• Thanks for stopping by. Logging in to a registered account will remove all generic ads. Please reach out with any questions or concerns.

Future Helicopters

Currently, the goal is to have one rotary-wing platform for the Air Force.

Which shows you what the USAF truly thinks about helicopters.  Imagine if the Air Force said, "Our goal is to have one airplane for the Air Force."  ???

Of course, the Air Force considers the Osprey a fixed-wing aircraft because it sometimes looks normal...like other airplanes.

:dunno:
 
Good2Golf said:
Which shows you what the USAF truly thinks about helicopters.  Imagine if the Air Force said, "Our goal is to have one airplane for the Air Force."  ???

They already did.  It is called the F35.
 
Kirkhill said:
http://www.defense-aerospace.com/article-view/release/158114/usaf-conference-mulls-future-helicopter-fleets.html

For me, I would be looking at helicopters that can fold up in 10 mins and be stowed on board C130s or C17s and then can be unfolded in a like period of time at the far end.  Instead of trying to build transcontinental, super-sonic helicopters.

Do you mean Sea Kings? ;)
 
Just imagine what a larger scale platform this could make:

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=693522244049344&fref=nf
 
Colin P said:
It will do a lot of things, but not stealth  :)

Visions of Stormtroopers flying through the forests of Ewok come to mind.  Larger versions that would create a large central cargo/passenger compartment with a cockpit up top would probably be too large to be practical. 

The interesting part of the design is the 'protected' rotors that would prevent blade strikes, damage and critical loss of control.
 
Yes, I know.

But it wasn't very comfortable, and we didn't fly very far.
 
SF2 said:
Current birds can fly with damaged rotors :)

A few years ago i had a duct tape themed page-a-day calendar. One of the little tidbits was a tale submitted by a huey pilot who served in Vietnam. After being broufht down by enemy fire that damaged the blades, the huey crew was able to repair the damaged rotor blades enough to take flight again and escape the enemy forces who were rapidly closing in on their downed bird... Using only duct tape.
[/tangent]
 
New helicopter prototype from Sikorsky. While roughly the size of a Kiowa, it can carry six people plus crew, and flies extremely fast. Sikorsky hopes this is the prototype of a new generation of helicopters (it is itself a development of the company's X-2 program).

http://nextbigfuture.com/2016/01/sikorsky-shows-off-superfast-and.html

Sikorsky shows off superfast and compact S-97 Raider military helicopter proof of concept
Sikorsky is building a game-changing RAIDER aircraft that is intended to revolutionize helicopters for the military.

The Army wants to reinvent the very idea of rotorcraft, with a new propulsion concept. After the flight tests and technology development, JMR will end and a Request for Proposals (RFP) will be issued open to all companies to begin the projected $100 billion FVL effort. Demonstrators developed under JMR will be "X-planes" to demonstrate some key technologies, but they won't have production-representative engines or real mission systems architecture; JMR will show off technologies to enable Army rotary-wing aviation to make the next leap in speed, lift, protection, and interoperability under FVL for the 2030s. The program is intentionally slow paced to avoid past program failures.

Although requirements are still being refined, the notional concept for a new aircraft must reach speeds of 230 kn (260 mph; 430 km/h), carry up to 12 troops, operate in "high-hot" conditions at altitudes of 6,000 ft (1,800 m) and temperatures of 95-degrees Fahrenheit, and have a combat radius of 424 km (263 mi) with an overall unrefueled range of 848 km (527 mi).

Ars Technica reports that Sikorsky a guided walk-around of the S-97 Raider, a proof-of-concept helicopter developed without government funding that the company hopes will earn a role with the military as an armed scout helicopter. The Raider is different from just about everything in the helicopter world, using a pair of counter-rotating rigid rotors for lift and a tail-mounted propeller for additional thrust, allowing it to fly at speeds of up to 250 miles per hour (220 knots) and hover at extreme altitudes.

Sikorsky is hoping that the Raider will fill a hole in the Army's aviation capabilities that can't currently be filled by unmanned aircraft. "You need to have a human in the loop assessing the situation" on scout missions, Fell said.

The rigid rotors of the Raider give it a compact footprint compared to other helicopters of its size—while it fills up the same space as the two-seater Kiowa, the Raider has space for six troops in a passenger compartment. And when in level flight, the Raider flies more like a commercial jet than a helicopter—the collective control locks in at its most efficient position, and the pilot flies the helicopter exclusively with the cyclic stick. A control on the stick allows the pilot to control the pitch of the rear propeller to control speed in level flight—or to fly the aircraft backward with negative pitch. And the combination of rigid rotors and rear thrust makes the Raider much more nimble than other helicopters; the Raider is designed to withstand sustained forces of up to three times the earth's gravity in maneuvering.

Much work needs to be done still on the Raider—so far, the aircraft has only flown for a little over two hours, and there have only been about 40 hours of ground tests.

By next year, the Raider's test flights will begin to push its performance envelope.
 
timthumb.php
 
Photos of a prototype of the V-280

http://www.businessinsider.com/here-are-the-first-images-of-the-armys-new-futuristic-helicopter-2017-9

Here are the first images of the Army's new futuristic helicopter prototype
The Aviationist
David Cenciotti, The Aviationist

The V-280 Valor is Bell’s submission for the U.S. Army’s Joint Multi-Role Technology Demonstrator (JMR-TD) phase, the technology demonstration precursor to Future Vertical Lift (FVL), a replacement for the service’s Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk and Boeing AH-64 Apache helicopters.

The V-280 will have a crew of 4 (including two pilots) and be capable of transporting up to 14 troops. Its cruising speed will be 280 knots (hence the designation V-280) and its top speed will be 300 kts.

It’s designed for a range of 2,100 nautical miles and an effective combat range of 500 to 800 nmi although the Army’s requirements for the demonstrator call for hot and high hover performance (at 6,000 feet and 95 F), and the ability to self-deploy 2,100 nautical miles at a speed of at least 230 knots.

Featuring a triple-redundant flight-by-wire Flight Control System and cutting edge avionics, the first prototype of the next generation helicopter is expected to perform its first flight in the next few months. On Aug. 30, what looks like a 100 percent complete aircraft, sporting the registration N280BH, was spotted at Bell Helicopter Amarillo Assembly Center (where the demonstrator aircraft began ground vibration testing with a 95 percent complete helicopter back in February 2017): the Valor is probably being prepared for engine tests ahead of its maiden flight (planned for Sept. 2017).

The T64-GE-419 engines and gearboxes in the nacelles are clearly visible in the interesting images in this post obtained from a short video filmed by our friend Steve Douglass. Interestingly, unlike the V-22’s engines, that rotate with the gearboxes, in the V-280, the gearbox is the only thing that rotates.

According to Bell “The output shaft is connected to the drive system through a spiral bevel gearbox that transfers power to the fixed gearbox and proprotor gearbox, which rotates on two big spherical bearings driven by a conversion actuator mechanism.” The Valor’s tilting gearbox design vastly simplifies the Osprey’s complex hydro-mechanical clockwork required for the tiltrotor action.

The U.S. Army plans to field distinct platforms: a utility helicopter and an attack helicopter. For this reason, a variant, dubbed AV-280, is expected to carry rocket, missiles and also small UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) forward or aft with no rotor interference.
 

Attachments

  • screen shot 2017-09-06 at 52443 pm.png
    screen shot 2017-09-06 at 52443 pm.png
    104.2 KB · Views: 290
  • screen shot 2017-09-06 at 52634 pm.png
    screen shot 2017-09-06 at 52634 pm.png
    72.5 KB · Views: 256
  • screen shot 2017-09-06 at 52920 pm.png
    screen shot 2017-09-06 at 52920 pm.png
    162.8 KB · Views: 313

Short Sikorsky Defiant video of a recent test flight where they achieved over 250kts.
 

Short Sikorsky Defiant video of a recent test flight where they achieved over 250kts.
OK the crayon eater has another a few questions: how difficult would this thing be to fly? Maintenance would be an issue maybe? How airworthy is something like this?
 
OK the crayon eater has another a few questions: how difficult would this thing be to fly? Maintenance would be an issue maybe? How airworthy is something like this?
From what I have read, its a small group that have been allowed to fly it compared to the V-280 but id think maintenance would be less than a tilt-rotor or tilt-engine(is that the right term?)?


this one is still a sexy beast

 
Back
Top