Airshow China 2012: Avicopter Displays Concept Rotorcraft

Chinese helicopter manufacturer Avicopter gave a glimpse into its level of ambition this week with the unveiling of three high-speed rotorcraft designs at Airshow China.

Alongside its more established product family, Avicopter showcased models of the new designs, which each have elements in common with similar concepts under development in the US.

The Avant-Courier 1 features a coaxial main rotor configuration with a tricycle landing gear arrangement, and appears to be a single engine design.

Two versions were evident – the model on display (pictured) featured side-mounted propellers for thrust while information boards showed a version with a rear-mounted propeller in a similar configuration to the S-97 Raider that Sikorsky is developing for the US Army’s Armed Aerial Scout requirement as well as the later Future Vertical Lift project.

Like that design, the Avant-Courier 1 is designed to transition into high-speed by moving power from the coaxial main rotors to the thrust propellers.

The Platypus high-speed twin-engined aircraft also bears more than a passing similarity to a Western design, in this case the DiscRotor compound helicopter under development by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. 

The Platypus also features an aft-swept wing as well as a mid-fuselage disc with extendable rotor blades, enabling the aircraft to take-off and land like a helicopter. Transition from helicopter flight to full fixed-wing flight is achieved by fully retracting the blades within the disc.

The Bateleur, meanwhile, is perhaps the most radical of the three designs and features a transverse rotor layout with the two pairs of rigid main rotor blades mount symmetrically on each side, rotating in reserve to counter torque. Mounted at the rear of each engine nacelle is a pusher propeller to provide thrust.

Avicopter also displayed models of its current product family, from the AC310 ultralight to the A313 13-ton helicopter.

During the airshow the company revealed that the AC311 light helicopter was granted type certification by the CAAC in June.

The 2-ton single turbine helicopter is powered by one Honeywell LTS101-700D-2 engine, giving the aircraft a maximum take-off weight of 2200kg and a cruise speed of 241km/h. The aircraft can also be powered by a licence-produced Turbomeca Arriel 2B1A (WZ8D) engine.

It was also confirmed that Avicopter has delivered the initial AC301 (Z-11) to the China Marine Surveillance Corps in September while the first AC301 was shipped to Argentina in July.