Pilotless Bell prototype?

[Expat Skypilot]

Greetings, all, from a newbie to the forum.

I ran across this photograph recently, and was wondering what the aircraft in question might be.




Looks like a pilotless mini-Osprey!

Can anyone help?

[HELOFAN]

Not sure but you could go through the FAA web site of N-reg numbers & put in the N number that is on the tail into the seach tab & see what comes up.
It would be interesting to see.

HF

[snowrider]

Reg

That reg has now been cancelled, but it was registered to Bell as an R&D aircraft..

[Expat Skypilot]

Thanks for the prompt response! The FAA search turns up the following:

Deregistered Aircraft 1 of 1

Aircraft Description
Serial Number 91801
Type Registration Corporation
Manufacturer Name BELL HELICOPTER TEXTRON INC
Certificate Issue Date 03/28/2005
Model TR 918
Mode S Code 51722111
Year Manufacturer 2005
Cancel Date 05/19/2006
Reason for Cancellation Cancelled
Exported To

A Google search on the model code provides information on the US Coast Guard's Eagle Eye program, for which this aircraft was obviously a prototype (the production model code appears to be TR 916). Full details are in an article at http://www.navyleague.org/sea_power/aug06-33.php - an extract is below.

The first tiltrotor UAV to be used by any military, the Eagle Eye will be able to loiter three hours on-station at a location 100 nautical miles from its launch ship and return with a sufficient fuel reserve.

The Eagle Eye will extend the sensor reach of the Coast Guard’s future cutters and make more efficient use of its manned helicopters, greatly reducing the time they devote to ocean and port surveillance.

. . .

With its two 10-foot-diameter rotors in the vertical position, Eagle Eye can take off, hover and land like a manned helicopter within a confined area on a ship. By tilting its rotors 90 degrees forward to the horizontal position, the air vehicle can fly with the speed and range of a fixed-wing turboprop aircraft, akin to the much larger Marine Corps Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey troop-transport aircraft to which it bears a superficial resemblance.

The Coast Guard’s 18-foot-long TR-916 Eagle Eye will cruise at 185 knots, compared with 100-110 knots for a helicopter, and will have a dash speed of 220 knots.

[SASless]

Could be the cure for the pilot shortage in Nigeria....far less headaches for the company than manned aircraft.

[Ian Corrigible]

That aircraft – the first full-scale TR918 TRUV – was written-off in an April 5th crash after only five hours total flight time, due to an errant RF signal from the ground which trigged its self-destruct mode. The TR918 will be offered for military, paramilitary and civil apps. The TR916 is the version being developed for the Coast Guard under the Deepwater program, though this effort has now been delayed by at least three years due to funding issues, meaning that EIS is pushed back to FY-11 (vs. an original FUE date of 2006). The Marine Corps were also planning to buy some aircraft from the Guard’s line, but this plan now seems to have been dropped in favor of a competitive selection of a Pioneer replacement in the 2008-10 timeline.

The Eagle Eye concept has been flying since 1993, when the 85% scale TR911 prototype first flew. This aircraft was itself preceded by the Bell-Boeing D-340 Pointer TRUV, flown in 1993.

I/C

[HELOFAN]

Self destruct mode.......thats handy !

I wish my old boss had one of those !!!

HF

[SASless]

Self destruct mode.....sounds like a Robbie!

[HELOFAN]

snicker snicker ...

There are always going to be sly Robbie jokes isnt there ?? !!

I guess thats the up shot of saving those few extra pennies

Not brand bashing here just laughing on my own, to myself.

snicker snicker

HF