Hot new helicopter/rotorcraft news

[phrogdriver]

Just thinking about this is a sandy/dusty operational environment.
Electric motors tend not do well with long and repeated exposure to sand/dust.
And blade erosion on a smaller blade compared to a larger blade.
What happens with total electrical failure?
Just questioning because I had never seen this configuration before.

Dude, I didn’t build it. I do see the potential, though.

If each blade is smaller, replacing them is easier, and any given one is less important. A permanent magnet generator on the transmission would be very unlikely to fail. It’s not like running it off a battery.

I think there’s also some potential to reduce the chance of LTE—you could choose the “focus of effort” to be the rotor with the smoothest air.

Cool idea. I don’t think we’ll ever see exactly that thing, but the spinoffs will be used somewhere else.

 

[FlyNavy03]

Still seems hard buy, IMHO. We will need to understand what those ‘quad rotor TR’ things can make things better for us. 4 x individual systems adds a lot of complications.

It's a proof of concept. I don't think that Bell has any intention of doing a large-scale release of that.

 

[mmx1]

You have to put trust in trons instead of metal and oil, and some redundant power system

https://www.aerospacetestinginternational.com/features/testing-bells-electric-rotor-system

But this seems really appealing:

While examining different approaches for tip speed and blade pitch, Bell’s engineers also looked at the EDAT system’s electrical make-up. The EDAT’s design meant having to change the speed of each fan quickly to control thrust – the bigger the fan, the more rotation and the more difficult it becomes to change speed quickly.

By designing smaller fans and more of them, it becomes easier to change speed and offer more reliability. In a conventional tail rotor system, each blade changes position dynamically, based on the pilot’s control and changes to the pitch of the blades or rotation of the rotor system in flight. In contrast, Bell’s EDAT system’s fans are rigidly mounted to the rotor output shaft.

No gearbox or pitch links, rigidly mounted fans. Some amount of redundancy.

 

[FlyNavy03]

The 429 has been a disappointment since its inception. Because of the way they certificated it, it often has a lower useful load than a 407...

Yeah. It's certified for 7,000 lbs by the FAA, but 7,500 lbs by pretty much the rest of the world. That's been a pretty big source of frustration.

 

[Griz882]

Fun fact I guess I can share since I no longer work for Bell: Apparently there's a rumored Bell 529. I have no idea what it is because literally the only time I ever heard anything about it was during meetings when they were telling us not to talk about the 529.

The first rule of the Bell 529 Club…Don’t talk about the Bell 529 Club.

 

[FlyNavy03]

The first rule of the Bell 529 Club…Don’t talk about the Bell 529 Club.

Haha. As far as I know, that's the only rule. Seriously. I didn't know the 529 was a thing until they announced in a meeting that, "We do not talk about the 529." That happened in a couple of meetings and is literally the only time I ever heard "529".

 

[Randy Daytona]

Dude, I didn’t build it. I do see the potential, though.

If each blade is smaller, replacing them is easier, and any given one is less important. A permanent magnet generator on the transmission would be very unlikely to fail. It’s not like running it off a battery.

I think there’s also some potential to reduce the chance of LTE—you could choose the “focus of effort” to be the rotor with the smoothest air.

Cool idea. I don’t think we’ll ever see exactly that thing, but the spinoffs will be used somewhere else.

I read about that tail rotor setup a few years ago and wondered what happened to it. I really like the idea of multiple electric fans in the back, no tail rotor driveshaft, no tail rotor (or intermediate) gearbox. Would be curious to see the electric power setup - generator attached to the engine or perhaps to the transmission?

 

[FlyNavy03]

I read about that tail rotor setup a few years ago and wondered what happened to it. I really like the idea of multiple electric fans in the back, no tail rotor driveshaft, no tail rotor (or intermediate) gearbox. Would be curious to see the electric power setup - generator attached to the engine or perhaps to the transmission?

I never saw the exact specs, but they would almost have to be on a generator attached to the transmission. It would really suck to lose power to your tail rotor during an engine failure. Unless they have a battery that's capable of running them, but that seems like a lot of power.