Flight testing with the second aircraft resumed in November, 1974. The Sikorsky X2 is an experimental high-speed compound helicopter with coaxial rotors, developed by Sikorsky Aircraft, that made its first flight in 2008 and was officially retired in 2011. Here's how the machine is coming together right now. AMARILLO, TEX. He also has a Masters Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University. Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! Lockheed Martin delivered the first CH-53K training device to the U.S. Navy on April 14, 2020. The abstract of the Army final report summarizes these conclusions: NOE [nap of the earth] flight handling qualities revealed the XH-59A is capable of the intricate, demanding maneuvers required by the tactical NOE environment. "Sikorsky will begin ground testing shortly and is on track for first flight this year," Steve Engebretson, Sikorsky's director of advanced military programs, said in an emailed statement. Manually foldable composite rotor blades, using Boeing VR-7 and VR-8 aerofoils with cambered leading-edges. Sikorsky says that the S-97 Raider has a cruising speed of 253 mph (407 km/h, 220 kn), which is more than double the speed of conventional helicopters, and pulls three G's in the turns for. Taking action to help you protect what matters most. Naval Air Test Center Technical Report, RW-37R-79, Final report, Advanced Helicopter Rotor Systems, Initial Navy Evaluation of the XH-59A Advancing Blade Concept (ABC) Demonstrator Aircraft, LT. T.L.MacDonald, USN; MAJ M.S.Blair, USMC; and S. Kolwey, January 17, 1980. [Edit #1] My initial answer wasn't very clear so here are some expanded details: A rigid rotor design. The Army set up the Utility Tactical Transport Aircraft System (UTTAS) program to develop this new transport helicopter. Army funding came from the Army Materials and Mechanics Research Center in Watertown, Mass, which was responsible for much of the development of the dual-hardness armor. And while the two companies are going head-to-head in the FARA program, with the Raider X pitted against the 360 Invictus, they are also competing in the aforementioned FLRAA program, with the Defiant X up against the V-280 Valor. To replace the Armys current Black Hawk transports, an aircraft needs to be able to land quickly in tight spaces under fire, drop troops, and then take off again ideally flying backwards so it doesnt have to wait to turn around. Lockheed Sikorsky-Boeings SB Defiant has taken flight more recently than Textron-Bells 280 Valor, however both appear to be showing early promise. ABC required the spar to be tapered in both diameter and wall thickness to be able to carry the high bending moments developed when the rotors lift moved off the rotor centerline. Learn how we are strengthening the economies, industries and communities of our global partner nations. And civilian uses are already being considered. In 1972, both Boeing and Sikorsky were contracted to develop prototypes for this new breed of combat helicopter. Want CNET to notify you of price drops and the latest stories? The conclusion was that the control system gains were too low to cover all flight modes. in the industry,? An extensive flight test program of about 170 flight hours was accomplished through 1981. Up to twice as fast as a regular helicopter. The SB Defiant uses an interesting, counter-rotating dual blade technology known as a compoundconfiguration. American Helicopter Society paper An ABC Status Report, Arthur W. Linden and Andrew J. Ruddell. The development of the next-generation rotary wing technology allowed Sikorsky to select suppliers for the high speed X2 prototype aircraft intended for flight test and evaluation by the US Army. June 6, 2005 Sikorsky Aircraft today announced plans to build and test a demonstrator for a new class of coaxial X2 Technology helicopters that maintain or improve on all the vertical flight capabilities of rotorcraft and whose high speed configuration will cruise at 250 knots. Join PopSci+ to read sciences greatest stories. Primarily among these was the use of separate engines for rotor power and auxiliary propulsion. ?Weinitiated X2 Technology convinced that the most productive and flexiblehelicopter is a helicopter which is capable of a significant increase in speed,?said Stephen Finger, then-president of Sikorsky Aircraft. Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made. The new heavy lifter will allow the U.S. Marine Corps and international militaries to move troops and equipment from ship to shore, and to higher altitude terrain, more quickly and effectively than ever before. That counter-rotation has the benefit of balancing out the torque and evening the lift from the long and rigid spinning blades. In a more developed design, a single propulsion system would power both the rotor and an auxiliary propulsion propeller or ducted fan. So which systems better? The object protruding from the front is a 3D-printed simulated cannon. The V-280 has the same size rotors as the V-22 but weighs half as much, Gehler said, giving it 50 percent more control power than a V-22 at low speeds, superior to the present-day Black Hawk and Apache. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. Though not much is known about the aircraft, FAA documents show the S-100 has two engines, 14 seats and a lift-weight class of 20,000 kg or over. The Sikorsky S-97 Raider has an unusual configuration, with two coaxial main rotors on top and a pusher propeller in the rear. . People will be able to flyback and forth from visits, dates, and meetings twice as fast each way as itnow takes by helicopter," said Jackson. AARV display model In a separate project, Sikorsky is working with Boeing on an X2-based helicopter called the SB-1 Defiant in a precursor program to the the Army-led Future Vertical Lift initiative, which aims to find a next-generation medium-lift helicopter for use across all the military branches. | This proved the basic advancing blade concept and led to a contract in 1972 with the U.S. Army for the design, fabrication, and flight testing of the XH-59A advancing blade concept demonstrator aircraft. Built in Connecticut, the Sikorsky CH-53K is the latest in the Companys proud helicopter legacy. The Sikorsky-Boeing SB-1 Defiant (stylized as "SB>1"; company designation S-100) is the Sikorsky Aircraft and Boeing entry for the United States Army's Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft program to replace the Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk.It is a compound helicopter with rigid coaxial rotors, powered by two Honeywell T55 turboshaft engines; it first flew on 21 March 2019. In general, tiltrotors dont offer the kind of agility and maneuverability that a compound design does, said Richard Aboulafia, aviation analyst at the Teal Group. The program did not progress beyond these conceptual efforts. Sikorsky Aircraft (now owned by Lockheed Martin) was founded in 1923 and has created helicopters for civilian and military use since 1939. Privacy Terms of Use EU and UK Data Protection Notice Cookies. Sikorsky hopes that the sleek, speedy design of the S-97, unveiled Thursday, will win the favor of the US Army as a potential replacement for OH-58D Kiowa Warrior helicopter, an airframe whose. Stability and control proved to be excellent. As a result, the control system was designed with a very low gain to prevent the controls from being too sensitive. If this scout helicopter sounds similar in design to another from Sikorsky, thats because it is. It never went beyond the concept stage. k k k First Flights 35. positions. Sikorsky was unique in devoting his efforts to the single-rotor philosophy, which he erroneously believed he had originated. "The entire rest of the flight program will take about a year to complete.". He honed his language skills as a US Army linguist (Polish and German) before diving into editing tech publications back when the web was just getting under way. Also, some of the symmetry of the counter rotating blades, closelymirroring each otherin shape and size, will decrease turbulence and therefore improve the airflow and stability of flight. For example, flights between Bridgeport, Conn. and JFK Airport in New York City would be decreased from 40 minutes to 25 minutes.Also, X2 Technology medevachelicopters would be able to transport people in critical condition tohospitals in significantly less time, potentially saving lives. If you want to go faster and further, you need a fundamentally different design. Want the latest defense industry news? The advancing blades are effectively going faster, relative to the air, because they add the helicopters forward movement to their own, so they generate more lift. A 40 ft. diameter test rotor was fabricated in 1970 and tested in the NASA Ames 40 x 80 ft. wind tunnel. The counter-rotating blades are engineered toreduce high-speed vibrations, steady the aircraft and best optimize massive amounts of thrust coming from a pusher prop mechanism in the rear of the aircraft. The helicopter has a small rotor at the end of a tail boom (Sikorsky) Or a fan instead of the propellor (Fenestron Aerospatiale) Or a jet thrust output (Cierva W.9, NOTAR) 4. Photo: Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. To paraphrase helicopter pioneer Igor Sikorsky: If you're in trouble . This article first appeared last month. Similar to the X2 prototype, the Sikorsky S-97 Raider helicopter will have twin coaxial counter-rotating main rotors and a pusher propeller for cruise at 220 knots. Where a standard helicopter uses a side-facing tail rotor to offset the torque of the main rotor in front, the pusher propeller of the S-97 will assist in high-speed acceleration and deceleration. The first was a two place reconnaissance vehicle, the AARV Aerial Armored Reconnaissance Vehicle proposed as a follow-on to the Armys light observation helicopters then in production, the Hughes OH-6A and the Bell OH-58A. Yaw control was achieved by using differential collective pitch in hover. The critical importance of the FLRAA mission to the Army and our nation requires the most capable, affordable and lowest-risk solution.. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. Its the Army that Bell and Sikorsky must convince. The rigid rotors provided high control power. That's in an assault configuration; there will also be an attack variant that shares a common fly-by-wire drivetrain and many other systems, but has a different composite fuselage and is much more heavily armed. What does an independent expert think? In phase 2, a simulated fuselage was fabricated and subjected to ballistics testing. 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