New Advances in Helicopter/ Drone

choi

Aerospace | Whirlybirds Are Go. Helicopters of future will fly in new ways. Pilot will be optional. Economist, Aug 25, 2018.

Quote:

"The ability to take off and land vertically, and to hover, have made helicopters indispensable to the military since their first mass deployment by America in Vietnam, where the ubiquitous UH-1 'Huey' led to that conflict becoming known as 'the helicopter war.' Civilian roles are just as vital [rescue, as an ambulance and carrying people where there are no runways].  The helicopter [are being electrified] with rotors powered by electric motors, they are mechanically more straightforward. Drones [pilotless, that is] are also quieter, cheaper and easier to fly because they operate largely autonomously, and can be controlled by someone on the ground and who does not need a pilot's license. Unsurprisingly, drones are already taking work away from helicopters, in military tasks * * * and in civilian ones* * * The differences between helicopters and drones are vanishing. [the drawbacks of an electric helicopter or drone:] Batteries are currently unable to provide electric rotorcraft with extended flight tims or the ability to carry heavy loads.

"A number of new ideas for future helicopters are whirring. Among them are the 'X-2' [X denotes 'experimental'] technology, which is being developed by Sikorsky, a Connecticut-based firm founded by Igor Sikorsky, who produced the first practical helicopter  in 1939. The V-280 Valor, which is a striking 'tilt-rotor' design, is being championed by Bell, the Texas-based producer of the old Huey.Both companies aim to overcome one of the helicopter's inherent shortcoming: a limited top speed. * * *

"Bell's V-280 tilt-rotor can nip along 520kph (280 knots, hence the name)and has a range of almost 1,500km, even when weighed down by four crew and 14 fully-kitted combat troops.  An older and bigger tilt-rotor called the V-22 Osprey is produced by Bell in partnership with Boeing. * * * It is used by US Marines. The V-22, however, tilts both its rotors and engines pplural fom because a V-22 has a pair of rotors and engines, just like a V-280]. The V-280 simplifies this design and reduces the amount of weight that has to be roby having the engines remain in place and tilting only the driveshafts and rotors.

Note:
(a) go (adj; see go as a verb): "functioning properly : being in good and ready condition  <declared all systems go>"
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/go
(b) The Economist a couple of years ago has a similar article. This article is deemed an update.

(c) Bell UH-1 Iroquois (in service 1959- ; The Iroquois was originally designated HU-1, hence the Huey nickname)  en.wikipedia.org.
(i) HU-1 stands for "Helicopter, Utility."
(ii) UH-1 Iroquois 'Huey' Helicopter. US Army War College, undated
https://ahec.armywarcollege.edu/trail/Huey/index.cfm
("Nicknamed the 'Huey' [hence meaningless] after the phonetic sound of its original designation, HU-1, the UH-1 'Iroquois' [an Indian confederacy whose name is of obscure origin] helicopter was the work horse of the Army during the Vietnam War. The helicopter as a military technology evolved during World War II, but took time to develop to meet the Army's high hopes for its effectiveness in battle. By the Korean War, early helicopter models such as the ubiquitous OH-13 'Sioux' and the USAF H-19 served as resupply and medical evacuation transports. The battle experience of these early craft provided lessons learned which aided the development of the UH-1")

The Army War College is located at barrack in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, which is 15-mile air distance west-southwest of Harrisburg (state capital).
(iii) huey25 (author name), UH-1H Iroquois 'Huey' Helicopter. Concord, Calif: Vietnam Helicopter Museum, undated
www.vietnamhelicopters.org/uh-1h-huey/
("used for troop carrying. It is not fitted with external weapons to save weight and is only armed with the M60s used by the door gunners. These aircraft operated in the hostile environment of Vietnam for almost a decade")
(A) M60 machine gun
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M60_machine_gun
(B) Therefore its designation UH-1 as a utility helicopter as opposed to an attack helicopter (AH).

(d)
(i) Sikorsky
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikorsky
(name origin)
(ii) Igor Sikorsky
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Igor_Sikorsky
(1889 – 1972; born in present-day Kiev, Ukraine); immigrated to US in 1919 (age 30); founded the Sikorsky Aircraft Corp in 1923 [in Long Island, New York]; moved to Stratford, Connecticut [and that year became part of what is known as United Technologies Corp (UTC) and remains there (that city and affiliation) ](

(e) Founded by Lawrence Dale Bell in 1935, the Fort Worth, Texas-based Bell was purchased in 1960 by, and is a division of, Textron (a conglomerate; founded by Royal Little [name of a Massachusetts man] in 1923 as the Special Yarns Company; "was renamed Textron: 'Tex" for "textiles,' and 'tron' from synthetics such as 'Lustron' " / is now headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island).  en.wikipedia.org for Textron.
(f) V-280 in the third quotation:
(i) nip (vi): "to move briskly, nimbly, or quickly"  (As transitive verb, it has a different meaning.)
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nip
(ii) V-280 is also experimental, whose first flight was on Dec 18, 2017.