Tilting the balance in the air

摘要

Residents of Yeovil in Somerset are used to seeing helicopters circling overhead, making test flights from the GKN Westland factory on the outskirts of town. But within two years the Somerset skies could well be graced by a very different machine: the Westland compound helicopter. The compound, now at concept stage, is one of a new breed of advanced, hybrid aircraft that bear little resemblance to the familiar chopper. It will combine the lifting surfaces and propulsion systems of a fixed-wing plane with the vertical take-off abilities of a high-tech rotor system.