Helicopter Industry #103

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 ».
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