Bell’s new V-280 Valor tilt-rotor prototype is 95% complete and the company expects its first flight to be in September. The prototype was made for the US Army’s joint-multirole demonstrator programme, reports Star Telegram.

The V-280 differs from the V-22 tilt-rotor, as the company decided to take the “lessons learned” from the V-22 and applied them to this prototype. The differences include the transition from vertical to horizontal being only in the gearbox, instead of the engine rotating and the V-280 has side doors for passengers to exit from instead of a rear door. The prototype is being built by 13 technicians.