The Bell XV-3 is an experimental tiltrotor aircraft developed by Bell in the mid-1950s.

The XV-3 is a flying laboratory, whose task was to study the possibilities of flying in airplane and helicopter modes with the transition from one to the other by turning the rotors. The XV-3 was the first aircraft to successfully complete this transition and continue stable flights in both modes. This makes it the world's first full-fledged tiltrotor.

However, the research program and a series of flight tests both proved the promise of the tiltrotor concept, but also showed that the aviation technologies of that time were still insufficiently developed to bring convertiplanes to actual operation. Bell did a great job with the XV-3, but after getting the available amount of data, they canceled the work.

The Bell XV-3 was a milestone, and became the first step on the path, that led to the creation of such advanced machines as the V-22 Osprey and the V-208 Valor. Of the two XV-3 prototypes, one survived - it was preserved and is kept in the museum.

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00:00 – The old idea
00:52 – Slow helicopters
02:07 – The Bell concept
04:04 – The XV-3 project
05:05 – The aircraft description
07:47 – The first prototype tests
08:47 – The second prototype
10:12 – Success
12:17 – The XV-3 program completion