Summary: The advent of a civil certified tiltrotor offers operators of rotary wing fleets the chance to revolutionise their business models, achieving a new level of fleet optimisation and a step change in actual customer value. The tiltrotor will not simply replace traditional rotary and fixed wing types but it will work in concert with both to allow each type of aircraft to be used to its most efficient best purpose. Working together, AgustaWestland (AW) and Bristow have developed an increasingly clear understanding of how the tiltrotor will add value to the existing rotary wing fleets across many roles. To maximise the benefits available from the tiltrotor it has been necessary to remove the constraints applied to current operations, to permit free thinking and to admit applications that will be entirely new so as to take advantage of the unique capabilities of the tiltrotor configuration. The 2016 Alan Bristow Memorial Lecture will illustrate how AW and Bristow have collaborated to develop and define a unique view of how the civil tiltrotor will be absorbed into the traditional rotary wing fleets in ways that will optimise fleet usage in ways that are impossible today and add new capabilities that will drive significant improvements in overall customer satisfaction with the service on offer. Examples will be provided to illustrate the revolution that will be achieved by the use of the tiltrotor configuration.
