Fast helicopters

Boeing -Sikorsky latest entry into the fast helicopter design race is the Defiant.




The Defiant is competing directly with a more familiar technology used in Bell's V-280 tilt-rotor.

The Defiant is said to be more agile than the tilt-rotor which essentially turns into a plane once it is in the air.

The mission requirements should define the systems purchased. It is apparent that the need of the government to subsidize defense as an industry overshadows the actual utility of the purchases.
Why does the military need fast copters/ VTOL? If troops are going to be dropped in the field, they will need support from other aircraft anyway, so why not concentrate on maximizing the amount and/or types of payload that can be carried, rather than how fast you can travel with just people and some, but not all, of their equipment?

I think they build these down the street from my house.

They were flying one of these, or something similar over my house and I thought it was an earthquake for a minute. My window panes were visibly flexing and I swore they were going to shatter.

I knew a Vietnam vet years ago who
was a helo pilot in the war. He hated
them, was in 3 crashes. He said all
they're good for is falling out of the
sky. Of course, that was 50 years ago..

Quote: gamerfreak

I think they build these down the street from my house.

They were flying one of these, or something similar over my house and I thought it was an earthquake for a minute. My window panes were visibly flexing and I swore they were going to shatter.

If you live in Amarillo, then maybe what you heard was the current model, the V-22 Osprey. It has giant rotor blades and is really noisy. The blades are so big, the aircraft can't land without rotating them at least part of the way up. Of course, it could also have just been a police or news helicopter following a pursuit suspect. Even those lighter choppers, if flown low enough, will shake the china out of your cupboard.

I also heard a story about a guy who had to hire a copter to carry his new hot tub over his house into his backyard because it wouldn't fit going down the sides. hehe... Got any neighbors with a new jacuzzi?

Quote: Ayecarumba

If you live in Amarillo, then maybe what you heard was the current model, the V-22 Osprey. It has giant rotor blades and is really noisy. The blades are so big, the aircraft can't land without rotating them at least part of the way up. Of course, it could also have just been a police or news helicopter following a pursuit suspect. Even those lighter choppers, if flown low enough, will shake the china out of your cupboard.

I also heard a story about a guy who had to hire a copter to carry his new hot tub over his house into his backyard because it wouldn't fit going down the sides. hehe... Got any neighbors with a new jacuzzi?

Not in Amarillo, but I am near the Sikorsky factory in Pennsylvania.

It probably wasn’t one of these newer models, but it was definitely a military helicopter of some sort with 2 rotors.

I am somewhat convinced they work on super secret military stuff at that facility. I am not a conspiracy theorist at all, I’m more of a skeptic actually, but I have seen UFO type objects up close in the area and that is my only explanation.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/lorenthompson/2019/01/02/armys-decision-on-huge-helicopter-engine-program-will-impact-ge-honeywell-united-technologies/#2898cf14461b

Quote: gamerfreak

Not in Amarillo, but I am near the Sikorsky factory in Pennsylvania.

It probably wasn’t one of these newer models, but it was definitely a military helicopter of some sort with 2 rotors.

I am somewhat convinced they work on super secret military stuff at that facility. I am not a conspiracy theorist at all, I’m more of a skeptic actually, but I have seen UFO type objects up close in the area and that is my only explanation.

Did it look like this:



There's an Italian company that has been trying to manufacture a civilian version of the twin rotor Osprey. They had a crash with two fatalities that set them back quite a bit.

The army does not want tilt rotor helicopters.


That's why Sikorsky is developing helicopters with coaxial rotors


Forward speed is provided by a "pusher propeller" instead of the more common "tractor configuration" which pulls a plane.


I should think a tilt-rotor helicopter would be used by British royals and high government officials. Since the country is small enough that a reasonable forward velocity would permit trips to anywhere in the country, it would considerably lessen the need to charter fixed-wing jets and to travel to airports.

Quote: Pacomartin

...I should think a tilt-rotor helicopter would be used by British royals and high government officials. Since the country is small enough that a reasonable forward velocity would permit trips to anywhere in the country, it would considerably lessen the need to charter fixed-wing jets and to travel to airports.

If they ever asked me, I would advise them that tilt rotors are not as safe as regular helicopters. I don't know if they can "auto-gyro" and glide in like a helicopter can if an engine quits. All you hear about after tilt rotor crashes are body counts.

As for "fast", the buyers need to remember that if you are deploying troops from these craft, it is not how quickly you get them there, it is how quickly you can unload them, and all their gear that counts. Even with tilt rotors, there will be a whole group of other aircraft that will disable / destroy / clean the landing zone first, and others that will circle to provide cover while the troops land, and unload their gear. No matter how fast you get there, the most vulnerable times are still this transition, and the reverse: loading up to leave. Remember the mission that killed Bin Laden and family? I don't think speed was a key.