Boeing's Phantom Works and the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) have signed a $24 million cost sharing contract for a proof of concept demonstration of the canard rotor/wing (CR/W). The three year programme is to include flight testing of a subscale unmanned vehicle to demonstrate vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) and transition between rotary wing and fixed wing modes.
The CR/W was conceived by the former McDonnell Douglas Helicopters in the early 1990s as a future replacement for attack helicopters. The aircraft takes off and lands like a helicopter, and uses the stopped rotor as a wing in forward flight. A turbofan engine powers the reaction drive rotor in helicopter mode and provides forward thrust in aeroplane mode.
After an initial 12 month risk reduction phase, DARPA and Boeing will decide whether to proceed with construction of two demonstrators, expected to be 600kg-class vehicles with a 3.7m-diameter rotor and powered by a Williams engine. The demonstrator is sized with subsequent development of a VTOL unmanned air vehicle firmly in mind.
DARPA's half of the funding is being provided by the US Congress, which added money to the 1998 budget for the project. The demonstration will focus on propulsion, aerodynamic and flight control issues.
Source: Flight International
