Photos taken yesterday have emerged on the internet of prototype AC3 on the ramp at the Leonardo facility in Philadalphia, Pennsylvania.  Registered N609PA and all white with huge AW609 titles, the aircraft is clearly being prepared for a flight in the near future.

In May 2016, Leonardo announced that AC3 had started ground runs at the Cascina Costa development centre in Italy – the photos as seen here.  They said at the time that it had begun restrained ground run testing with all engines and systems operating to prepare the prototype for FAA certification flight testing summer 2016 in Philadelphia.  Yesterday was the first time it had been publicly seen, implying an intention to fly it again soon as soon as the manufacturer is ready to resume test flights following the sad fatal accident of autumn 2015.

Jeremy Parkin – HeliHub.com