Eurocopter's hopes of establishing a pan-European consortium to pursue a European Commission-funded tiltrotor demonstrator has suffered a setback, with Agusta instead pressing for aid to develop a compound helicopter.
"We're proposing that Agusta and Westland study something that does not exist now, such as a compound helicopter. Money has been invested in the USA in tiltrotors, so we don't see why we have to spend money in Europe," says Giuseppe Orsi, Agusta deputy general manager marketing and sales.
Manufacturers expect to submit proposals shortly to the Commission for Large Scale Integrated Platform funding of new aerospace technology projects. Eurocopter is seeking tiltrotor research financing and hopes to enlist the support of former Eurofar study partners Agusta and GKN Westland.
Eurocopter president Patrick Gavin says: "We're working to launch a technology programme to see if we could offer to the commercial market an aircraft than can be operated economically. It's a continuation of Eurofar-We intend to have partnerships with other European companies."
Agusta already holds a 25% stake in the six/nine-seat Bell BA609 tiltrotor and plans to establish an assembly line at its Vergiate plant from 2002. The Italian company's joint venture agreement with Bell precludes it from participating in competing tiltrotor developments up to an 18-seat class, says Orsi, who is also a Bell/ Agusta Aerospace board member.
A compound helicopter programme would demonstrate the technical viability of adding a fixed wing and a tail-mounted ducted propeller for enhanced performance. Westland, which has announced plans to merge with Agusta, has been looking at a Rolls-Royce Turboméca RTM322-powered compound Lynx and, possibly, a larger EH101 version, although it has had difficulty getting development assistance from the UK Ministry of Defence.
The earlier Eurofar tiltrotor studies focused on tiltrotors with 12, 19 and 30 seats. By July, Eurocopter expects to conclude its own internal study of tiltrotors and their anticipated impact on the traditional helicopter market. It has also been commissioned by the French defence ministry to conduct a study of military tiltrotor applications.
Gavin has already stated he regards a BA609-sized tiltrotor as too small to be commercially viable. The company is understood to be focusing attention instead on larger developments, including possibly a 25t-class transport, seating up to 30 passengers. This, in turn, has caught the attention of powerplant suppliers
R-R says that the RTM322 would be suitable for a 9,100-11,400kg (20,000-25,000lb)-class tiltrotor, while a twin-pack version could be another possibility for a larger, four-engine, development. Pratt & Whitney Canada similarly says that it is "staying in tune" with development, with an eye to a future tiltrotor application for its PW100 series turboprop.
Source: Flight International
