Helis, January 31, 2023 - The Airbus DisruptiveLab which was first unveiled last month completed its first flight at the Marignane facility.
DisruptiveLab is part of the French Council for Civil Aviation Research Conseil (CORAC)’s roadmap and has been partly financed by the French Civil Aviation Authority (DGAC) in the frame of the French Stimulus plan, which is part of the European Plan, Next Generation EU, and the France 2030 plan.
The demonstrator will evaluate a new aerodynamic architecture intended to reduce fuel consumption, as well as pursuing the implementation of hybridisation with a fully parallel hybrid propulsion system that enables the battery to be recharged in-flight.
Airbus has set out to prove that a 50% reduction in CO2 emissions could be possible thanks to a combination of a new vehicle architecture that optimises drag wherever it can and a purpose-built hybrid propulsion system using rechargeable batteries
This first flight marks the start of a flight test campaign that aims to mature these new technologies for a reduced carbon footprint
DisruptiveLab features redesigned rotor head, an aerodynamically improved composite and aluminium fuselage, a slimline tail boom designed around a maintenance-free fully enclosed transmission, and a smaller and lighter Fenestron shrouded tail rotor