Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. has scheduled a full-speed test of its X2 prototype helicopter for this summer, which if successful promises to revolutionize the industry and potentially set the Stratford manufacturer up for huge federal contracts in the future.
The X2 features a rear rotor mounted at a right angle to the standard variety, giving it a “pusher prop” that can fly the helicopter far faster than existing models today. Rather than relying on its rear rotor to steer, as is the case with traditional helicopters, the X-2 is guided via twin-stacked, coaxial rotors that spin in opposite directions.
Sikorsky has been testing the helicopter at its facility in West Palm Beach, Fla., but has yet to attempt a full-speed test with the pusher prop.
Jeff Pino, president of Sikorsky, discussed the planned flight test in New York City this month, at an investor conference hosted by Sikorsky”™s Hartford-based parent United Technologies Corp.
“Our X-2 helicopter will make its final push to 250 knots of forward air speed, and remember, helicopters rarely go above 160 knots,” Pino said.
Sikorsky also outlined its schedule for testing a remote-controlled version of its Black Hawk helicopter. In mid-March, rival Boeing Co. announced it has begun manufacturing the unmanned A160T Hummingbird, which is designed primarily for cargo and reconnaissance missions in combat theaters; and in February Lockheed Martin Corp. and Bloomfield-based Kaman Corp. tested their own version of an unmanned copter called the K-MAX.
“Later this summer a two-(aircraft) formation of Black Hawks will take off; the second will be unpiloted,” Pino said. “By the end of the year, a Black Hawk will position itself over a cargo load, pick (it) up, fly a circuit, and land ”“ unpiloted.”
While the industry expects interest from the Dept. of Defense on such helicopters, there is no massive procurement program under consideration at present for unmanned helicopters. That is not the case for X2 technology, however ”“ Pino noted that the Pentagon is considering resuscitating earlier plans for an armed reconnaissance helicopter, a program won by Sikorsky and Boeing with their jointly designed RAH-66 Comanche helicopter, only to see the program canceled in 2004. It was a blow for both companies, after $7 billion was invested in the program and plans were laid to produce more than 1,200 Comanches armed with 20-millimeter cannons.
If X2 hits its advertised speeds without incident, it could provide Sikorsky with an overwhelming leg up on any competitors for an armed recon helicopter, given the obvious advantages a swift helicopter would bring to a mission. The only other company that has disclosed pusher prop helicopter technology is Essington, Pa.-based Piasecki Aircraft Corp., which has conducted flight tests of its Speedhawk prototype, but which lacks Sikorsky”™s manufacturing muscle and experience with major Department of Defense programs.
“(DOD has) asked for everything from ”˜not unusually gifted”™ to ”˜highly revolutionary,”™” Pino said. “So we”™ve provided everything from ”˜put a sight on a Black Hawk”™; through ”˜if you really want conventional, maybe we could resurrect some of Comanche”™; or, ”˜if you want really revolutionary, let”™s go with X2 technology.”™”
Sikorsky is also developing what the company terms “actualization” technology in which a pilot can flip a switch in the cockpit to optimize the rotors to suit whatever mission the pilot is undertaking.
“We”™ll actually fly a rotor in the wind tunnel by the end of the year, where we can select whether that rotor is a great speed rotor, a quiet rotor, or an efficient lifter,” Pino said.
On the commercial aviation front this month, Sikorsky completed its initial flight of a new version of its S-76 helicopter, which will include all-composite rotor blades that can be operated in quite mode; a rotor ice protection system; and an avionics system from New Jersey-based Thales Avionics Inc. that includes autopilot functionality.
