R. F. (Dick) Spivey

Mr. Spivey retired as Director of TiltRotor Business Development at Bell Helicopter Textron Inc in 2002. In that position he was responsible for marketing of the V-22 Osprey to the U.S. Government and for development and coordination of new business development strategy regarding V-22 and future variants, both military and civilian. Dick returned to Bell as a consultant in 2002 until February 2006. After his second retirement, he opened Mach Zero Associates specializing in reducing drag and increasing fuel consumption of ground vehicles. He is presently working with the University of Notre Dame to develop airflow designs to improve the fuel usage for class 8 trucks (18-wheelers).

Dick joined Bell Helicopter in 1959 and was a flight test engineer in the late 1950's and early 1960's. He then moved to Bell's Aerodynamics group where he was a project aerodynamicist on the Cobra, High Performance Helicopter (HPH), and the TiltRotor. He holds a US patient on rotor blade tip design for high subsonic rotor blade tip operations to reduce noise and increase performance. He was the project aerodynamicist on the Bell HueyCobra helicopter and ran all wind tunnel tests and predicted aircraft performance.

In the late 1960's he moved to the UH-1 Project Engineering group where he developed advanced main and tail rotor systems for the UH-1 and OH-58 series helicopters and was project engineer on the 214 Super "Huey".

In the early 1970's he moved to Military Marketing. His initial duties included research and development, marketing advanced rotor hubs, and the tail rotor improvements on existing helicopters. In 1972 he was appointed Sales Engineer for the Iranian program , developed the helicopter configurations offered to Iran and helped conduct in-country demonstrations of the 214 and AH-1J helicopters. He determined the need, and directed the modification and testing of the basic 214 helicopter to provide the additional lift under Iran’s extreme high altitude, hot temperature conditions.

In late 1972 he was appointed Sales Engineer for the TiltRotor program and has been involved in development of the XV-15 and V-22 throughout the 1970's and 1980's. In this capacity he has conducted many military and civil studies in support of TiltRotor aircraft.

These include early effectiveness analyses of US Marine Corps operations including ship-to-shore movements, attack and logistical support operations while engaged with light, medium and heavy forces. He quantified the advantages of the survivability, speed and range increases of the TiltRotor aircraft and investigated doctrinal changes to improve effectiveness with this capability. He has participated in war games and studies sponsored by the military customer to enable understanding of the effects of new technologies in emerging scenarios.

Since 1998 he concentrated on the Marines’ emerging doctrine "Operational Maneuver from the Sea", providing a new concept of sustainment from "Sea Bases" rather than the present method of establishing a logistics base ashore. This included design of a new Quad TiltRotor (QTR) with C-130 type lift capability with over a 1000-mile range. The QTR can operate routinely from support ships while they are in route from their ports providing these supplies quicker than any other reasonable method. His studies have included investigating new Martine Propositioning Ship (MPF) designs that allow the QTR to deliver heavy supplies directly to battalion size units up to 200 nautical miles inland without the need for port facilities.

He conducted effectiveness studies for Naval Air anti-submarine warfare using TiltRotor aircraft against Soviet submarine technologies using the latest ASW mission equipment. New tactics were devised to improve effectiveness. In the process, larger, lower frequency dipping sonars were investigated for long-range ASW operations. He also headed other Naval studies to perform airborne early warning, carrier onboard delivery, search and rescue, electronic warfare and special operations for Naval operations. He has attended Naval war games and study conferences to determine the new levels of threats and has been involved in classified programs at many levels.

Dick has spent much time understanding the roles and missions of the US Special Operations Command to determine how TiltRotor technology can increase their effectiveness and capability. He is presently projecting that knowledge into new concepts to further increase USSOCOM capability.

He has been in the forefront of efforts to determine the best way to deploy the Army’s new Objective Force and their new Interim Combat Vehicle. He is concentrating on moving that force worldwide in the timeframe required by the new emerging Army doctrine. He is concentrating on rapid delivery of heavy supplies to fighting forces without the need for vulnerable airports, runways or seaports.

He continues to have an updated working knowledge of helicopter and VTOL aircraft design technology and testing, and has continued to work on the leading edge of research and development of new aircraft and advanced technology for future warfighting designs.

Dick is a graduate of Georgia Institute of Technology where he obtained a BS in Aerospace Engineering. He has done graduate studies toward a masters degree in Aerospace Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology and has completed graduate courses in nuclear physics at Texas Christian University.

He is a member of the NDIA, the American Helicopter Society, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the Army Aviation Association of America, The Marine Corps Aviation Association, the Naval Helicopter Association, the National Defense Industrial Association, the Marine Corps League and the Navy League. He also has a patent on the Quad TiltRotor and a provisional patent on use of flow control on class 8 trucks.

Dick and his wife, Terry, have two sons and reside in Fort Worth, Texas.