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.

• Click Here To Learn More About The Sikorsky X2 Demonstrator, From Aero-TV!

"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.

FMI: www.sikorsky.com