could suit a high-speed cruise
rather than transitional flight, and
another type could be good in the
hover, but not so good in cruise.
Imagine a rotor blade that could
change from a cruise setting to
become quieter in transition or
hover, where noise has the greatest
impact on the environment. The
idea keeps Bell’s engineers busy.
“We showed some of our ideas
on the FCX001 [concept] model
where we envisioned a morphable
tip that can not only deal with
noise abatement, but also can
help with efficiency in differentmodes of f light,” Drennan says.
“Morphability could mean
changing from hover mode to
cruise mode or changing during
different descents. If you know
that you’re in a certain noise-
sensitive area, you could change
your f light profile accompanied
by changes in the blades to match
the profile.”
The FCX001is a stunning
machine. It encases everything
that Bell is currently working on:
hybrid power, morphable blades,
advanced anti-torque systems,
composite materials and new
avionics. The stuff that dreams
are made of, it is at this stage only
a static model.
Airbus, however, brought their
high-speed proof-of-concept tolife: the X-3 did indeed prove
several concepts before being
retired to a museum. A high-speed
helicopter complemented with
two forward-facing propellers
mounted on wings, the X-3 has
since given rise to the Rapid
and Cost-Effective Rotorcraft
(RACER). It’s Airbus Helicopters’
opening shot in the battle for
faster rotorcraft.
“RACER is a high-speed
compound helicopter which can
f ly at 220 knots with affordable
cost due to its simplicity,”
Krysinksi explains. “This formulaallows you to slow down the
main rotor. It pulls the helicopter
forward with two propellers that
are fixed on the wing tips. It allows
you to reduce in a very significant
way the fuel consumption. In
190-knot horizontal f light we can
f ly with only one turbine. Drag is
much lower and in this condition
the fuel consumption is down
30% compared with a similar
traditional helicopter.”
And both the RACER and
the FCX001 look the business.
Sleek, steamlined and looking like
they have come straight from a
science-fiction movie, these two
concepts will probably go through
significant evolution in the future,
but their heritage in emerging
technology is already obvious.Helicopters
“ There are specic shapes
that allow us to reduce noise
very signicantly”
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[email protected]shapes like aerofoils that can
bring improvement, and I think
everybody including us is looking
at that.”
Certainly Airbus is, as seen
on their Blue Edge technology
demonstrator and the in-production
H160. Tomasz Krysinksi believes
new rotors will play a large part in
rotorcraft of the future.
“One of our key company
objectives is to make helicopters
environmentally-friendly,
especially working on noise,” he
explains. “Our latest development
is the H160 with the blue edge
concept. For us a five-bladed
rotor is a very good configuration.
There are specific shapes that
allow us to reduce noise very
significantly and improve
performance at the same time,
without impacting the cost of
blades. And this is generating
value for customers.”
But similar to a propeller on a
fixed wing, rotor blade shapes are
more efficient as some speeds or
phase of f light. A blade profileout. “We believe those knock-
downs are still a good trade for the
power densities for the batteries,
especially when the hybrid system
allows you to put fuel on board,
which can be a range-extender.”Tricks for tips
Another advancement is a
distinctive change in rotor blade
shapes, particularly at the tips.
Just as wingtips on aircraft have
changed shape over the past 20
years, so the ends of rotor blades
are about to go through a similar
transformation in search of less
noise and greater efficiency.
“The tips of the blades, to be
able to shape those you can look
at composites, but you can also
look at 3D printing to get so
pieces that you can bond on,” says
Robinson Helicopters President
and Chairman Kurt Robinson.
“We’ve looked at numerous
ways to do it, but there are new
materials and methods being
introduced that will allow us now
to economically produce differentThe future is here: Bell’s FCX001 concept aircraft encases
most of the new technology currently under development.BELL