It has been a long and winding road to certification for the AW609 civil tiltrotor, taking over a decade. Beginning in 1998 as a joint programme with Bell, the tiltrotor - now under Leonardo's sole ownership -finally looks set to achieve US approval later this year. The Italian manufacturer says it will usher in a new era of mobility, coupling the speed of an airplane with the vertical take-off and landing capability of a helicopter. So convinced of the benefits that the tiltrotor architecture brings, Leonardo has already begun work on a potential successor, with a demonstrator aircraft - the Next Generation Civil Tiltrotor (NGCTR) - being developed under the EU's Clean Sky 2 programme. Clive Scott, Leonardo Helicopters' head of programmes, says final assembly of the aircraft is under way. It features innovations including a straight wing, V-tail, and fixed rather than tilting engines.
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