But at speed, the box wing configuration contributes more and more lift, until the Racer is able to slow down its top rotor, and effectively relies mainly on the wing lift for high speed cruise flight ...

Airbus flew its strange helicopter-airplane hybrid called Racer for the first time in Marseille, France on Monday. The aerospace manufacturer categorizes the aircraft as a high-speed compound ...

Airbus Helicopters has flown its high-speed concept copter, which dashes 50% faster than other commercial copters, for the first time. The 249-mph (216-kt, 400-km/h) Racer demonstrator is not only ...

The aviation industry is presently racing to find new and more fuel-efficient ways to keep aircraft flying. We see that most of all happening with fixed-wing aircraft, but helicopters are beginning to ...

MARSEILLE, France—Airbus Helicopters test pilots are eagerly awaiting approval to begin higher-speed flights with the company’s Racer compound rotorcraft demonstrator. Since the first flight of the ...

Racer has been more than a decade in the making with support from the European Union’s Clean Sky 2 aerospace research and technology initiative. Credit: Jerome Deulin/Airbus Helicopters As the first ...