HEADLINE NEWS
V-22 To Begin Fatigue Tests
FORT WORTH Later this month, Bell Helicopter Textron and the U.S. Navy will initiate a stringent, two-year test of the V-22 to determine if the aircraft’s structure can achieve a design life of 10,000 hr., the equivalent of 20 years of flying. The tests are unique because the airframe must demonstrate it can withstand loads in both airplane and helicopter modes, as well as forces experienced in transitional regions such as takeoff and landing.
By EDWARD H. PHILLIPS