Bell Helicopter made the first flight of its OH-58 Block II demonstrator at its Xworx research and development facility in Fort Worth on April 14.
Helicopter rotor
April 26, 2011 - 11:10am
A bilateral project between NASA and German aerospace research center DLR is expected to focus on the role rotor tip vortices play in helicopter noise by recording vortex velocity fields and rotor-blade deformations by using a test stand with a variety of high-speed cameras, lasers and LEDs that will make the vortices visible. Eventually research will progress to actual helicopters.
March 7, 2011 - 10:20am
Bell Helicopter and Van Horn Aviation (Booth No. 1521) of Tempe, Ariz., yesterday at Heli-Expo 2011 put the official stamp on an agreement that allows Bell to distribute Van Horn’s composite tail rotor blades for Bell 206 models.
March 6, 2011 - 5:30am
Concurrent with unveiling its new composite blades for the MD500 series, Van Horn Aviation (VHA) president Jim Van Horn announced the company is in the process of purchasing a 23,000-sq-ft facility in Tempe, Ariz., in which to manufacture the new blades once the building is occupied this summer.
March 6, 2011 - 4:10am
The Pentagon’s Naval Research office has selected Emteq to create a rotorblade tip lighting system.
March 5, 2011 - 5:30am
Eurocopter (Booth No. 4637) and Sikorsky (Booth No. 2737) have successfully demonstrated the feasibility of a high-speed compound helicopter, but using different configurations. Sikorsky’s X2 reached its target of 250 knots last September in West Palm Beach, Fla., and also met vibration and workload targets, according to the U.S. manufacturer.
December 28, 2010 - 8:58am
Eurocopter’s compound helicopter demonstrator, the X3 (“X cube”), met its first speed target on November 29 when it achieved 180 ktas in level flight at “reduced engine power.” The modified Dauphin has also expanded its flight envelope in altitude and bank angles. The X3 features a conventional main rotor and two propellers on stub wings.
December 16, 2010 - 11:08am
Eurocopter’s compound helicopter demonstrator, the X3 (x cube), met its first speed target–180 ktas in level flight at “reduced engine power,” the manufacturer announced last week. The aircraft features a conventional main rotor, two propellers on stub wings and no tail rotor.
October 26, 2010 - 1:24pm
Eurocopter unveiled a compound helicopter demonstrator called the X3 (“x cubed”) designed to cruise at 220 knots–about 50 percent faster than today’s medium twins. The helicopter manufacturer believes it has found a sweet spot at a target speed that should make time savings profitable, and the technology could be incorporated into helicopters in less than a decade.
September 30, 2010 - 6:27am
The U.S. Army could issue a formal request for proposal (RFP) early next year for what could become a helicopter armed aerial scout (AAS) program.
