The wingtip rotor assemblies were mounted to tilt 90 degrees from vertical to horizontal, designed to allow the XV-3 to take off and land like a helicopter but fly at faster airspeeds, similar to a conventional fixed-wing aircraft. The XV-3 was first flown on 11 August 1955.

The product of a 1951 joint U.S. Air Force-U.S. Army initiative, the Bell XV-3 became the world's first successful Vertical Short TakeOff and Landing (VSTOL) tilt-rotor aircraft. By combining the takeoff and hovering capabilities of a helicopter with the speed and range of a fixed-wing aircraft, the XV-3 offered great military potential.

Bell Helicopter Textron experimented with the twin-engine proof-of-concept XV-15 tilt-rotor in the 1970s, and in the 1980s teamed with Boeing to produce the V-22 Osprey. Today, the direct...

Bell Helicopter rare color video of the the first successful US tilt rotor, the Bell XV-3. The first flight was made by Bell Chief Test Pilot Floyd Carlson.

May 22, 2023 · Explore the history of tilt rotors and how it all began with Bell's XV-3 test aircraft. Discover how this pioneer aviation concept was created.

In 1953, under Lichten’s leadership, Bell won an Army- and Air Force-funded Convertible Aircraft Program contract to develop two demonstrator tilt rotor flight vehicles. The aircraft, designated the XV-3, began its flight test program in 1955 but experienced severe vibrations during partial conversion to the airplane mode.

The Tilt Rotor, with its rotor facing straight into the airflow, had the potential to allow a much higher forward speed than would the compound helicopter. Bell had worked on the Tilt Rotor concept since the late 1940s.

Following World War II the Transcendental Company, a small American firm, built their Model 1-G tilt rotor which flew 100 flights for a total of 23 hours. The Model 1-G was very small (1,750...

Notes: Research aircraft used to study tilt rotor vtol/stol concepts (3-BLASE 25' DIAMETER ROTORS) . The fully restored surviving XV-3 is in the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio (temporarily stored in the restoration area).

May 21, 2021 · The XV-3 was an experimental tilt rotor aircraft with fixed wings and tail surfaces, and wingtip-mounted rotors for vertical takeoff and landing. The XV-3 demonstrated, Major Robert C. Ferry piloted the Bell XV-3 Convertiplane on its first Air Force flight.