Elizabeth de la Cruz
Lockheed Martin‘s Sikorsky subsidiary will donate an experimental aircraft that unofficially broke the rotorcraft speed record in 2010 to the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.
Sikorsky designed the X2 Technology Demonstrator in a push to prove that helicopters can double the speed of conventional rotorcraft designs without having to compromise attributes that impact an aircraft’s value, Lockheed said Friday.
“We are honored to have our helicopter join the ranks of the aircraft at the Smithsonian,” said Mark Miller, Sikorsky’s vice president of engineering and technology.
Miller noted that the helicopter met all the objectives established and worked to help the helicopter community’s efforts to advance and reach new levels of technology.
The X2 Technology Demonstrator’s awards include the Collier Trophy in 2010, the 2009 Popular Mechanics breakthrough innovator award, Popular Science’s 2009 “Best of What’s New” award and a recognition from Time magazine as “One of 2009’s Best Inventions.”
