MAGAZINE 02 | (^27)

HELICOPTERS

OF THE FUTURE

New construction and propulsion technologies are expected to

change the aspect of rotorcraft in the decades to come

BY  EDMUNDO UBIRATAN

O

ver years, the heli-

copter industry has

focused on making its

product a safer and

economically viable

product. If until the mid-1990s the

main manufacturers were concerned

about popularizing the use of helicop-

ters among civilians, especially with

executives and charter companies, in

the last two decades the focus changed.

Who regularly visits the Heli-Expo, at

every edition perceives several advances

in the segment. If helicopters continue to

be aesthetically similar to what they were

20 or 30 years ago – especially projects

renowned such as the AS350, of the now

Airbus Helicopters –, a more critical

analysis allows to note that they just look

like the original model, and that’s it.

Composite material technologies

have made it possible to perfect the rotor

blades, which became more light and

aerodynamically eicient. During this

time, embedded systems were created

from scratch, with avionics suites that

raised situational awareness. In some

cases, automatic pilot systems control

the landing, even at adverse conditions.

CONCEPT AIRCRAFT

he new step in the aeronautical indus-

try is now to revolutionize the concept

of vertical light, with models that seem

to have come from the pages of iction

comics or superheroes. In 2017, Bell

Helicopters introduced the FCX-001

concept, which, although oicially not

intended to be a commercial model, or

even become a prototype of light tests,

was developed to introduce the public

to a series of innovations in studies. he

idea can be seen as a parallel to the one

that the automobile sector makes in its

shows, with the so-called concept cars,

which help to verify the technical feasi-

bility of the project and its acceptance

by the public.

According to Bell, the concept incor-

porates all the trends being developed by

the manufacturer. One of the highlights is

the anti-torque system, which redesigned

the entire mechanism used over the past

decades by the industry. In addition to