Farnborough Fair

Georgina Hunter-Jones

While the Airbus 380 dominated the high skies, Bell Helicopters was in the lower, sharper limelight

By the time the 2006 Farnborough started, Israel was involved in a war in the Middle East, so perhaps it is no surprise that one of the newest products on show was an Israeli designed flying car, capable of lifting eleven fully armed combat troops (plus one pilot) out of an urban war zone: the X-Hawk.

The X-Hawk is the creation of Urban Aeronautics in combination with Bell Helicopter Textron, and is still in the pre-flying mock-up stage. Bell and Urban say that the technology is Fancraft, and that two technological breakthroughs have formed the basis of Fancraft: adaptable ducts which permit high-speed operations of up to 140 knots and a unique vane control systems (VCS) for lateral control stability and performance against gusting winds.

Preliminary specifications indicate that the X-Hawk will have a length of 26 feet 6 inches, a height of 13 feet 8 inches, and a width of 11 feet and 5 inches. The empty weight will be 3,700 lbs and the max weight 6,700 lbs, which allows carriage of 1,300 lbs of fuel and a payload of 1,700 lbs. Using two CTS800 engines, it will create 2,460 shp, have a...