Wednesday, September 2, 2009

DARPA Wants Morphing Helicopter Blades By Yesterday

Smart Blade: Smart blades for better copters. U.S. Air Force

From Popular Science:

Future whirlybirds may change their rotor blades to suit the mission.

Helicopters won't transform into rampaging Decepticons anytime soon, but near-future rotor blades could actively change shape on the fly.

Military lab DARPA has put out a call for rotor blades that could boost payloads by 30 percent and range by 40 percent, as well as reduce sound by 50 percent and vibration by 90 percent compared to the usual fixed rotor blades.

Read more ....

My Comment: The efficiency experts at DARPA are always thinking .... I have to give them credit for that.

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