Bell’s New Army Rotorcraft Programs Charging Ahead

Semi-finalist Bell is moving ahead with its entries into the U.S. Army’s FARA (future attack reconnaissance aircraft) and FLRAA (future long-range assault aircraft) rotorcraft competitions. 

At Bell’s plant in Amarillo, Texas, assembly has begun on the FARA prototype, the two-seat 360 Invictus, according to Chris Gehler, Bell vice president and FARA program director. “It looks like an aircraft now,” he said, noting that the helicopter already has had the mission rails, weapons bay, wing stubs, and skins attached. Bell has already built the flight blades following development testing and flight verification.

The drive system is being assembled at Bell’s main plant near Fort Worth. Bell is aiming to have the aircraft put together by the end of this summer, perform ground runs one year later, and then make first flight by fall 2022.

Meanwhile, Ryan Ehinger, Bell vice president and program director for FLRAA, told AIN that the V-280 already has logged 200 flight hours over the course of 150 sorties since its first flight in late 2017. “In that time we have been able to get thousands of test points and been able to knock out all of the Bell key attributes that we set out to achieve such as 280 knots of speed, Level 1 attitude quickness, and long-range-mission speed of 240 knots.”

NASA Readies Mars Helicopter for First Flight

NASA's $80 million, four-pound Ingenuity Mars helicopter could fly by early April, the agency said this week. However, the miniature rotorcraft first needs to be successfully separated from the Perseverance surface rover and complete a complicated series of preflight tests, including spooling up the composite coaxial rotor system to 2,537 rpm. That entire process is expected to last several days.

Both vehicles landed together on the surface of the Red Planet on February 18 following an eight-month journey from Earth. The helicopter is still attached to the belly of Perseverance and the vehicle is en route to a 10- by 10-meter “airfield” selected for its flat terrain and lack of obstacles.

The first flight is expected to climb at a rate of three meters per second, attain an altitude of five meters, and hover for 30 seconds. Parked nearby, Perseverance will downlink Ingenuity’s first set of engineering data and, possibly, images and video from the rover’s navigation cameras and mastcam. 

Subsequent flights are expected to expand the flight envelope to a maximum altitude of five meters over a pre-selected course that measures a mere 90 meters end-to-end. Ingenuity’s flight campaign is expected to last 31 Earth days. The aircraft is fitted with a postage-stamp-size piece of fabric from the original Wright Flyer. 

Sikorsky Donation Helps Launch RedTail Academy

In 1941, the formation of the Tuskegee Airmen forever changed the path of aspiring African-American aviators. Now, a donation of a Sikorsky helicopter is helping the Trowell-Harris Chapter of the Tuskegee Airmen to continue that legacy. The helicopter, from an anonymous donor, was used to help launch RedTail Flight Academy in New York.

RedTail Flight Academy will allow high school graduates to earn commercial pilot certificates with multi-engine and instrument ratings within 10 to 12 months. In addition to flying, the program will serve as exposure to other facets of the aviation industry. “An appealing aspect of the program is that it’s all-encompassing—it will teach students all about aviation, from A to Z,” said Michael McCafferty, v-p Northeast of Guardian Jet, who worked closely with this project.

After receiving the helicopter (the model was kept private), the chapter, with the help of Guardian Jet’s brokerage services, was able to find a buyer. Proceeds from the transaction will be used to not only fund scholarships that cover the full cost of flight training for participants, estimated at $80,000, but also finance the purchase of two training airplanes. Right now, the Piper Pilot 100i and the Vulcanair V1 are being considered. 

Applications for the program will be available to members of multiple Tuskegee Airmen chapters. The first class of six will be in the fall of 2021.

Airbus Begins Assembly of Racer Compound Helicopter

Airbus Helicopters is expected to launch final vehicle assembly of its compound Racer in “the coming weeks” at its facility in Merignane, France. The fuselage, a hybrid of metal and composites, is scheduled to be delivered this month.

The program passed critical design review in 2019 and the manufacturing of long-lead items followed in 2020, with major components such as the canopy, composite side shells, and tail boom already delivered.

Main rotor blades are from the super-medium Airbus H175 and the avionics are an adaptation of Airbus’s Helionix system. Altogether, more than 40 partners from 12 countries are participating in the project, providing key components. “It is a very active collaboration,” said program director Brice Makinadjian.

First flight of the Racer—which stands for rapid and cost-efficient rotorcraft—was pushed to 2022, a delay a spokesman said was the result of the pandemic. The Racer is designed to cruise at speeds up to 220 knots. Target range is 400 nm.

The aircraft is derived from the European Commission's H2020 research program as part of the Clean Sky 2 initiative. It is powered by a pair of 2,500-shp Safran Aneto-1X engines that provide 25 percent more power than similar-sized engines. Up to a 15 percent reduction in fuel burn can be achieved when one engine is placed in standby mode during cruise, a configuration Safran calls “Eco Mode."

HAI Honors California Natl. Guard for Creek Fire Rescue

On Sept. 5, 2020, a growing fire in the Sierra Nevada Forest near Fresno, California, had surrounded a group of campers, hikers, and residents. With no way to escape, the California National Guard 40th Combat Aviation Brigade (CAB) was called in for the rescue. HAI is recognizing the CAB crew with the 2021 Humanitarian Service Award, which honors those “who best demonstrate the value of helicopters to the communities in which they operate by providing aid to those in need.”

Alerted to the situation, Black Hawk pilot-in-command Chief Warrant Officer 5 (CW5) Kipp Goding assembled a crew that included pilot CW2 Irvin Hernandez and crew CW1 Ge Xiong. Meanwhile, Chinook pilot-in-command CW5 Joseph Rosamond assembled the crew of pilot CW2 Brady Hlebain, flight engineer Sgt. George Esquivel, and flight engineer Sgt. Cameron Powell.

“What followed was a harrowing night that tested the limits of the crews and aircraft alike. An inferno fueled by bone-dry vegetation, bark beetle-killed trees, and strong winds, the Creek Fire was unpredictable, creating so much smoke the pilots couldn’t see to fly through it,” HAI said.

The Chinook arrived first, landing on a boat ramp with the fire burning all around, HAI said. Once there, the crew quickly went to work triaging the injured. The two helicopters ultimately flew three missions each and rescued a combined 242 people, along with their pets.