Every Bulletin story and press release covering Bell X-76, newest first.
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Completion of the critical design review allows Bell to begin building the high-speed demonstrator designed for jet-like cruise.
Detailed design and construction has followed conceptual work completed in Phases 1A and 1B under Bell’s decade-long development effort.
Building upon the previous folding rotor testing, the wind tunnel program validated the stability and control of the aircraft through the rotor fold and unfold sequence in flight.
Fan-in-wing technology combines an embedded lift fan with a blended wing body design to enable vertical lift agility without sacrificing the payload capacity and aerodynamic efficiency.
The concept is a low-drag, fan-in-wing demonstrator that combines the agility of VTOL with unprecedented speed. An Aurora and Boeing team is advancing this concept to the preliminary design phase.
Bell is currently conducting risk reduction testing at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico to demonstrate its folding rotor, integrated propulsion, and flight control technologies using a dedicated test article.
Design work will take place at Aurora Flight Sciences and Boeing facilities across states including Virginia, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. The program is targeting first flight of the demonstrator within 42 months.
SNC already supports Bell with additional mission systems expertise for the development of the Bell 360 Invictus for the U.S. Army's Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) competition.
