Company Says 30-Minute Flight Was Successful
It's one incredibly cool -- and equally unusual -- flying
machine... and, it works! Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation announced
Wednesday it successfully completed the first flight of its X2
Technology Demonstrator, maneuvering the prototype aircraft through
hover, forward flight, and a hover turn, in a test flight that
lasted approximately 30 minutes.
Sikorsky Chief Test Pilot Kevin Bredenbeck (shown below)
conducted the test flight at Sikorsky’s Schweizer Aircraft
Corp. rapid-prototyping facility in Horseheads, NY. The milestone
culminated more than four years of design, development and testing
of the Demonstrator aircraft’s suite of technologies that are
intended to advance the state-of-the-art, counter-rotating coaxial
rotor helicopter.
"Today’s achievement is the result of dedicated effort by
the entire X2 Technology Demonstrator Program Team," said James
Kagdis, Program Manager, Advanced Programs. "It is proof of the
complete commitment by Sikorsky Aircraft to this program and to the
exploration of innovation in aviation. We look forward to expanding
the flight envelope for this Demonstrator and will continue to
conduct market analysis to determine the next steps for this
important program."
The X2 Technology Demonstrator is designed to establish that a
helicopter can cruise comfortably at 250 knots, while retaining
such desirable helicopter attributes as excellent low speed
handling, efficient hovering, and safe autorotation, combined with
a seamless and simple transition to high speed.
Sikorsky President Jeffrey P. Pino said the successful first
flight attests to the company’s commitment to innovation in
the rotorcraft field.
"X2 Technology has crossed a major threshold," Pino said. "The
team’s achievement sets the stage for the next series of
tests eventually leading to maximum speed. It also sparks the
imagination for what ultimately the technology can mean to the
future of the rotorcraft industry. We are far from having a
product, but closer than ever to realizing the potential."
Among the innovative technologies the X2 Technology Demonstrator
employs are counter-rotating, all-composite rigid rotor blades,
with an Integrated auxiliary propulsion system in the form of a
tail-mounted pusher propeller. The aircraft also sports fly-by-wire
flight controls
As ANN reported, Sikorsky first announced the
initiative to develop an integrated suite of technologies called X2
Technology in June 2005. The project is funded solely by
Sikorsky.