The first flight of the second Marenco SKYe SH09 helicopter prototype, P2, took place on February 26, 2016. Marenco Swisshelicopter is developing the new aircraft to have low noise levels through an optimized design for the main blades’ planform and operation with low tip speed, as well as a shrouded tail rotor.
The first phase of test flights for P2 is underway. Initial trials will include hover flights at low speeds and low altitudes, before moving on to hovering flying at moderate speeds outside of ground effect. This will be followed by tests confirming systems behavior and avionics accuracy, flying limited auto-rotations and initial performance and stability trials.
Finally, testing will move on to handling, load survey and exploring the helicopter’s full height velocity curves, to confirm the safe combinations of altitude and airspeed during auto-rotational landings.
The first prototype, P1, began flight testing in 2015.
March 4, 2016
