THE ROTARY WING INDUSTRY--2001 A.D.

The future of the rotary wing industry is discussed with respect to the industry's past, the probable environment, the technological advancements and their significance. It is noted that the growth of the industry was spurred with the introduction of air-mobile concepts by the military during the early 1960's. Civil use of rotorcraft increased as military aircraft were adapted for commerical application. As regulatory agencies have become more familiar with rotorcraft and their operation, more stringent and meaningful regulations emerged. It is noted that low vibration of modern helicopters is attributed to improved blade and fuselge tuning and various passive and active isolation systems. Within technology itself there are four areas that the past has shown to be most important in advancing rotorcraft development: materials, power plants, aerodynamic efficiency and configurations. Two of the keys to success in the future rotorcraft industry. That are described, are: Increased safety, and lower cost-of-ownership. It is projected that by the next century, the number of major companies in the rotorcraft industry will be reduced to at least half; the number of units sold will increase more than doubling a linear projection based on the past market; the military will continue to provide scarce development funding for advanced technology efforts; new rotorcraft will have about the same empyt-to-gross mass ratio as today's machines, but the empty mass will include increased safety features and the aircraft will be designed to more stringent environmental requirements; and, all rotorcraft will be able to fly in, at least, light icing conditions.