The flaw tolerance in the S-92 is not just the composite parts - it's
everything - titanium rotor hub, aluminum fuselage, composite fairings,
all the dynamic components, all tested in a damaged conditions. It's
partly learning how to add sufficient margin to prevent crack
propagation without over-designing every piece with excess weight, and
learning how to quantify the flaw tolerance to ensure things don't fail
before the next phase. -- It's an innovative step that came along first
in a commercial program and should be an edge in military competitions.
(In a rational world, of course.)

Now now, I didn't say it had to be certificated first to go military. I
said the 530F experience was a nice to have when the Army decided to
put the composite blades on the Apache. If you have a proven
manufacturing process for composite blades, for example, it removes
risk, time, and cost from subsequent military developments, even though
the aircraft themselves are totally different.

Yes, I do believe Bell lost orders when it stopped 609 testing. They
hover-tested the thing for about 40 hours and just stopped --
supposedly to let the V-22 get past its problems. The real answer was
money. They're great-guns again, so we'll see how many of those
deposits turn into deliveries. The thing has enormous potential.

Did Boeing need MDHI to stay in the civil tilt rotor business - nah.
But I think the reason they got out was the same reason they got rid of
MDHI - if you think of yourself as a big shot prime, you don't want to
waste your time selling rotorcraft one or two at a time (unless you're
trying to sell Boeing Business Jets.). That mindset denies you the
technology for big contracts like ARH and LUH when they come along. I
suspsect Boeing military salesmen would now rather have an ARH without
dealing with MDHI.

Can Boeing play the big-shot prime for future programs and let lower
forms worry about rotor systems, transmissions, and flight controls?
Of course - it seems to have worked for the rotorcraft experts at
Lockheed Martin. But with so few new programs starting up, I still
think it was short-sighted of Horny Harry to take Boeing out of the
civil market altogether.

HW