Helicopter "S-97 RAIDER" capable of high-speed flight with thrust of a counter-rotating rotor and propeller

It is an American helicopter manufacturing company and also manufactures military aircraftSikorsky · AircraftOf the new type helicopter "S-97 RAIDER" which the company has been developingConcept demonstration machineHas been released. Unlike ordinary helicopters, this aircraft has both a counter-rotating rotor and a propeller that produces a forward thrust like an airplane, which is the highest speed rotary wing aircraft at a speed of 220 knots per hour (About 407 km / h) can be cruised with the ability to cruise.

A walk around Sikorsky "Raider," contender for world's fastest military copter | Ars Technica
http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2015/10/a-walk-around-sikorsky-raider-contender-for-worlds-fastest-military-copter/

Sikorsky is a member of the US Army Association (AUSA: Association of the U.S. Army) held from 12th to 14th October 2015Annual Meeting(Annual meeting) announced this aircraft. As a conceptual demonstration machine, detailed specifications of the airframe will be added in the future, but it has become an airframe that embodies the main concept in a form close to the finished machine.


An angle that makes it easy to understand the characteristic of a double rotating inverter. The S - 97 Raider is characterized by having a rotor with a smaller diameter than a usual helicopter, but this rotor also features. A general helicopter rotor dares dare to adjust the overall rigidity and gives a soft "bending", but this body is characterized by using a rigid type with high rigidity.


More characteristic of the rear part of the aircraft. By adopting a counter-rotating rotor for the main rotor, there is no longer a need for a tail rotor mounted horizontally, and instead there is a propulsion propeller (Pusher Propeller) that produces a thrust in the forward direction.


The base of the counter-rotating rotor looks like this. Although it is a part that sees rods that adjust the angle of the rotor if it is a general helicopter, it seems that you are conscious of the high cruising speed with emphasis on aerodynamics from the refreshing appearance.


The wing tip of the main rotor has an oblique shape and it seems that reduction of air resistance is aimed at.


When going forward while turning the rotor, the state of the "windward side" and "leeward side" state is created as it were on the right and left sides of the rotor. In S-97 Raider, "Advancing Blade ConceptWhen incorporating the rotor, the elevation angle is given when the rotor is heading upwind, lifting the aircraft like a wing of an airplaneLiftIt is said that it is supposed to give rise to. In the state going downwind, a mechanism to minimize air resistance is adopted by setting the angle to zero. Also, by having two reversing rotors, it seems that the lift generated by the rotor is well balanced on the left and right.


The S - 97 Raider adopts "fly - by - wire" which fully incorporates computer control for airframe control, and the large and small liquid crystal displays are lined up in the instrument panel in front of the pilot.


Aircraft nose part with big window. The S - 97 Raider is designed with a focus on the mission as an "armed reconnaissance helicopter", so it can not be handled by drones such as the so - called "drones", to a mission requiring judgment by humans It is said that it is aiming for utilization.


The rear part of the cockpit secures space for six passengers to be able to accommodate a wide range of duties.


Bill Fell, who is the chief test pilot, points to the "Radier" logo on the aircraft. He emphasized that the test flight that had been carried out well went smoothly, he said that he wanted to continue flying all the time.


As mentioned earlier, this aircraft is a concept demonstration aircraft which Sikorski created for demonstration of the concept, and it seems that improvement will be added from now. It is said that the test conducted on this aircraft is a 40-hour ground test and a 2-hour flight test, and actual development can be expected to proceed from now.

A movie containing the appearance of the venue where the aircraft was exhibited has also been released.

S-97 RAIDER ™ Rollout Event Highlights - YouTube


S - 97 Raider is an aircraft poured with "X 2 technology" developed by Sikorsky for more than 10 years, and demonstration experiments using an aircraft called "X 2 Technology Demonstrator" have been repeated. With X2 technology, S - 97 Raider said both high maneuverability of rotary wing aircraft and high speed flight performance like fixed wing aircraft are compatible.

Sikorsky S-97 RAIDER ™ X2 Technology ™ Basics
http://raider.sikorsky.com/x2-basics.asp


The state of the first flight of the concept demonstration aircraft is contained in the following movie and you can see how hovering is performed to confirm the state of the aircraft at low altitude on the runway.

Sikorsky S-97 RAIDER ™ First Flight. - YouTube


In addition, it is possible to check the appearance of the ground test conducted before the first flight with the following movie. You can see interesting scenes such as test appearance which raises output while being fixed to the ground with a chain.

Sikorsky S-97 RAIDER Journey to First Flight. - YouTube


Furthermore, in the following movies, merit that has a counter-rotating rotor + propeller propeller is explained, so those who are interested are must-see.

Sikorsky - S - 97 Raider X 2 Technology Family Of Helicopters SAR & Combat Simulation [360 p] - YouTube