Thrilled to be an aero engineer

[technolope]

Two aero projects that I just recently became aware of make me thrilled to be an aero engineer.

Sikorsky X2 helicopter: a co-axial, counter-rotating blade design with a pusher propeller in the back. This design (and accompanying technologies) improves the speed that helicopters can fly, and will probably make them safer as well. Plus, it's

Comments

[mcniadh]

The X2 is a fantastic design. The lift remains balanced at high forward speeds, you can get lots of lift out of a fairly small rotor disc area for clearance, as well as delaying tip shock. The only drawback I can think of is the complexity of the main rotor hubs.