The success of the US civil tilt-rotor programme has prompted renewed activity on Eurofar, the European programme involving Agusta, Eurocopter and GKN-Westland.
Eurocopter projects manager Jean Renaud says that the companies are "worried" that the US Bell-Boeing 609 civil tilt-rotor "threat" could steal 20% of the helicopter market with its high-speed performance.
Studies on possible designs have resumed at the CEAT S4 windtunnel in Toulouse, using a one-sixth-scale, non-motorised model, and will be continued in early 1998 with aerodynamic tests aimed at finding a definitive configuration.
Source: Flight International
