AUSA 2012: Bell begins voluntary flight trials for Armed Aerial Scout

24th October 2012 - 16:17 GMT | by Tony Osborne in Washington, DC

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Bell has begun its US Army Voluntary Flight Demonstrations for the Armed Aerial Scout project using a hybrid Kiowa Warrior.

Bell’s VFDs began on 22 October and are being conducted at the company’s Arlington, Texas facilities using ‘Demo 01’, an OH-58D rebuilt by Bell from a commercially-purchased OH-58A but featuring the HTS900 engine, Model 407 blades and transmission and the tail rotor from the Model 427.

During the trials, the aircraft will be taken through a series of flight trials by army test pilots working from the ADS-33 handling qualities requirements, the same trials scheme applied to the VFDs of

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Tony Osborne

Tony was deputy editor of Defence Helicopter and Rotorhub magazines before joining Aviation Week in …

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