Processing Your Payment

Please do not leave this page until complete. This can take a few moments.

March 11, 2025

Sikorsky demonstrates hybrid helicopter/airplane system

Contributed Sikorsky's rotor blown wing in helicopter mode
By Harriet Jones

Sikorsky, the Stratford-based helicopter maker, says it has successfully demonstrated a new type of technology that can take an aircraft from a helicopter-like vertical take off to wing flight like a conventional airplane.

A prototype powered by the “rotor blown wing” successfully completed more than 40 take-offs and landings, according to the company, and performed 30 transitions between helicopter and airplane modes, the most complex maneuver demanded of the design. In horizontal flight mode, the aircraft reached a top cruise speed of 86 knots. 

The milestone was achieved in January when flying the vertical take-off and landing aircraft from Naval Air Station Patuxent River’s Webster Field in Maryland.

Sikorsky said it has taken just over a year for its innovations division to progress through preliminary design, simulation, tethered and untethered flight to gather aerodynamic, flight control and quality data.

“Our rotor blown wing has demonstrated the control power and unique handling qualities necessary to transition repeatedly and predictably from a hover to high-speed wing-borne cruise flight, and back again,” said Sikorsky Innovations Director Igor Cherepinsky. “The data indicates we can operate from pitching ships decks and unprepared ground when scaled to much larger sizes.”

Sikorsky says future applications for the technology include search and rescue, firefighting monitoring, humanitarian response, and pipeline surveillance. 

“Our rotor blown wing platform is a prime example of how we are leveraging the breadth of our 102-year aviation heritage to develop new designs that meet the emerging missions of commercial and military operators,” said Sikorsky Vice President and General Manager Rich Benton.

The rotor blown wing design is one of a future family of systems in development by Sikorsky.

Also in development is a 1.2 megawatt hybrid-electric demonstrator (HEX) with a tilt wing and a fuselage to carry passengers or cargo across long distances. A HEX power system test bed is expected to demonstrate hover capability in 2027.
 

Sign up for Enews

Most Recent

Most Recent

0 Comments

Order a PDF