Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. is the 100th recipient of the Robert J. Collier Trophy, recognizing its X2 helicopter prototype that can exceed the speed of conventional rotorcraft.
Stratford-based Sikorsky is a unit of United Technologies Corp. and is the largest employer in Fairfield County.
“This is a tremendous honor that recognizes the hard work, dedication, skill and vision of many people,” said Jeff Pino, president of Sikorsky, in a prepared statement. “Sikorsky has a long and storied history of innovation, starting with the invention of the world”™s first practical helicopter and continuing today with X2 Technology and the exciting new possibilities it opens for our company and our industry.”
Sikorsky beat out its sister division Pratt & Whitney, whose Rocketdyne division was nominated along with Boeing Co. and others for their development of the X-51 WaveRider scramjet, which set a record in 2009 for the longest atmospheric flight to exceed Mach 5. Pratt & Whitney engines are used on two other airplanes nominated for the Collier Trophy ”“ the Boeing C17-A Globemaster III cargo plane, which can take off and land from very short runways, and the MC-12W reconnaissance airplane from L-3 Communications Corp., a turbo-prop aircraft designed to collect intelligence in hostile areas.
The Sikorsky X2 features twin counter-rotating stacked rotors and a tail propeller mounted like that on an airplane to push it to faster speeds. Sikorsky is working to sell the U.S. Department of Defense on the idea of developing the X2 as an armed scout and is building two new prototypes dubbed the S-97 Raider.
Eurocopter is chasing Sikorsky with its own prototype called the X3, which reportedly is under initial trials.
Awarded by the nonprofit National Aeronautic Association, the Collier Trophy recognizes achievements that improve the performance, efficiency and safety of air or space vehicles; last year”™s award recognized the team that designed, built and launched the International Space Station.
This year”™s selection committee included Neil Armstrong and Dick Rutan, who in 1986 became the first man to pilot an aircraft around the world without refueling.
It marks the second time Sikorsky Aircraft has won the award in its own right; in 2002, it received the Collier Trophy for its S-92 helicopter.
Last year, Sikorsky Aircraft acquired a minority stake in a New Mexico company called Eclipse Aviation, which received the award in 2005 for its development of very light jets.
Perhaps incredibly, founder Igor Sikorsky was never singled out for the Collier Trophy despite his influence developing helicopter aircraft, though the collective industry received the award in 1950.
This year”™s nominees included the general aviation industry for efforts to airlift personnel, supplies and victims to and from Haiti following the massive earthquake there last year. Among the contributors was Stamford-based GE Commercial Aviation Services, which volunteered a jet on 24 hours notice to help the nonprofit Hope for Haiti shuttle supplies to Port-au-Prince.
Comments 1