The aim of the LATTE project is development in the field of composite parts, what is planned to be realized by designing and manufacturing flightworthy main rotor head fairings for the RACER aircraft.
Development in the field of rotorcraft and parallel improvement of a fixed-wing aircrafts, resulted in new concepts, that were designed to combine airplane and rotorcraft capabilities, giving birth to a VTOL aircrafts that will reach speeds greater than helicopters and that will be able to hover. In the recent years Eurocopter (now Airbus Helicopters) built and tested the X3 compound rotorcraft. Although the X3 has improved the helicopter performance it makes no provision for transport productivity. High fuel consumption, limited payload-range, high noise level and low technology maturity do not allow to enter the commercial market and fill the mobility gap between turboprop and helicopter aircraft. However modern compound rotorcraft like RACER, better than the currently used helicopters, in terms of fuel consumption, impact on environment, cost and performance shall fulfil this expectations. Listed above features are a result of combination of individual components' features of the rotorcraft, like the main rotor fairing, which design and manufacture is the aim of the LATTE Project.
Realisation of the project will include searching for cutting-edge solutions in aviation engineering field, allowing to:
• manufacture innovative Main Rotor Head Fairing of the LifeRCraft demonstrator;
• find the best solution especially in terms of:
- weight of the final product;
- cost of the manufacturing process;
- high shape fidelity with respect to the loft lines provided by the Topic Manager;
- optimization of drag.
Final outcome of the project is delivered rotor hub cowlings that has meet all requirements stated for rotating components. Biggest influence in final design result was fatigue requirements, that fulfillment was challenging, especially in reference to metallic parts and was successfully achieved. Assembly test of all produced component was done to demonstrate geometrical constrains compatibility. Delivery of parts done with all necessary documents to obtain permit to fly by RACER demonstrator.
