Bell Forms Advanced Development Organization
Bell Helicopter has announced formation of a new advanced development organization in Arlington, Texas -- Bell XWORX. The new organization will be responsible for the rapid development and prototyping new VTOL aircraft. According to Bell director of advanced concepts development Mark Gibson, "The core is going to be our flight test and product development center in Arlington. We'll draw engineers from Bell Fort Worth and build from that."
The XWORX will draw from Bell Centers of Excellence to address manufacturing processes, cost containment, new technology integration, and other aspects of advanced programs. The new organization will formally stand up in one to two months, but engineers are already working on the full-scale flying prototype of the HV-911 Eagle Eye tilt rotor Unmanned Aerial Vehicle. Another effort is directed at the heavy lift Quad Tilt Rotor concept. "We've started working on the aeroelastic tests," says Mr. Gibson. "That's the last and biggest step in proving to ourselves that we have the right configuration. It needs to be done before we can build a flying prototype."
The Bell new product development center at the heart of the XWORX built the V-22 Full Scale Development aircraft, and the UH-1Y and AH-1Z test aircraft. "This organization can do one-off production, look at new manufacturing processes, and improve quality," says Mr. Gibson.
The new XWORX is also capitalizing on the experience of retired Bell employees by rebuilding the piston-engined XV-3 tilt rotor in storage at Fort Rucker, Alabama. "It's a large part of our tilt rotor heritage," says Mr. Gibson. The turbine-engined XV-15 demonstrator is in the new Smithsonian Udvar-Hazy museum outside Washington. "We wanted people to see there was a successful predecessor." XV-3 parts will be trucked to Texas in January, and the restored aircraft should be delivered to the Air Force Museum at Wright Patterson Air Force base in one to two years.