21st Century is so 18th century
21st Century decided to debate:
TR Inefficiency== He says, "Not true, in fact just the opposite." Then he says, " in a hover the helicopter is far more efficient than a tiltrotor."
THAT was my point, 21st. The TR carries far less in the hover, were we make our living. To any range, an equivalent helicopter will carry about twice the payload of a tilt rotor. (Equivalent meaning same power and same empty weight)
He says. "The max t.o. weight of the AW609 is now 18,000 lbs" But he doesn't say what atmosphere it can hover at that new heavy weight. He also doesn't say what the heliport Cat A/JAR OPs 1 weight is to compare to that wildly high 18,000 lbs. What is the takeoff weight, sea level, heliport, 32 deg C? What is the real equipped empty weight and thus, what is the true useful load on that takeoff?
Max Speed- 21st century waxes on for a hundred words, and never tells us what the REAL cruise speed is. Since he tells us the 609 goes 720 nm on a load of fuel, maybe someday, after we pay for the machine, he will tell us how slow it has to be flown to get that far. My bet: 215 knots, a whopping 60 knots slower than the speed he still mentions.
The size of its niche: Tell us, 21st Centuy, the following - if the 609 takes off from a heliport at Cat A on a 32 deg C day, and flies to its max range, How far will it get, how fast does it fly and how many pax does it carry to that point? Some specifics (you have specifics, after 1200 flight hours, don't you? Unless those hours were all spent posing for magazine covers).