The Bell/Boeing 609 is the first commercial offering in the "new" Powered Lift class of aircraft. Leading aviation companies Bell and Boeing designed the new craft together, taking numerous technologies developed for the cutting-edge V-22 Osprey (and it's sister service counterparts). The resulting 609 is a smaller and less-expensive tiltrotor aircraft targetted toward companies whose aviation needs are not met by conventional fixed or rotary wing aircraft.

Imagine, if you will, the fuselage of a Learjet suspended beneath a scaled-down wing and propeller assembly resembling the Osprey's. This smaller aircraft has the space for nine passengers (a 20 passenger model, the 620, is in development) and can transport them at 276 knots at altitudes up to Angels 30. It is powered by two Pratt & Whitney engines, each generating 1850 horsepower. These engines are housed in tiltable nacelles at the end of each wing. (The nacelles rotate from the vertical (takeoff/landing) to horizontal (cruising), hence the name "tiltrotor".)

Flying such a contraption would, under normal circumstances, be difficult, but thanks to modern technology the 609 has a fly-by-wire system that adjusts the propeller pitch, propeller rotational speed and control surfaces based on the pilot's utilization of conventional aircraft controls (a combination of yoke and collective). In the event something goes awry while airborne, the nacelles can revert to a vertical position and allow the pilot to autorotate to a safe landing.

Bell and Boeing foresee the 609 as being popular for emergency medical operations, law enforcement, and offshore oil rig on/offloading. The Coast Guard has evaluated the use of the 609 to replace certain aspects of its airplane and helicopter fleet.

On a broader scale, the 609 is the beginning of a new era of flight. Boeing's widely-familiar 700 series of aircraft (747, 757, etc.) are now being joined with a class of vehicles that are able to cover distances almost as fast as turboprop airplanes and yet retain the vertical takeoff and landing flexibility of helicopters. This "best of both worlds" situation, while initially significantly more expensive, will probably prove itself necessary in the fast-paced, crowded cities of the 21st century.