Eurocopter commenced a U.S. tour of its high-speed X³ helicopter, a potential rival to Sikorsky Aircraft Corp.”™s X2 which less than two years ago set a speed record of 290 miles an hour.
Stratford-based Sikorsky has proposed an X2 variant called the S-97 Raider as a potential armed scout for the U.S. military.
A Eurocopter pilot cruised the X³ at nearly 270 miles per hour last year. On Wednesday, Eurocopter’s CEO  showcased the helicopter in Grand Prairie, Texas.
Whereas Sikorsky”™s X2 relies on stacked, counter-rotating main rotors with a rear “pusher” propeller providing an extra burst of speed, Eurocopter”™s X³ has a traditional main rotor augmented by twin propellers mounted on short wings, akin to a turbo-prop plane.
The aerospace and aviation communities converge beginning July 9 in the United Kingdom at the biennial Farnborough International Airshow.
A subsidiary of the European aerospace company EADS, Eurocopter has its main U.S. office in Grand Prairie and a manufacturing plant in Mississippi.
