Sikorsky and AHS International to Offer New “Hover for a Day” Challenge with $50K Prize

Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin Company, (NYSE:LMT) and the American Helicopter Society (AHS) International today announced the Sikorsky-AHS “Hover for a Day” Challenge, a new competition to demonstrate a game-changing level of efficiency in rotorcraft with a $50,000 prize at stake.

Sikorsky Innovations, the technology development team within Sikorsky’s Engineering & Technology group, is working with members of AHS International to lead the competition coordination. Sikorsky is a world leader in helicopter design, manufacture and service.

“On behalf of our more than 4,000 engineers across the world, I am proud to announce this extremely thought-provoking challenge,” said Mark Miller, Sikorsky vice president of Engineering & Technology. “Spread the word: With this new competition, we are challenging aviation engineers to stretch their thinking with regard to how a helicopter performs in what they do best – hover. This Challenge is to hover for 24 hours, while still demonstrating other helicopter key attributes, as well as new levels of efficiency and reliability. We hope to keep the spirit of Igor Sikorsky alive, the spirit that tackled many seemingly impossible tasks and created our industry as a result.”

“We think it’s going to take groundbreaking changes in efficiency of rotor, engine and energy storage and delivery in order to hover continuously for a full day,” Chris Van Buiten, vice president of Sikorsky Innovations, added. “These efforts may produce new technologies, in terms of airfoils, rotor structures, transmission and drive, engine and energy storage. It will be exciting to see the inventive thinking that this Challenge will generate.”

In a previous challenge, AHS and Sikorsky awarded a $250,000 prize for the AHS Igor I. Sikorsky Human Powered Helicopter Competition, which endured 33 years to prove what many suggested was impossible: to create a helicopter using only human-generated power that could rise three meters (9.8 feet) and hover over a 10-meter-by-10-meter (32.8 ft) box for one minute.

The winner of that competition was AeroVelo Inc., consisting of a team of students from the University of Toronto and led by UT graduate engineers. AeroVelo flew its “Atlas” vehicle above three meters and hovered for approximately 64 seconds, capturing the prize for the decades-long competition in June 2013.

“Just like the human powered helicopter competition, the statement is simple, but the solution may be technically very complex. We hope the AHS ‘Hover for a Day’ Challenge sparks the next generation of aviation engineers with great ideas to try to do something that may be impossible,” said Mike Hirschberg, executive director of AHS International.

Specific details on how to enter the Challenge – and detailed rules – will be announced on June 16, 2016, on the AHS International website www.vtol.org/challenge, Hirschberg said.


 

About Lockheed Martin: Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 125,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services.

About AHS International: Headquartered in Fairfax, Va., AHS is the world's premier professional vertical flight technical society. The non-profit brings together industry, academia and governments to tackle the toughest challenges in vertical flight. Founded in 1943 as the American Helicopter Society, AHS International provides global leadership for scientific, technical, educational and legislative initiatives that advance the state of the art of vertical flight.

ILA 2016: MBDA Deutschland showcases new laser-based system to counter unmanned aircraft

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The 'laser effector' is a 360-degree defensive solution that can be integrated on both land and sea platforms using standard interfaces. Although billed primarily as a counter-UAV (C-UAV) solution, it can also be used against rockets and mortar shells

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLZEpy6Gf-k.

Sikorsky commercial helo takes autonomous flight
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Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company, has now begun Phase 2 work on DARPA'a ALIAS program under a $9.8 million award modification which focuses on continued maturation of the initial ALIAS system with additional flight tests, enhancements to the ...
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Sikorsky Successfully Completes DARPA ALIAS Phase 1 Competition with Autonomous Flight (PR)

STRATFORD, Connecticut – May 24, 2016 Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) Company, has successfully demonstrated a 30-mile autonomous flight using a Sikorsky S-76® commercial helicopter to complete Phase 1 of an $8 million award from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)’s Aircrew Labor In-Cockpit Automation System (ALIAS) program.

Sikorsky’s ALIAS system directed the rotorcraft flight demonstration from Sikorsky’s Stratford, Connecticut, facility to Robertson Airport in Plainville, Connecticut, utilizing autonomous technology capabilities.

This flight highlighted the ability for an operator to plan and execute every phase of an autonomous mission with a tablet device. During the demonstration, a ground station crew located at the flight initiation field monitored the progress of the ALIAS-enabled Sikorsky Autonomy Research Aircraft (SARA), an S-76® commercial helicopter.

The objective of DARPA’s ALIAS program is to develop and insert new levels of automation into existing military and commercial aircraft to enable those aircraft to operate with reduced onboard crew. ALIAS seeks to leverage advances in autonomy that reduce pilot workload, augment mission performance, and improve aircraft safety and reliability.

Sikorsky utilized its Matrix Technology™ introduced in 2013 to develop, test and field hardware and software systems that significantly improve optionally piloted and piloted vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft. Sikorsky has installed MATRIX on both SARA and a BLACK HAWK helicopter.

“With the advances we’ve made, the capability for safe, unobtrusive optionally piloted flight is here,” said Mark Miller, Vice President of Engineering & Technology at Sikorsky. “ALIAS is expanding the role of optionally piloted helicopters for early entry into established aircraft programs. It has the capability of not only reducing aircrew size, but also changing the type and length of training required for safe operation.”

With work on ALIAS Phase 1 complete, Sikorsky has begun Phase 2 of the program. DARPA awarded Sikorsky a $9.8 million modification for the competition’s second phase, which focuses on continued maturation of the initial ALIAS system with additional flight tests, enhancements to the human interface and transition to additional aircraft to demonstrate ALIAS portability.


“The current environment limits the creation of new, optionally piloted platforms. What Sikorsky and DARPA are demonstrating is the successful and affordable integration of advanced technology onto existing legacy aircraft to not only set the stage for autonomous operations down the road, but also to immediately improve aircraft performance, reduce maintenance costs, and increase crew and passenger safety,” said Chris Van Buiten, Vice President of Sikorsky Innovations, the technology research group for the Engineering & Technology organization.

“We are delighted to be working with DARPA on this transformational program,” Van Buiten added. About Lockheed Martin: Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 125,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services.

Embraer Shuts Down China Factory as Private-Jet Orders Run Out - Bloomberg [feedly]

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The Brazilian planemaker and its Chinese joint-venture partners will phase out the plant in Harbin, China, that produced ERJ 145 regional jets and Legacy 650 business aircraft, according to a statement Wednesday on Embraer's website. The last delivery ...

UK developed anti UAV system gets US airport trial - New Electronics [feedly]

UK developed anti UAV system gets US airport trial
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Looking to address the issue, the FAA has instigated the Pathfinder Programme to evaluate technologies that can be used to detect and identify unauthorised UAV or drone flights near airports. As part of this programme, the FAA has selected the Anti UAV ...
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US Funded Jordan Border Enters Final Phase | Russia Developing Own Rail Gun Tech Battlefield Meteorite | Airbus A400M Problems Home Grown
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MQ-9 Reaper Big Wing sets 10 h flight endurance record [feedly]

MQ-9 Reaper Big Wing sets Predator flight endurance record
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The latest version of General Atomics' unmanned Predator drone has set a new endurance record for the aircraft. In a 10-hour improvement over the previous Predator, the company reported its next-generation Predator B/MQ-9 Reaper Big Wing aircraft flew for over 37 hours non-stop while carrying out a simulated reconnaissance mission over California.

.. Continue Reading MQ-9 Reaper Big Wing sets Predator flight endurance record

Boeing cutting tech support jobs

http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/morning_call/2016/05/boeing-cutting-tech-support-jobs.html




Boeing Co. is laying off tech support workers as part of its ongoing effort to cut costs. The company said Wednesday that it was reducing the size of its tech support unit across the company, Reuters reports. Boeing spokeswoman Lauren McFarland told the news service that the cuts reflect work that is being reduced, not work that 'is being shifted or outsourced

Boeing may be slashing jobs, but there will still be high demand for aerospace workers in Puget Sound area

http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/blog/techflash/2016/05/boeing-may-be-slashing-jobs-but-there-will-still.html

Boeing may be reducing aerospace jobs during the next decade, but the Puget Sound region can still expect the number of new aerospace hires to increase. Many Boeing workers are ready to retire, and Boeing and other aerospace manufacturers will need to hire workers to fill vacated positions and find workers who understand digital manufacturing, a new report shows.

Moody’s thinks Bombardier has finally crashed the Boeing, Airbus party

http://business.financialpost.com/news/transportation/bombardier-incs-delta-sale-signals-beginning-of-the-end-of-boeing-airbus-duopoly-moodys

“It will take a good bit more time to fully develop, but the beginning of the end of the long-running Boeing/Airbus duopoly is upon us and the competitive dynamic is ratcheting up another notch,” Moody’s senior vice-president Russell Solomon said in a report published Tuesday.

Video: 3D-Printed Ceramics | PopMech

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