A thread dedicated to the AW609. I've been watching this design for some time now, I believe it offers a lot of important advantages over helicopters in many fields, SAR missions to name but one.



Wikipedia
AgustaWestland
Youtube

Latest news:

http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-ne...be-built-texas
http://www.gizmag.com/agustawestland...ltrotor/21466/

Latest price estimates are around $30 million, but I imagine a working production line would quickly boost orders and reduce this number.

How would such an aircraft compare to traditional helicopters in price, user friendliness and performance?