A Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. pilot successfully flew the X2 helicopter prototype more than 200 miles per hour, as the United Technologies Corp. subsidiary readies an attempt in June on the speed record of about 250 miles an hour.
The X2 features a rear propeller mounted like that on a turbo-prop airplane, allowing it to achieve faster speeds than traditional helicopters. Stratford-based Sikorsky is marketing the design to the U.S. Department of Defense as an armed reconnaissance scout, with the Pentagon having yet to create a formal competition for such a helicopter program.
Sikorsky”™s Stratford headquarters was reportedly on the target list of Faisal Shahzad, the Bridgeport resident accused of attempting to detonate a car bomb in Times Square.
WNYN-TV in New York reported that Shahzad considered an attack at Sikorsky and Rockefeller Center, as well as at other Manhattan targets including Grand Central Terminal and World Financial Center. Rockefeller Center hosts offices of Fairfield-based General Electric Co., which has been a prominent tenant via the NBC Universal subsidiary it is selling to Comcast Corp.
