Gas-Powered UAV Test Bed Examines High-Speed Helicopter Design

Kawasaki has further refined its K-Racer X1 UAV prototype, taking its previously staid, run of the mill powerplant to the next level by cramming in the engine from their top of the line H2R superbike. Japan seems continually enamored by the concept of gas-powered VTOL aircraft, with the Xturismo "Hoverbike" similarly propelled by a wrapped-out bike engine while in hover. 

The 1,000 cc, supercharged, 310 horsepower heart is a fine, high-output machine while installed in its bike form, where the complete ensemble weighs just over 475 pounds. In the K-Racer, (or, in its uncompacted nomenclature, the Kawasaki Researching Autonomic Compound to Exceed Rotorcraft) the power is capable of lifting the aircraft with a 220 pound payload, somewhat underwhelming when compared to similar battery-powered aircraft. The drone doesn't just break from convention with its power systems or trapper-keeper worthy exhaust system, but its large, nearly automotive size. Kawasaki claims the system was designed for "high speeds that were not technically possible for conventional helicopters" with it's twin yaw-controlling propellers and main rotor. 

The system in its current guise is less a UAV concept, according to company press from October 2020. Kawasaki has been treating the K-Racer as a technical demonstrator for other equipment in development, including their line of full-size manned helicopters. Kawasaki Heavy Industries could very well see this small unmanned helicopter as a design to scale upwards, not downwards. It seems somewhat apparent that raucous, high-strung aerial sportbikes screaming around cities at the H2R's peak power band of 14,000 RPM wouldn't be long for this world, so the K-Racer probably won't be Japan's next pharmacy delivery UAV.

FMI: www.kawasaki.com