Racer high-speed helicopter hits cruise speed target

On 21 June, 2024 less than two months after its first flight, the Racer demonstrator exceeded its level speed objective of 407km/h (220kts) by reaching 420km/h (227kts) in its initial configuration. In seven flights and around nine hours of flight testing, almost all of the flight envelope has been opened, Airbus said.

In a statement, Bruno Even, CEO of Airbus Helicopters, said: “This achievement in such a short space of time is really a testimony to the hard work of our 40 partners in 13 European countries to bring all of this innovation to flight.

“On top of its performance, the aircraft's aerodynamic behaviour and stability are promising. We are all looking forward to the next phase of flight testing, especially the eco-mode which will enable us to shut down one engine in forward flight, thus reducing fuel consumption, and lowering the CO2 emissions.”

The flight test crew was made up of of Hervé Jammayrac, chief flight test pilot, Dominique Fournier, flight test engineer, and Christophe Skorlic, test flight engineer. The next phase of flight testing will focus on single engine operations and finalise the flight envelope.

Optimised for a cruise speed of over 400km/h, the Racer demonstrator aims to achieve the best trade-off between speed, cost-efficiency, and mission performance.

The Racer also targets a fuel consumption reduction of around 20 per cent, compared to current generation helicopters in the same maximum take-off weight category, thanks to aerodynamic optimisation and an innovative eco-mode propulsion system.

Developed with Safran Helicopter Engines, the  hybrid-electrical eco-mode system allows one of the two Aneto-1X engines to be paused while in cruise flight. The Racer also aims to demonstrate how its architecture can contribute to lowering its operational acoustic footprint.

Racer has been developed as part of the European Research Clean Sky 2 project, the largest research programme for aviation ever launched in Europe.

With a €4bn budget, the project is developing technologies aimed at reducing CO2, gas emissions and noise levels produced by aircraft, for incorporation into the next generations of aircraft from 2025 onwards.