Wingin' It - Arlington Municipal Airport Newsletter Wingin' It - Issue 2 - April 2014 | Page 4

Wingin’ It
Arlington Municipal Airport Newsletter
Issue 2—April 2014
(continued from page 1)
Presently, it is an experimental prototype, which is why you may hear the exceedingly long call sign on the radio: “Experimental
Tiltrotor November Six-Oh-Nine Tango Romeo”. The aircraft is full of flight test equipment, which is continuously monitored
through a radio link by a team of engineers in a telemetry room at the AW Arlington facility. Developing and certificating the
world’s first civilian tiltrotor is a demanding and complex evolution and, as a result, the aircraft can sometimes request unusual
clearances or spend more time on the runway than might be expected. The AW609 test pilots would like to pass on their apologies
if they have, do, or will mess up your traffic patterns here at Arlington but they hope that you might understand that things are not
always straightforward!
“Converting to Airplane Mode – En Route LA”
With those words, the AW609 departed Arlington Municipal Airport last February –
the first time that the aircraft had travelled more than 100 miles from the TTT VOR
at DFW. The destination was Angel Stadium in Anaheim, CA as the aircraft was re-
quested to appear at HAI Heli-Expo 2014, the biggest helicopter trade show in North
America and possibly the world.
It left early on the morning of February 23rd and arrived in LA at 2 p.m. local time
– that is what this tiltrotor can do!
Enroute photo - 25,000 ft. and 250 kts.
With all the extra flight test equipment on board, the AW609 was accompanied
out and back by a Lear Jet chase aircraft with a small team of engineers and
equipment on board. The unusual formation created great interest (stopping
traffic on an LA freeway), some spectacular photo opportunities and some
humorous radio calls.
On approach, after the Lear Jet had been cleared to land on the runway, the 609
asked to land at a taxiway intersection. The ATC asked, “Are you a helicopter?”
The 609 reply —“We will be by the time we get there!”
The show was held in the Anaheim convention center, which is right next to Disneyland. Angel Stadium served as a heliport for the
event. So having flown IFR as an airplane all the way to LA, the 609 landed as a helicopter at the stadium.
The aircraft returned safely to its Arlington home a few days later, having just escaped the approaching storm in LA, and landed at
night (an unusual occurrence for an experimental aircraft).
With so many visitors, journalists and cameramen in Anaheim, there are a multitude
of photos of the event, some of which we have included here. The trip to Anaheim
was a great success; however, as you can see in this photo, parking the AW609 in the
Angel Stadium parking lot can have its own risks!
Article and accompanying photos provided by
Paul Edwards, Experimental Test Pilot
AgustaWestland Tilt-Rotor
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