Bell has begun testing the first gearboxes for its MV-75 Cheyenne tiltrotor test aircraft and has finished the first nacelle structures at its Amarillo, Texas, assembly center

The first nacelle structures for the Army’s MV-75 Cheyenne tiltrotor are finished, and the gearboxes that will turn its accessories are on a test stand. Bell Textron reported both steps on Oct. 14, 2026, as progress on the first MV-75 test aircraft. Neither is a flight, but both are the kind of hardware a tiltrotor cannot fly without.

On a tiltrotor, the nacelle is the pod at each wingtip that holds the engine and rotates the proprotor from vertical to horizontal. Getting that structure built, and getting the drive system that hangs off it into test, is where a paper airplane starts turning into metal…