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HELICOPTER NOW WITH WINGS!


At the recent Paris Air Show, Airbus was showing off its new Racer concept helicopter, which has both a main rotor and a pair of propellersporting wings. Racer (an acronym for ‘RApid
“Destroy all mosquitoes!”
and Cost-Effective Rotorcraft’) would take off and land vertically, just like a normal helicopter, but would boast a top speed of 400km/h (250mph), which is nippier than traditional choppers. If you’re getting a sense of déjà vu here, that’s because the Racer is essentially an updated take on the X3 concept that Eurocopter (now Airbus) took to the Paris Air Show in 2011. The craft is designed for
the operation of high-speed passenger services, particularly between urban centres (such as London and Berlin) where its vertical takeoff and landing capabilities eliminate the need to travel to and from airports. But it could also find a role in military or search-and-rescue operations. Airbus hopes to have a commercial craft based on the Racer concept available by 2020.
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