Will it ever take off? (Image: Eurocopter)
IN the TV series Airwolf and Blue Thunder, the helicopters are revered almost as much as the actors or the plot. These fictional flying machines now have some serious competition in the speed stakes. High-speed prototypes capable of 500 kilometres per hour are taking to the skies for real.
These experimental craft are the work of Sikorsky Aircraft in the US and Eurocopter in Germany. Sikorsky’s X2 and Eurocopter’s X3 (pronounced X-cubed) have propellers for additional thrust. The firms’ technology could help commercial chopper speeds rise by 60 per cent within five years.…
