SESSION 5 - The smartest tiltrotor / tiltwing model developed so-far

Dipl Ing Joost Hakkaart, Principle R&D Manager

SESSION 5 - National Aerospace Laboratory NLR

The European rotorcraft industry and its partners are currently working on various research aspects of ERICA (Enhanced Rotorcraft Innovative Concept Achievement), a hybrid tiltwing /tiltrotor concept. This research is funded in the sixth framework programme, the NICETRIP project. The ERICA design is intended to overcome many of the operating and performance limitations associated with traditional tiltrotor designs. The planned 10 tons transport aircraft will have small diameter prop rotors to allow running take-offs, outer wing sections that will tilt independently of the nacelles to reduce rotor downwash, and a continuous tubular structural connection between the prop rotors. To reduce future risks on one of the critical technologies, being the tiltrotor aerodynamic interaction and rotor performance, a complex large scale research model has been developed on scale 1:5 by NLR for future wind tunnel testing in strategic European wind tunnels. Both outer wing and nacelle of the research model can be tilted independently, consistent with the ERICA configuration. To enable efficient tunnel operation, without the need to stop wind tunnel testing because of model configuration changes, all control surfaces; Flap (2), Flaperon (2), Rudder and Aileron are remotely controlled by advanced compact units developed at NLR. The level of complexity of this research model is far beyond any wind tunnel model developed so far. 

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