Helicopter Industry #103

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HELICOPTER INDUSTRY I LEGACY I E On the 6th of September 2010, the X3 took off for the first time from the Istres air base in the south of France. 50% aeroplane, 50% helicopter, 100% innovative and successful. The actors of the time remember this extraordinary program... « CEO Lutz Bertling had decided to launch the study of a fast aircraft,» recalls Daniel Semioli, who was one of the two test flight engineers in the program, along with Dominique Fournier. During a meeting in which I took part, he told us in substance, «The handicap of a conventional helicopter is its speed limited by its rotor. But as this limit is physically impassable, we have to change the concept». HI I 24
THE CONVERTIBLE COMPLEXITY The fantasy of the fast helicopter is as old as the helicopter itself. Many avenues have been explored to break the wall of speed related to the physical constraints of the rotor in forward flight. So far, only one hybrid helicopter has been built in the series: the Bell V-22. An aircraft with tilting propellers carried by the Pentagon’s budgets, and reserved for the military because of its complexity, alongside its operating and maintenance costs. But the defects and dangers of the convertible are well known, especially in the transition phase with wingtip flaps that make neither good rotors nor good propellers. SHADOW PROJECT Lutz Bertling’s stated objective is to obtain an aircraft 50% faster than a helicopter, but with simple technical solutions limiting the increase in costs to 20% compared to a conventional aircraft of equivalent size. «Our CEO wanted to launch a small development program that would allow us to respond quickly, and at a lower cost to the question of the feasibility of such an aircraft» continues Daniel Semioli. «The idea did not meet unanimous approval in the company. There was a - moderate - financial risk, of course, but it was above all Eurocopter’s brand image that could be strongly impacted by a failure. The history of hybrid aircraft, with its many accidents, did not argue in our favour ». A very small team, a dozen engineers at most, worked under the leadership of Philippe Roesch (program director) and Thomaz Krysinski to propose a preliminary project to Lutz Bertling. The responsibility of the final decision lands with him, as to whether to continue the project. «Actually this was not about spending a certain amount of money, but about the team proposing to me a minimum budget needed to achieve a flying demonstrator aircraft in a very independent skunk works environment » says Lutz Bertling. «The X3 is certainly one of the achievements in my career I am most proud off ». HI I 25
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Helicopter Industry #103

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