Soon, fly on ‘hover-plane’ that combines propellers with fixed wings
September 30th, 2010 - 2:27 pm ICT by ANIMelbourne, Sep 30 (ANI): European company Eurocopter has unveiled a new high-speed ‘hover-plane’ that combines helicopter propellers with fixed wings.
The revolutionary winged helicopter is called the X3 Hybrid Helicraft.
The half-plane, half-helicopter design aims to overcome the obstacles of high-speed helicopter flights by combining the advantages of fixed-wing planes with the hovering abilities of a standard helicopter.
Typically, the stability of the base of a helicopter’s rotor is threatened when rotor tips approach supersonic speeds.
However Eurocopter hopes that placing two main rotors ontop of the cabin will neutralise the spinning force and aid speed.
The design also allows the aircraft the fly at sustained speeds of 400km/h, with the company also aiming to break the speed barrier.
Eurocopter envisages the X3 will have a range of uses including passenger transport and inter-city shuttle services.
“Flying it was amazing… I’m sure that we are opening a new page in the helicopter story,” News.com.au quoted Daniel Semioli, Flight Test Engineer, as saying.
The X3 has been a closely guarded secret. Under development since January 2008, it was first flown on September 6 at a military test base in France.
Testing will continue, with flights resuming in March next year. (ANI)
- Eurocopter Unveils Helicopter With a New Look - Sep 27, 2010
- Shape-shifting robot plane to make maritime rescue safer than before - Aug 27, 2010
- Mahindra, Eurocopter ink product development deal - Jul 26, 2011
- Sydney beaches get rubber sharks to test patrol efficiency - Dec 22, 2010
- Agni-IV, C-130J, IAF woman officer among firsts at R-Day - Jan 26, 2012
- World's fastest helicopter developed - Aug 28, 2010
- Haryana to have helicopter, aviation hubs - May 29, 2011
- Now, 3D printers to print tiny robotic insects - Jul 17, 2010
- Missing Afgan passenger aircraft found, recovery operations underway - May 21, 2010
- Bird inspires aircraft that can fly, hover and glide - Jul 03, 2011
- China launches new unmanned helicopter - May 08, 2011
- Indian Air Force conducting trials for attack helicopters - Jul 22, 2010
- Two bodies found after New York midair crash - Aug 09, 2009
- 3 Dead In Tucson Plane Crash - Jul 29, 2010
- China working to run trains at over 500 km/hour - Oct 19, 2010
Tags: city shuttle, eurocopter, fixed wings, flight test engineer, half plane, helicopter design, helicopter flights, inter city, military test, obstacles, ontop, passenger transport, rotor, semioli, shuttle services, speed barrier, story news, supersonic speeds, test base, wing planes