X-49A “waltzes” as helicopter great, Frank Piasecki, celebrates 88

Piasecki Aircraft Company opened its doors to the media and military guests on 25 October for a special birthday party and flight demonstration of the company’s vectored thrust-ducted propeller (VDTP) compound helicopter demonstrator, shown above, at Boeing’s test facilities at the New Castle County Airport in Wilmington, Delaware. “It’s rare to have the opportunity to honour a man with the work of his imagination,” said John Piasecki, vice-president of the company, regarding his father and company founder, Frank Piasecki, who is wheelchair-bound but attended the demonstration.

Following birthday celebrations for the elder Piasecki, who turned 88 the day before, test pilots and engineers began a 15-minute flight demonstration, cut short by light rain that threatened to damage external test sensors mounted on the aircraft. Aerial manoeuvres included two high-speed fly-bys at 155kt, 2g constant speed 180-degree turns at roughly the same speed, and a nimble hovering demonstration best described as waltzing, with pusher prop wailing like an angry hornet.

The aircraft first flew in June and has reached speeds of 177kt in a “slight dive”. An unmodified Black Hawk has a maximum cruise speed of about 160kt. The X-49A currently has 19 flight test hours and 24 flights, averaging two flights per week primarily to take test data on a variety of trim conditions possible with the controllable rudder, elevators, flaperons and other control devices. The pusher-prop has not been optimized to reduce noise levels. Visitors were asked to wear earplugs during the demonstration.

The inclement weather scuffed what was to be the coup-de-grace of the day – a fly-off between the X-49A and an unmodified Black Hawk. Steven Schellberg, chief test pilot for the program, said the duel would have highlighted the VDTP compound’s ability to maintain high speed in tight turns. The company hopes to achieve speeds of 175-180kts at the conclusion of the first phase of flight testing by year’s end.


Piasecki's X-49A flight test team poses with their aircraft after another successful test flight