Sikorsky Plans More Testing of Rotor Flaps

Sikorsky Innovations has completed wind-tunnel testing of an active rotor system equipped with “high-authority” flaps, thus paving the way for improvements in noise, vibration–and, marginally, efficiency–on future rotorcraft. The program, which started in 2008, is part of a broader program that encompasses leading-edge rotor blade devices. The tested system involved trailing-edge flaps and a closed-loop control. Sikorsky expects to complete large subscale wind-tunnel testing in the next phase of the program.