Technology

Sikorsky X2 TECHNOLOGY Demonstrator Flies

posted: 28 August 2008 05:21 pm ET

: The X2 TECHNOLOGY Demonstrator conducted a flawless first flight at Sikorsky’s Schweizer Aircraft facility in Horseheads, N.Y. Kevin Bredenbeck, Sikorsky's chief test pilot, maneuvered the aircraft through hover, lift to approximately 50 feet and hover turns during the 30-minute test flight. Credit: Copyright Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation. All rights reserved.
: Sikorsky Chief Test Pilot Kevin Bredenbeck prepares to conduct the first flight of the X2 TECHNOLOGY Demonstrator. Credit: Copyright Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation. All rights reserved.
: The X2 TECHNOLOGY Demonstrator ground crew watches as the aircraft lifts to hover for the first time. Credit: Copyright Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation. All rights reserved.
: A Sikorsky S-76A helicopter observes the first flight of the X2 TECHNOLOGY Demonstrator. The Demonstrator executed hover, forward flight, hover turns and reached heights of about 50 feet during the 30-minute flight test. Credit: Copyright Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation's X2 TECHNOLOGY Demonstrator has successfully completed its first flight.

In a first test flight yesterday that lasted approximately 30 minutes, the prototype counter-rotating coaxial-rotor helicopter maneuvered through hover, forward flight, and a hover turn.

Kevin Bredenbeck, Sikorsky's chief test pilot, piloted the aircraft for the test flight, which took place at the company's Schweizer Aircraft Corp. rapid-prototyping facility in Horseheads, N.Y.

The flight represented the culmination of more than four years of design, development and testing of the X2 TECHNOLOGY Demonstrator’s suite of technologies, intended by Sikorsky to advance the state of the art for counter-rotating coaxial-rotor helicopters.

"We look forward to expanding the flight envelope for this Demonstrator and will continue to conduct market analysis to determine the next steps for this important program,” said James Kagdis, Sikorsky's program manager, advanced programs.

The X2 TECHNOLOGY Demonstrator is designed to establish that a helicopter can cruise comfortably at 250 knots, but still retain desirable helicopter attributes such as excellent low speed handling, efficient hovering, and safe autorotation, as well as be capable of a seamless and simple transition from hover to high speed.

“The team’s achievement sets the stage for the next series of tests eventually leading to maximum speed. It also sparks the imagination for what ultimately the technology can mean to the future of the rotorcraft industry ," said Sikorsky president Jeffrey Pino. "We are far from having a product, but closer than ever to realizing the potential.”

The X2 TECHNOLOGY Demonstrator embodies a variety of innovative aerospace and helicopter technologies , including fly-by-wire flight controls; counter-rotating, all-composite rigid rotor blades; hub drag reduction; active vibration control; and an integrated auxiliary propulsion system.

Sikorsky Aircraft first announced in June 2005 its initiative to develop the X2 TECHNOLOGY integrated suite of technologies. The project is funded solely by Sikorsky. Directly overseeing the program are Steve Chisarik, the X2 TECHNOLOGY Demonstrator program manager, and Steve Weiner, Sikorsky's director of engineering sciences.

Sikorsky uses five key suppliers for the X2 TECHNOLOGY program. They are:

● Eagle Aviation Technologies, Inc., which supplies the aircraft's main rotor blades, along with miscellaneous composite hardware.

● Goodrich Corporation, which provides its SmartProbe air data system and associated engineering support.

● Hamilton Sundstrand Corp. (like Sikorsky, a United Technologies Corp. subsidiary), which makes the flight control computers and active vibration control equipment for the X2 TECHNOLOGY Demonstrator, and provides engineering support.

● LHTEC (Light Helicopter Turbine Engine Company, a partnership between Rolls-Royce and Honeywell), which supplies the aircraft's engines, as well as engineering support.

● Moog, Inc., which makes active vibration actuation equipment and consignment MU/EU components for the aircraft, and gives engineering support.