Eurocopter unveils new-look helicopter [Video]




European group Eurocopter showed off a revolutionary winged helicopter on Monday, in a bid to counter U.S. rival Sikorsky's efforts to break the speed barrier by rewriting rotorcraft design rules.


Quote from the article:

The X3 hybrid helicraft -- which combines forward-facing propellers astride two short aircraft wings with the familiar overhead rotor blades seen on any normal helicopter -- was unveiled following months of secrecy.

The half-plane, half-helicopter design aims to overcome chronic obstacles to high-speed helicopter flight by combining the advantages of fixed-wing aircraft with those of a standard helicopter -- allowing it to fly at 220 knots or 400 km/hour.

The move by the world's largest civil helicopter maker came less than two weeks after United Technologies unit Sikorsky claimed an unofficial speed record of 250 knots (460 km/hour) with its own avant-garde prototype called X2.





Source: Eurocopter unveils new-look helicopter [Video]

Digg it! Slashdot Del.ico.us Technorati Fark it! Blinklist Furl NewsVine Windows Live Netscape Google Bookmarks Reddit! LinkaGoGo Tailrank Wink Dzone Simpy Spurl Yahoo! MyWeb NetVouz RawSugar Smarking Scuttle Magnolia BlogMarks Nowpublic FeedMeLinks Wists Onlywire Connotia Shadows Co.mments


Rate this story

Rating:


Post New Comment

Your Name:


Subject:


Icon:
Note  Alert  Question  Star  Idea  Disk  Smile  Wink  Sad  Mad  Happy 
Tongue  Sleep  Cool  Very Sad  Frown  Up  Down 

Message:


Disable smilies in this post.
Disable block tag code.
Add [url] tag at URLs.