The Airframe ITD aims at re-thinking and developing the technologies as building blocks and the “solution space” on the level of the entire or holistic aircraft: pushing aerodynamics across new frontiers, combining and integrating new materials and structural techniques – and integrating innovative new controls and propulsion architectures with the airframe; and optimizing this against the challenges of weight, cost, life-cycle impact and durability.

The challenge in rotorcraft design is always to improve payload-lifting capability, reduce fuel burn and increase the vehicle's range – the traditional objectives in aeronautical design. The Fast Rotorcraft IADP of Clean Sky 2 consists of two flight demonstrators, the Next Generation Civil TiltRotor (NGCTR) [leader: Leonardo Helicopters] and the RACER compound helicopter [leader: Airbus Helicopters]. These two fast rotorcraft concepts aim to deliver superior vehicle productivity and performance, and through this economic advantage to users. NGCTR aims to design, build and fly an innovative next generation civil tiltrotor technology demonstrator. The configuration will go beyond current architectures of this type of aircraft and will involve tilting proprotors mounted in fixed nacelles at the tips of the wing. The wing will have a fixed inboard portion and a tilting outboard portion to minimize rotor downwash impingement in hover and increase efficiency. Demonstration activities will aim at validating the technologies/systems and operational concepts. The RACER (formerly LifeRCraft) aims at developing and flight-testing in 2020-2023 a full scale flightworthy demonstrator, which embodies the new European compound rotorcraft architecture. This architecture combines a lifting rotor with two lateral rotors at the tips of box-wings, in pusher configuration. This proposal presents the work plan 2020-2021 toward the achievement of the FRC IADP final objectives.

The challenge in rotorcraft design is always to improve payload-lifting capability, reduce fuel burn and increase the vehicle's range – the traditional objectives in aeronautical design.

The Airframe ITD aims at re-thinking and developing the technologies as building blocks and the “solution space” on the level of the entire or holistic aircraft: pushing aerodynamics across new frontiers, combining and integrating new materials and structural techniques – and integrating innovative new controls and propulsion architectures with the airframe; and optimizing this against the challenges of weight, cost, life-cycle impact and durability.