AIRBUS RACER / Clean Sky2 LifeRCraft Demonstrator

While I am a devout believe in; "If it can go wrong, it will," there are certainly safeguards that could be implemented to decrease the opportunity for Darwinian selection. Weight on wheels switch could automatically decouple the propellors and put them in beta or feathered status to slow them to a stop. Modern LED lights (both visual and IR) can be inserted into the propellors to make it abundantly clear where not to go. All of this said, I remain concerned about the military utility due to the hazard. People who have not slept in days and are wanting to get away from other people trying to kill them tend not to be on the same level of rational thought as those of us who sit in air-conditioned safe spaces sipping our favorite caffeinated beverage.
As I said earlier, I do think the technology, as being built, can be used for civil purposes more readily. Certainly, civil Emergency Medical Evacuation will need some consideration as those can be chaotic environments as well, but VIP and deep-sea oil rig transport where you can control the movement of people are certainly viable in my opinion.
 
H_K said:
The super-fast Airbus Racer helicopter will take off in February
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So apparently they meant end of March, not February? Lousy messaging from Airbus.

From the pics from yesterday’s press event there still seems to be some way to go…
https://twitter.com/x/status/1757392994079035771
View: https://x.com/AlcockNews/status/1757392994079035771?s=20

Interesting that they also for the first time stressed the commonality with conventional helicopters (from both a parts and pilot training perspective), potentially leading to easier mixed-fleet operations of conventional and “Racer” helicopters under one roof.

www.rotorhub.com

Racer closes in on first flight - RotorHub International

Racer Programme high speed demonstrator is slated for first flight by the end of March.
www.rotorhub.com www.rotorhub.com
 

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H_K said:
Interesting that they also for the first time stressed the commonality with conventional helicopters (from both a parts and pilot training perspective), potentially leading to easier mixed-fleet operations of conventional and “Racer” helicopters under one roof.
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I mean, it's a simple compound helicopter, only slightly more complex than the Cheyenne arrangement. Trivially more complex than Cheyenne, IMO.

So I agree that it's a much easier training program than V280s or Ospreys.
 
I find it fascinating that in part the upper wing is to shield the lower wing from the downwash of the main rotors so that it generates more lift and also to minimise the vertical drag when hovering compared to a single larger wing. Lot of complex aerodynamic interactions between the different elements.
 
WatcherZero said:
I find it fascinating that in part the upper wing is to shield the lower wing from the downwash of the main rotors so that it generates more lift and also to minimise the vertical drag when hovering compared to a single larger wing. Lot of complex aerodynamic interactions between the different elements.
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engineers getting sneaky!
 
VTOLicious said:
LifeRCraft = Low Impact, Fast & Efficient RotorCraft

The next step after X³

Refer to page 332 (8.7 Compound Rotorcraft Demonstration (LifeRCraft)) for further information:

http://ec.europa.eu/research/partic...l/jti/h2020-guide-techprog-cleansky-ju_en.pdf

Info about Clean Sky: http://www.cleansky.eu/fast-rotorcraft

BR Michael

...H160 derivative? ::)
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Made its first flight

www.airbus.com

Airbus Helicopters’ Racer is off to a flying start

Airbus Helicopters’ Racer demonstrator, developed in the frame of the European Research Clean Sky 2 project, has performed its first flight.
www.airbus.com www.airbus.com

1714037862897.png
 
RavenOne said:
Made its first flight

www.airbus.com

Airbus Helicopters’ Racer is off to a flying start

Airbus Helicopters’ Racer demonstrator, developed in the frame of the European Research Clean Sky 2 project, has performed its first flight.
www.airbus.com www.airbus.com
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A few more pics.

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image.jpg


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More test flights… this one on April 30th.
IMG_2494.jpeg
www.facebook.com

Romain Boghossian

Décollage sous la grisaille du RACER cet après-midi pour un petit vol local F-WRAC 30/04/2024
www.facebook.com www.facebook.com

Looking clean with the landing gear retracted.
IMG_2495.jpeg

Log into Facebook

Log into Facebook to start sharing and connecting with your friends, family, and people you know.
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P.S. I wonder if test flights with 4 people on board (as opposed to the 1 test pilot on Leonardo’s NGCTR sitting on an ejection seat) are a sign that this design is fundamentally better suited to civilian market adoption?

(ie. Greater confidence in the design’s inherrent safety and simpler mechanical arrangement)
 
Roll stability is awkwardly low. And it doesn´t seem wind is at play here. The controls in roll seem to be a bit touchy.
Regarding the extra test crew members, they are probably doing so according to their own procedures, with an in-flight check of parameters and monitoring recording installations as well as guiding the pilots through the test scenario.

Here is an example with the A350:
 
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TomcatViP said:
Roll stability is awkwardly low. And it doesn´t seem wind is at pay here. The control in roll seems to be a bit touchy.
Regarding the extra test crew members, they are probably doing so according to their own procedures, with an in-flight check of parameters and monitoring recording installations as well as guiding the pilots through the test scenario.

Here is an example with the A350:
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That may be flight control laws that need adjustments. Remember the Raider oops, where the roll oscillations got bad enough to make the blades cross? Happened because of how the bird transitioned from "on the ground" to "in the air", something went odd and made the stick have 2.5x greater effect per input during the transition.
 
I agree that it a control law tweak is the most likely issue. However, I did note it was not an overly calm day for that test flight. Assuming all of the video was from the same flight. Makes me think that the control laws are going to be interesting for gust response.
 
True that some sequences might have been during a windy day (I hadn´t noticed earlier the rough sea in the background - Mediterranean cost line - in some of the shots).

Control laws are obviously at play with a stability issue. But sometime you can´t fix all this way only without leaving your vehicle standing as a lemon.
 
verticalmag.com

Airbus Racer reaches 165 knots in second test flight

The Airbus Racer technology demonstrator is rapidly expanding its flight envelope, achieving a speed of 165 knots (305 km/h) in only its second test flight.
verticalmag.com verticalmag.com

Racer flew up to 80 knots (almost 150 km/h) during its first flight and reached 165 knots during its second flight on April 30.
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P.S. Quick comparison of flight test milestones:

S-97 Raider: 14 months & 19 flight hrs to reach 150 knots
SB-1 Defiant: 11 months & 11 flight hrs to reach 140 knots
Eurocopter X3: 3 months & 10 flight hrs to reach 180 knots
>> Racer: 5 days & 1 flight hr to reach 165 knots
 
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H_K said:
P.S. Quick comparison of flight test milestones:

S-97 Raider: 14 months and 19 flight hrs to reach 150 knots
SB-1 Defiant: 11 months and 11 flight hrs to reach 140 knots
Eurocopter X3: 3 months and 10 flight hrs to reach 180 knots
>> Racer: 5 days and 1 flight hr to reach 165 knots
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That's quite impressive indeed!
 
Spectacular that Airbus elected to roll the dice early toward higher speeds. I imagine getting as many flight card data points out before the other Clean Sky demonstrator begins its program is a prudent marketing position. We must also remember that this is a demonstrator aircraft, not a prototype, although it may be close to prototype representative.

I would remind all that high speed and low speed stability are not necessarily the same. It would be very lucky indeed if all of the control laws were 100% correct on the first flight. Two flights do not even provide enough data to establish trends. Six months from now they might have enough data (beyond the test pilots reports) to confirm major issues, if there are any.
 
Don´t forget that this is an European program at the edge of a contested European major election. Hastily looking for a record, if that is, is probably not that glamourous...
 
TomcatViP said:
Don´t forget that this is an European program at the edge of a contested European major election. Hastily looking for a record, if that is, is probably not that glamourous...
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Airbus’s media teams have stayed radio silent about that 2nd flight - no press release, no social media post, no press invites or pictures - so it doesn’t seem like the decision to fly 165 knots so soon was for PR or political reasons.

This info only came out because Vertical Mag’s reporter made the effort to attend a specialist industry symposium and knew to ask the right questions to get a « scoop » that everyone else had missed.

However to @yasotay ´s point, it does seem possible that there could be some internal timeline pressures to meet Clean Sky deadlines for R&D funding…
 
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New video of the Racer… I was hoping for more in-flight shots but I guess that will have to wait. There is a nice overview of the mechanical layout though.

There have been 2 flights this week, 1:22 and 1:06 duration, according to FlightRadar. That brings total flight time in the first 3 weeks to ~4hrs in 4 flights… though there may have been more flights not recorded by spotters.

View: http://youtube.com/watch?v=yRJAQ5cCF6c

www.flightradar24.com

Live Flight Tracker - Real-Time Flight Tracker Map | Flightradar24

The world’s most popular flight tracker. Track planes in real-time on our flight tracker map and get up-to-date flight status & airport information.
www.flightradar24.com www.flightradar24.com
 

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Low drag main rotor hub? Probably not yet.

Not-LowDragRotorHub.jpg

Also notice the drastic decrease in in ground effect flight safety with the anti-torque rotor being the most exposed to ground obstruction (see the risk having a slight banked attitude or landing on uneven terrain).

LowAntiTorqueClearance.jpg
 
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TomcatViP said:
Low drag main rotor hub? Probably not yet.
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Apparently they are using a standard H175 rotor hub (and rotors) initially so they can generate a baseline using known components. When they are ready to start high speed flight trials they will install the new low drag hub.

Not sure if the rotors will stay the same or be changed too down the road.
 
Its more ground clearance than say a Cessna 172 has though isnt it?
The wing blades dont extend below the bottom of the fuselage unlike on pretty much every single and twin engine Cessna.
 
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Are you routinely landing your Cessna in a cluttered space with rocks, uneven slopes etc... ? And what would happen if you lose one prop? Do you think that would be the same with a single rotor helicopter? Are your Cessna props mounted at the tip of the wing?
 
Pretty much the same relative position as a Cessna 340 or 4xx? Think the Airbus props have a tiny bit greater ground clearance.
Theres some pretty extreme lack of clearance on some models...

p1b8v1fjn19odofa4n5164p1o4p6.jpg.optimal[1].jpg

If front gear touches down first and shock compresses the clearance must be mm.
 
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...It's a demonstrator. If it's a real problem the final product might not look like this?

Or am I now being too logical here?
 
Well part of the demonstrator is to illustrate the configuration envisioned for the a/c. Here the props are not wing mounted somewhere along the span but at the tips. So, I think the remark is relevant.

Regarding teh Cessna, you´ll notice that the landing gear struts is more or less coplanar with the prop axis. Hence the problem of having some bank on touchdown, something that is relevant with any crosswind landing, is simply negated by the rigidity of of the strut (any aggravated roll would create impact points outside of the radius of the propeller with the present geometry).

Anyhow, Racer is gaining traction in the international press. A lot of similar article today:


Today, Airbus is sharing its one-off working demonstration model of the Racer in France’s southern port city of Marseille for the first time, Reuters reports. It follows new flight images and video posted by Airbus earlier this week that shows how it can take off like a helicopter and make a smooth landing without a long runway. The Racer had its first flight in April.
In an email to The Verge, Airbus Helicopters head of external communications Laurence Petiard writes that a ceremony was held today for the company’s partners in the Clean Sky 2 project, involving 40 partners from 13 different European countries. “They were able to see Racer in flight and then on static display,” Petiard said.
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www.theverge.com

Airbus debuts its half-plane, half-helicopter to the public

Look up in the sky — is that a plane or helicopter?
www.theverge.com www.theverge.com
 
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TomcatViP said:
Well part of the demonstrator is to illustrate the configuration envisioned for the a/c. Here the props are not wing mounted somewhere along the span but at the tips.
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Interestingly Airbus has also patented a mid wing mounted configuration, which might allow for more ground clearance and reduce safety concerns. I guess it has some drawbacks since it wasn’t chosen.


imgf0001.png


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H_K said:
There have been 2 flights this week, 1:22 and 1:06 duration, according to FlightRadar. That brings total flight time in the first 3 weeks to ~4hrs in 4 flights… though there may have been more flights not recorded by spotters.
Click to expand...

Good report from Flight Global with lots of positive vibes from early test flights:
www.flightglobal.com

Racer accelerates during flight testing, but programme leaders keen to stay ‘humble’

Airbus Helicopters is rapidly opening the envelope of its Racer demonstrator, with the compound rotorcraft already having reached speeds slightly in excess of 165kt (305km/h) and performed a series of increasingly aggressive manoeuvres in the three test flights since its maiden sortie in late April.
www.flightglobal.com www.flightglobal.com

Racer has now flown four times since 25 April maiden sortie. On its 25 April first flight of 30min, the Racer reached 80kt, rising to 55min and 160kt on the second and 1h 40min and 165kt on the third. The fourth sortie – performed as part of an event to showcase the aircraft at the airframer’s Marignane headquarters on 15 May – saw the helicopter fly for 1h 20 min and at a speed that was “about 10 knots more”, says Krysinski.

Test flights have also become increasingly dynamic, already including 2g turns and “very deep dives and climbs”, he adds. In fact, says Brice Makinadjian, Racer chief engineer, the aircraft has achieved bank angles of “more than 45° at 150kt” and performed “autorotations at 80kt in descent”.

“We are at a maturity level that we reached after 20 flights or even more on the X3.”

Both of the Racer’s Safran Helicopter Engines Aneto-1X were at 50% torque with the aircraft at 160kt true air speed. “The first indications are that we have low drag, even a bit lower than predicted.” The initial data shows the Racer using around 300kW less power than a conventional helicopter at 165kt, he says.

Further improvements are likely to come with the installation of a low-drag cowling for the main rotor head and landing-gear doors.
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