This is officially the fastest helicopter in the world: the Westland Lynx. A demonstrator designed by Britain’s Westland Helicopters (now part of the Leonardo Group) in the early 1970s and jointly produced with Aerospatiale. At the controls of his flying machine on 11th August 1986, John Trevor Eggington reached a speed of 249 mph (400 km/h).
Since then, others have flown faster. For example, the X3 high-speed demonstrator from Airbus Helicopters (Eurocopter at the time) attained 293 mph (472 km/h) in 2013.
However, this record has not been approved by the International Aeronautical Federation (FAI) and is likely to be smashed at the end of the year, when Bell Helicopter starts flight tests for its V-280 Valor. According to the American manufacturer, its machine will fly at over 320 mph (520 km/h). Watch this space.
Robert
Posté the 02/02/2017 8:17 pm
The Bell 533 was referred to as the High Performance Helicopter (HPH) by the Army, and reached a top speed of 274.6 knots (508.6 km/h; 316.0 mph) in 1969. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_533
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JH
Posté the 02/02/2017 8:23 pm
The V-280 is not a helicopter. You omitted the Sikorsky X2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikorsky_X2
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aeronewstv
Posté the 02/05/2017 10:34 am
Thanks for your comment. If the V-280 is not a helicopter, what is it then ?
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Heli1
Posté the 02/05/2017 12:13 pm
The V280 is a tiltrotor and the Bell533, Sikorsky X2 and EurocopterX3 are all compound helicopters which derive thrust from add on airscrews or turbojets.
The Lynx power was driven wholly through the rotor system which is why it still holds the official record. Today it is on display in The Helicopter Museum in the UK.
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