PIASECKI IMAGE
Piasecki
A well-known name in rotorcraft innovation prepares to do it again.
T
RAILBLAZER. PIONEER. INNOVATOR. Not one of these words exaggerates the impact the Piasecki family has had on the helicopter industry since its beginnings in the late 1930s. Te Essington, Pennsylvania–based company’s history
goes back to the development of the tandem helicopter—the foundation of today’s CH-47 Chinook—and has progressed through more than 25 vertical lift aircraft initiatives, including high-speed compound helicopters, hybrid heavy-lift helicopters, flying cars, and the world’s first fully autonomous man-rated helicopter. Today, Piasecki Aircraft Corp. is pioneering an especially timely
innovation: hydrogen-powered helicopters. With its multifaceted effort to bring the technology to market in the form of light helicopters and electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) vehicles, the company hopes to transform vertical flight once again by addressing some of its biggest constraints: high operating costs, noise, and growing public intolerance of transportation that carries a high carbon footprint.
40 ROTOR SEPTEMBER 2022
and the Hydrogen-Powered Helicopter
By David Hughes
The PA-890 eVTOL Compound Helicopter Several high-profile start-ups have focused on battery-powered eVTOL aircraft, but the low energy density of batteries limits their application to small, short-range vehicles suitable for the urban air mobility market, with mission legs as short as 25 nm. Piasecki, meanwhile, has focused on developing a practical eVTOL aircraft to disrupt the turbine heli- copter market: the PA-890 eVTOL hydrogen fuel cell–powered com- pound helicopter (pictured above). Te PA-890 features:
■ A design mission capability exceeding 200 nm plus IFR reserve ■ A 50% reduction in operating cost per flight hour ■ A significantly reduced acoustic signature ■ Zero direct emissions.
Certifiable under FAA Part 27 standards, the aircraft couples the hover efficiency of a low disk loaded rotor with the forward-flight efficiency of a winged aircraft. Te helicopter’s variable-incidence wing is designed to rotate up to 90 degrees to minimize download for efficient
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