Doorways of Clear Sky 2 Program RACER Rotorcraft Constructed of Carbon Fiber

The RACER (Fast and Value-Efficient Rotorcraft) combines the velocity of a fixed-wing plane with the vertical benefits of a helicopter. Developed as a challenge of the European Union’s Clear Sky program, the RACER crew additionally targeted on sustainability targets. Plans are for the RACER, with a cruise velocity of greater than 400 km/h, for use for search and rescue and transportation in medical emergencies in addition to for city air mobility. 

“The RACER is a reasonably advanced machine with additional parts. However regardless of all that the goal is to develop an entire rotorcraft, aiming for demonstrating time-critical missions,” Antonello Marino, challenge officer at Clear Sky, defined. “A significant side of the problem is to reconcile the environmental targets — to scale back CO2 by 20%, NOx by 20% and noise by 20 — with out including weight. We have to add wing bins and two lateral rotors to realize the increase in velocity, whereas staying throughout the weight envelope of a standard helicopter. This implies having to combine new techno-bricks, lighter supplies and modern considering.”