Bell FCX-001

History of Bell FCX-001

Bell Helicopter's vision for the future of rotorcraft includes concepts that emerged through the development of the "FCX-001". This lean product supports qualities such as artificial intelligence, morphing main blades, thrust vectoring tail, advanced fly-by-wire (FbW) and cabin modularity.

The helicopter paves the way for a whole new generation of next-generation vertical flight capabilities and was unveiled at Heli-Expo 2017.

On the FCX-001, the fuselage has a heavy glasshouse-style exterior that provides excellent visibility from both the cockpit and the cabin. Glass panels extend from the nose all the way up, above and below the rear of the cabin, giving pilots and passengers an excellent view of the vehicle.

The cabin itself will be modular and available for different seating configurations (up to 12 passengers) as well as fully loaded with cargo (if required), allowing the design to be fully flexibly adapted to mission needs. The tricycle landing gear is rolled and fixed in flight with the front legs under the "chin" position and the short main legs extending under the rear center mass of the aircraft.

The hybrid propulsion concept is to power a helicopter and combine the advantages and inherent capabilities of a proven turboshaft engine with electric drive. The main engine pair is located at the top of the fuselage as usual, sucking in through the integrated air intake section while exhausting through the rear vents. Part of this arrangement is a specially designed torque-eliminating "anti-torque" system managed by a unique ventilated thrust vectoring system along the rear wing.

This eliminates the need for traditional tail rotor assemblies, reducing complexity and operating noise. The embedded anti-torque system means a more streamlined tail boom than modern helicopter designs and reduces the tail protrusion to only a small area of ??vertical fins.

The main rotor is a flat mast design with an array of five blades rotating in a clockwise direction. What Bell calls "morphing rotor blades" will allow the FCX-001 to "rearrange" its main blades during flight to better suit specific flight conditions, such as cruising, diving and hovering.

In the existing concept work, the blades have crank tips.

Plans to reduce the pilot to one using the virtual cockpit. This eliminates the traditional dashboard and the amount of space such components take up in the cockpit.

In its place is a lightweight helmet with a simplified hands-on control scheme, as the hands-on experience is envisioned, with the pilot acting more as a "flight steward", while advanced autonomous AI and digital processing systems control directly from point A to point B. Three independent flight control computers are used for redundancy and maximum safety. In concept work, the pilot is dressed simply and lightly, with a convenient touch control scheme.

NOTE: The performance figures and dimensions given on this page are estimates based on the author's website. Changes to this entry will be made as new information allows.

Specification

Foundation

Year of Service

2030

Origins

United States

Status

Under development

Program is running.

Crew

1

Production

0

Manufacturer

Bell Helicopter - USA

Carrier

US (probably)

Roles

Special Mission: MEDEVAC

Extraction of wounded combat or civilian elements using specialized shipboard equipment and available internal volume or external carrying capacity.

Special Mission: Search and Rescue (SAR)

Ability to locate and evacuate personnel from potentially hazardous or dangerous areas, such as downed pilots at sea.

Transportation

General transport function for moving supplies/cargo or people (including casualties and VIPs) out of range.

Commercial Aviation

Used in roles serving the commercial aviation market, moving passengers and cargo over long distances.

VIP service

Used in the VIP (Very Important Person) passenger role, usually with above-average amenities and luxury as standard.

X-Plane (development, prototype, tech demo)

Aircraft designed for prototyping, technology demonstration, or research/data collection.

Notable Features

Vertical Takeoff/Landing (VTOL)

The

series has the tactical capability of vertical take-off and/or landing, a characteristic usually associated with helicopters.

Radar capability

Houses may house (via specialized variants) radars for searching, tracking, and attacking enemy elements.

Multi-engine

Include two or more engines to improve survivability and/or performance.

Mixing Engine

Use two or more types of propulsion systems to achieve desired performance/flying maneuvers.

Targeted push

The engine exhaust is designed to direct thrust at a specific angle for increased agility.

High-speed performance

Can accelerate to higher speeds than the average aircraft at the time.

High performance

The ability to fly and operate at higher altitudes than the average aircraft of the day.

Extended range performance

Ability to travel long distances using on-board fuel supplies.

Super performance

The design covers the three key performance categories of speed, altitude and range.

Operation Lakes

Able to operate over the ocean and survive certain harsh marine environments.

Closed crew room

There are partially or fully enclosed crew work areas.

Unmanned operation

The design features the ability to fly without a pilot, with actions controlled by onboard programming and/or ground operators.

Autonomous operation

The design features autonomous flight operations through artificial intelligence or onboard pre-programming.

Dimensions and Weight

Length

37.7 feet

(11.50m)

Width/span

36. 1 ft

(11.00m)

Height

11.5 feet

(3.50m)

Cured weight

5,842 lbs

(2,650 kg)

MTOW

6,614 lbs

(3,000 kg)

Wgt Difference

+772 lbs

(+350 kg)

Performance

Installed:

2 x turboshaft engines of unknown make, model and power output with electric propulsion powering the five-blade main rotor assembly.

Maximum speed

249 km/h

(400 km/h | 216 knots)

Cruising speed

221 km/h

(355 km/h | 192 knots)

Maximum speed difference

+28 km/h

(+45 km/h | 24 knots)

Maximum

19,685 feet

(6,000 m | 4 km)

Area

621 km

(1,000 km | 1,852 nautical miles)

rate of climb

2,300 ft/min

(701 m/min)

Range (MPH) Subsonic: <614mph | Transonic: 614-921 | Supersonic: 921-3836 | Hypersonic: 3836-7673 | Hypersonic: 7673-19180 | Reentry: > 19030

Armor

None.