Key sub-systems of the Airbus Racer (Rapid And Cost-Efficient Rotorcraft) high-speed rotorcraft technology demonstrator have successfully passed their preliminary design review (PDR), Airbus Helicopters announced this week at Helitech.
Airbus said this clears the way for the launch of initial components manufacture and confirmed that the company remains on track to begin final assembly of the demonstrator in Q4 2019, with a first flight in 2020.
The Racer program has been funded through the European Union’s H2020 framework via the Clean Sky 2 program and aims to achieve the optimum trade-off between speed, mission performance, cost-efficiency, and sustainability.
The Racer demonstrator builds on the company funded X3 demonstrator and uses a similar compound helicopter configuration, with aerodynamic wings offloading the conventional main rotor in forward flight, and with twin propellers providing thrust. Whereas the X3 used tractor propellers and a Dauphin airframe, the Racer will have a more streamlined fuselage—similar to that of the new H160 and uses pusher propellers—also known as lateral rotors in this application.
The Racer also incorporates a diamond-shaped "box-wing" design, optimized for aerodynamic efficiency, increased stiffness, and lower weight. The Racer demonstrator will also feature a hybrid metallic-composite airframe, designed for low weight and low recurring costs, and will be equipped with a new high voltage direct current electrical generation system, which will also reduce weight.
Power will be provided by a pair of Safran's new 2,500-shp Aneto engines, which will feature an auto-stop eco mode, allowing one engine to be shut down and restarted in flight to save fuel and increase range.
The Racer demonstrator will be optimized for cruising speeds of more than 400 km/h (50 percent faster than a conventional helicopter) and should be capable of equalling or exceeding the X3’s record-breaking speed of 472 km/h (293 mph).
This is faster than the official FAI speed record for non-compound helicopters of 400.87 km/h (249.09 mph) set by a specially prepared Westland Lynx in 1989.
More important, the Racer will consume 15 percent less fuel while cruising at 330 km/h than a conventional helicopter cruising at 240 km/h, and Airbus aims to travel a given distance with a 25 percent cost reduction.
The successful preliminary design review allowed Airbus Helicopters to freeze interfaces and 3D definitions of the main subsystems even before the completion of detailed design. This in turn has enabled Airbus Helicopters and its suppliers to start manufacturing some key components, including the lateral drive shafts, the gearbox housing (manufactured by Avio Aero in Italy), the wing’s titanium cradle (built by GE Aviation Integrated Systems in the UK), composite side panels (manufactured by INCAS/Romaero in Romania) and parts of the primary tail structure manufactured by Aernnova in Spain.
The 200-hour Racer flight demonstration will begin in 2020, with the first phase will focus on envelope expansion and on assessing key performance parameters as well as handling qualities, stability, and aerodynamics.
The second phase of flight testing demonstrated the aircraft’s suitability for particular missions in which increased speed and efficiency would be useful, including search & rescue (SAR), emergency medical services (EMS), and private and corporate transport.
Airbus hopes that the aircraft will set new benchmarks for high-speed helicopter transportation.