZ.8L, was an Italian airliner prototype first flown on 9 June 1958. It was of conventional low-wing monoplane configuration with tricycle undercarriage and all-metal construction. Filippo Zappata's design grew out of a twin-engined transport designated AZ.1 that was never built.
The AISA GN was a prototype four-seat autogyro developed in Spain between 1971 and 1982. it featured an extensively-glazed cabin fitted with a pusher engine and tricycle undercarriage. A separate tail fin was carried at the end of two booms mounted to stub wings. The prototype was developed with a 200 hp engine. The aircraft suffered from an extremely prolonged development, but finally took to the air on 20 July 1982. Shortly thereafter, however, it was damaged and finally abandoned.
The Aérospatiale SA 360 Dauphin was a single-engine French utility helicopter developed and produced by aerospace manufacturer Aérospatiale.
The Bölkow Bo 103 was a small experimental helicopter flown in West Germany in 1961 to research new rotor systems. While the mechanics of the aircraft were based on the Bo 102 captive training rig, the Bo 103 was capable of fully independent flight. In configuration, it was absolutely minimalist - consisting of nothing more than a tubular frame to which the dynamic components and the pilots seat were attached, although a small fibreglass cabin was eventually attached. The aircraft retained the Bo 102's single-rotor of Glass-reinforced plastic, and proved that this was suitable for true flight. The prototype is preserved at the Hubschraubermuseum Bückeburg.
The Cierva CR Twin was a five-seat utility helicopter that first flew in the UK in 1969. It was a joint development between Cierva Autogiro Company and Rotorcraft now a subsidiary of Cierva, based on the dynamic systems of the latter company's Grasshopper design. A new, highly streamlined pod-and-boom fuselage was married to the Grasshopper's coaxial rotor system, and the new aircraft registered G-AWRP first flew on 18 August 1969.
The HTM Skytrac was a light utility helicopter developed in Germany in the 1960s and 70s. A later four-seat version was known as the Skyrider. Despite achieving certification from the German aviation authorities and firm orders from customers, the Skytrac was never produced in series.
The IAR-824 was a utility aircraft built in Romania in the 1970s.
The Kawasaki KH-4 was a light utility helicopter produced in Japan in the 1960s as a development of the Bell 47 that Kawasaki had been building under licence since 1952. The most visible difference between the KH-4 and its forerunner was its new and enlarged cabin. This was fully enclosed and provided seating for three passengers side-by-side on a bench seat behind the pilot's seat. The helicopter was provided with a new control system, revised instrumentation, and larger fuel tank.
The Kellett XR-10 was a military transport helicopter developed in the United States in the 1940s that only flew in prototype form. It was designed in response to a USAAF Technical Instruction issued for the development of a helicopter to transport passengers, cargo, or wounded personnel within an enclosed fuselage. Kellett's proposal followed the general layout that the company was developing in the XR-8, with twin intermeshing rotors, and was accepted by the Air Force on 16 October over proposals by Sikorsky, Bell, and Platt-LePage.
References
- Simpson, R. W. (1998). Airlife's Helicopters and Rotorcraft. Ramsbury: Airlife Publishing. ISBN 1-85310-968-1.
- Stevens, James Hay (3 February 1972). "World helicopter and V/Stol market". Flight International : 176–92. Retrieved 2008-10-20.
- Taylor, Michael J. H. (1989). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions. ISBN 0-7106-0710-5.
