A revolutionary new helicraft has been designed that hopes to change the way people look at helicopters and transform aviation. With a cruise speed of 232kts achieved on a test flight on the 18th May it makes it one of the fastest rotorcraft in the world. This speed combined with the confusing sound of a distinctive rumbling of a helicopter rotor and the whine of propellers makes it a challenge to guess what's coming when this approaches overhead.
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| The X3 Helicraft is newest innovation in aviation by company Eurocopter as seen on eurocopter.com |
The company Eurocopter has christened the Helicraft: X3 and it will make its first appearance to the public next week at the Paris air Show.
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| The US's Sivorsky's X2 as seen on bringbackgnarley.com |
This prototype combines the speed of an aeroplane with the flexibility and versatility of a helicopter with it vertically taking off and landing. Although not as fast as the US rival Sivorsky's equally futuristic looking X2 (seen right) which achieved a true airspeed of 250kts last September, it has certainly made the prospect of ultra-fast helicopters gonig on sale within years more likely.
"The aerospace industry today has a new horizon," according to Sikorsky's president Jeffrey Pino. Eurocopter's chief executive Lutz Bertling says, "it will be a totally different way of flying".
On the pilot and passenger side, the difference lies on the way the aircraft accelerates and decelerates: "In the X3 we accelerate and decelerate horizontally." According to experimental test pilot Herve Jammayroc with a "very different sensation from flying this when compared with an ordinary helicopter". He also said that "it is easier to fly than a normal helicopter" although more complex to build.
In terms of mission compatibility, it is 50% faster than conventional helicopters and it is larger than the US rival, but "the key message is productivity" says CEO Bertling.
For Eurocopter themselves the X3 forms part of a large restructuring for the company which is going to consist of replacing the entire six helicopter models they currently manufacture over the next 10 years. A helicopter programme typically costs around 1bn euros ($1.4bn; £876m) and lasts about 6 years.
Eurocopter are also working on more fuel-efficient models, including ones with diesel-electric hybrid engines, along with optionally manned or unmanned and even passenger sized helicopters. Along with improving safety, in terms of reliability of systems and crew awareness; and reducing operating and maintenance costs.
The helicraft is mainly aimed at mission-based activities where time is key, for example search and rescue, but is also aimed at companies who want to speed up transportation of employees, for example off oil rigs and in the gas industry. So it should be interesting to see if companies and military operators take to this amazing new innovation.
Source: BBC News
For more information on the Paris Air Show at Le Bourget Exhibition centre between 20th and 26th June 2011 - check out this link.
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