At this week’s Heli-Expo show in Las Vegas, AgustaWestland introduced an unmanned “technology demonstrator” version of an electric-powered tiltrotor. Far from ready for production, the “Project Zero” aircraft was fabricated and flown in six months by the Italian company’s Advanced Concepts Group.
Though no plans for a manned version were mentioned in the company press release, the demonstrator has what looks like a small cockpit in the forward fuselage. The first flight was flown in secret on a tether in June 2011. The aircraft has since completed untethered hovering flights in a secure area of AgustaWestland’s Cascina Costa facility in Italy.
