Photo:
AW609 tiltrotor at Leonardo’s Philadelphia plant.
Leonardo announced a major step forward for the AW609 tiltrotor program with the first production aircraft entering final assembly at the company's Philadelphia plant.
The AW609 will uniquely combine rotorcraft flexibility and turboprop performance into one versatile type. The AW609 flies twice as fast and twice as far as a typical helicopter while retaining the ability to hover and take off and land vertically. Like a fixed-wing airplane, the AW609 safely cruises above bad weather ensuring a comfortable and quiet pressurized cabin for up to nine passengers or a mix of patients and first responders.
The production AW609 features enhanced Pratt & Whitney PT6C-67A turbine engines, modern Collins Aerospace Pro Line Fusion touch-screen cockpit with advanced full fly-by-wire digital flight controls, and a larger cabin door for greater versatility and ease of access/egress.
The AW609's composite skin panels were manufactured using advanced Automated Fiber Placement (AFP) technology at Leonardo's facility in Brindisi, Italy utilizing digital manufacturing.
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| Leonardo Helicopters | Airframer |
| Leonardo Helicopters | Final Assembly |
| Pratt & Whitney Canada | Turboshaft Engines, Electric Motors, Turboprop Engines, Auxiliary Power Units, Turbofan Engines, Compressors, Engine Parts, Piston Engines |
| Collins Aerospace, Avionics Division | Head-Up Displays, Radio Communications Equipment, Moving Maps, Enhanced Vision Systems (EVS), LCD Displays, Engine Indicator Instruments, Cabin Management Systems, Automatic Flight Control Systems, Inflight Entertainment, Automatic Direction Finders, Cabin Address Systems, Autopilots, Radar/Radio Altimeters, Distance Measuring Equipment, VOR (Omnirange) Receivers, Avionics Management Systems, Air-to-Ground Data Links, Multi-Mode Receivers (MMR), Engine Control Quadrants, Control Panels, Aircraft & Helicopter Controllers, Collision Avoidance Systems/TCAS, Helmet-Mounted Displays (HMD), Weather Mapping Radar, Inertial Components & Systems, Attitude and Heading Reference Systems, Navigation Antennas, Transceivers, Flight Recorders, Cockpit Printers, Flight Directors, Flight Management Systems, Electronic Flight Instrument Systems, Air Data Computers, Onboard Computers, UAV Control Software, GPS, Simulation Systems, Surveillance/Air Defense Radar, Engine Controls, Terrain Awareness and Warning Systems, Horizontal Situation Indicator, Instrument Landing Systems, Command, Control & Intelligence Systems, Airborne Communication Systems, Cockpit Video Displays, Onboard Intercom Systems |
| Related aircraft programs: |
| Leonardo AW609 |
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