Sikorsky HEX/VTOL

Moose

Moose

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Given the trends and Sikorsky's experiance (albeit mostly retired) with tilt-wing, I am not suprised they are trying this route.
 
Aviation Week article on HEX includes an image with a 4-rotor tilt-wing and a conventional helicopter (looking very S-76-ish) with the hybrid drivetrain

Sikorsky Reveals HEX Tiltwing Demonstrator Configuration | Aviation Week Network

Sikorsky has unveiled the configuration of the Hybrid-Electric Demonstrator (HEX), a fully autonomous prototype to be developed with GE Aerospace, at Heli-Expo.
aviationweek.com aviationweek.com
 
The helicopter may be an endeavor to recoup the S-76 market. A hybrid would likely have reduced aural signature, that would be very desirable in most urban environments.
 
yasotay said:
The helicopter may be an endeavor to recoup the S-76 market. A hybrid would likely have reduced aural signature, that would be very desirable in most urban environments.
Click to expand...
Quieting could get impressive if they combine the HEX drivetrain with a distributed anti-torque solution like Bell's EDAT. Regardless of the details, it's good to see the company is thinking about a S-76 replacement.
 
Following the testbed, Sikorsky will build two flight-test HEX aircraft, which Cherepinsky says are considered "attritable, because, again, we are running fast. We're taking some risks, which is why we're building two more aircraft."
Click to expand...

I guess this was not priorly discussed with their test pilots.
 
Moose said:
Aviation Week article on HEX includes an image with a 4-rotor tilt-wing and a conventional helicopter (looking very S-76-ish) with the hybrid drivetrain

Sikorsky Reveals HEX Tiltwing Demonstrator Configuration | Aviation Week Network

Sikorsky has unveiled the configuration of the Hybrid-Electric Demonstrator (HEX), a fully autonomous prototype to be developed with GE Aerospace, at Heli-Expo.
aviationweek.com aviationweek.com
Click to expand...

High-res of that image from the LM Website.

Funnily, the S-76 successor is marked as N961X (a number that used to belong to a Grumman AgCat). Possibly they have that model penciled in as the S-96? (The Raider S-97s were N971SK and N972SK, so there's something of a pattern there.)
 

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Seems like they actually outed this last year, just without mentioning that it's a tilt-wing configuration.

verticalmag.com

Sikorsky details plans for new family of hybrid eVTOL aircraft

Aerospace giant Sikorsky plans to develop a family of hybrid-electric VTOL aircraft to target military and commercial markets, the company’s leadership team told attendees at HAI Heli-Expo 2023 in Atlanta.
verticalmag.com verticalmag.com

www.ainonline.com

Sikorsky Seeks To HEX eVTOL Competitors | AIN

Sikorsky and GE developing large, fully-autonomous hybrid electric eVTOL demonstrator.
www.ainonline.com www.ainonline.com
 
I wonder if they are not backtracking, taking the first not rooted branch they have before X2 and Raider.
 
TomcatViP said:
I wonder if they are not backtracking, taking the first not rooted branch they have before X2 and Raider.
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I suspect you are correct. X2 is dead in the US at the moment.
 
Only good news is that Sikorsky has a substantial body of work on tiltwing aircraft ranging from smaller tactical attack and lift platforms up to larger heavy lift. Of course, all of the folks who worked on that are retired or beyond participating.
 

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