MD Helicopters revealed details of two new aircraft in development at HAI Heli-Expo 2016 yesterday, including an evolution of the MD 902 known as the MD 969, and a new military single-engine attack helicopter, currently labeled the MD 6XX.
“The 969 is the next step in the evolution of aircraft,” said MD Helicopters, Inc. (MDHI) chief technology officer Carl Schopfer, during a wide-ranging briefing at the show. “At this point we have defined a half a dozen improvements to the [MD 902] aircraft that we’re going to integrate into the 969.”
These include more hot and high power for the engines, improvements to the NOTAR system, the inclusion of a solid state power distribution system to free up panel space in the cockpit, and some additional fuel capacity, said Schopfer.
There will also be some modification to the cabin to improve the view outside the aircraft, chiefly through new or larger windows.
“One of the most important things is the new autopilot system for the 969,” said Schopfer. “Right now, we’re working with a couple of different suppliers to develop and define what the autopilot exactly will be, but we’ll have a brand new autopilot system. We’ll certify first a three-axis [autopilot] by 2017/first quarter 2018, and we’ll have a fourth axis available, which we don’t have in this system today, available about a year later than that.”
As for the MD 6XX, few solid details were discussed, but Schopfer did say it would be powered by the Rolls-Royce M250-C47E/3, while MDHI hopes to provide at least 400 nautical miles of range with it.
“We really are focusing on what does the next single engine aircraft look like — what does it need to be — to really meet and exceed what’s out there in the marketplace?” he said. “We’re looking at a lot of different technology on that aircraft, not just the cockpit, but also certainly the main rotor blades.”
MDHI CEO Lynn Tilton said the 6XX would incorporate some elements from existing platforms, and hoped to use new materials in the design to keep the aircraft as light and strong as possible. “I’m not saying there’s not going to be nothing new from other aircraft that we love, but it is going to be a brand new aircraft,” she said. “[With] the materials, [MDHI will look to] the type of thing that we’re doing with automotive, where we’re using aluminum, and even plastic framework to build strength to keep things light, keep things lower cost. With the mission, mission equipment is everything, and the lighter the vehicle, and the more fuel and mission equipment that it can hold, the better off you are.”
Tilton said the company was targeting a short development program to get the aircraft ready for first delivery in just under three years. “I need to be ready with a finished aircraft in 2018, because we probably have a customer who is going to expect delivery at that time,” she said, adding that she hoped to have the design finalized by the end of this year to begin testing and certifying in 2017.
The company also discussed development with the MD 902’s upcoming Universal Avionics glass cockpit, with certification of the system set to take place in the fourth quarter of this year, and first deliveries early 2015. The system will also be available as a kit for retrofit for existing MD 902s.
“By the end of the year, we’ll have certified a new, completely glass cockpit for the single engine [product line] also,” said Schopfer. “That will first go in the new 600, but it will also be available for the F model, the G model, the E model — every single [aircraft] that we make will have available the full glass cockpit, which has all the engine parameters and the primary flight display.”
