The rear fuselage of the Racer demonstrator ready for delivery

The rear fuselage of the Racer high-speed demonstrator, designed and produced by Spanish teams, is now ready for transfer to the Airbus Helicopters plant in southern France, where the final assembly is taking place. The flight campaign is scheduled for next year.

Halfway between helicopter and airplane, the Racer is a high-speed demonstrator, developed by Airbus Helicopters within the framework of the Clean Sky 2 European research program, with the participation of 40 partners in 13 European countries. Airbus Helicopters in Spain, with the support of the OUTCOME consortium led by Aernnova, has been responsible for the rear fuselage of the prototype, including concept design, structural design, parts manufacturing and assembly.

With an innovative design that reinforces the aerodynamic efficiency of the demonstrator and contributes to a 10% reduction in fuel in hovering flight, the rear fuselage of the Racer is a piece of great complexity due to its dimensions and asymmetric cross section, patented by Airbus Helicopters. The revolutionary design of the empennage – with a doubly tilted H shape to optimise energy consumption – has in turn required the introduction of innovative manufacturing processes, such as RTM (Resin transfer molding), being the largest structure in RTM technology ever, has flown in an Airbus helicopter.

Optimised for a cruising speed of 400 km / h, the Racer's ambition is to demonstrate the advantage of high speed for a wide variety of missions such as emergency medical transport and search and rescue operations among others. Including a good number of innovations, the Racer also seeks to contribute to a decrease in the environmental footprint in aviation.