blackstar said:
Sundog said:
What I'm interested in seeing is what Eurocopter plans do with the X3 Technology. i.e.- We've seen the demo vehicle now show us what you're thinking in terms of production vehicles. I would like to see if they have anything planned in the commuter class size range, sort of like a modern day Rotodyne.
I need to read up on the X3, but it always struck me as a desperation move by Eurocopter to kludge something together after Sikorsky made a splash with the X2. It looks like they just bolted some props onto a helicopter and called it revolutionary. And those props are not in a good location right next to the fuselage. So I agree with you that I'd like to see if they're going to actually do something with the technology.
To a certain extent they did just bolt those on to the fuselage; It's a technology demonstrator. This idea has been around for some time, they just decided given the current state of technology this would be the best solution for the future. I think both the X2 and the X3 will be successful programs. At least that's my hope, anyway. I'm hoping that maybe they'll demonstrate the X3 at some airshows here so I can see it fly. The last actual demonstrator I saw fly was the XV-15 and it was amazing.