Sikorsky has named suppliers for its 250kt (460km/h) X2 Technology coaxial-rotor helicopter demonstrator as the Bell/Agusta BA609 civil tiltrotor moves closer to achieving its 275kt cruise speed.
The first six/nine-seat BA609 reached 125kt on 13 June, when its landing gear was retracted and the proprotor nacelles lowered to 60° for the first time. The nacelles are scheduled to be lowered to 0° (horizontal) later this month, in the first transition from helicopter to aeroplane mode.
Honeywell is to supply the fibre-by-wire flight control system for the two-seat X2 demonstrator, which will be built by Sikorsky subsidiary Schweizer Aircraft and is scheduled to fly by the end of next year.
The X2 will have counter-rotating four-blade rigid main rotors with low-drag hubs, says senior vice-president Jeff Pino. The tail-mounted six-blade propulsor will be produced by by Aero Composites.
Bell Helicopter, meanwhile, will flight-test an advanced helicopter rotor later this year for its new Modular Advanced Product Line (MAPL) light turbine helicopter family. “The rotor will substantially improve the productivity of the aircraft,” says Bill Stromberg, executive director, commercial programme management.
Bell is conducting an “internal competition” between two anti-torque technologies for MAPL, Stromberg says, the already flown tail fan and the tail-thruster propulsive anti-torque system (PATS).
Source: Flight International
