Originally Posted by
Commando Cody
I read somewhere that Sikorsky has implied that the S-97 will not achieve its design speed. Can anyone confirm?
Seems Sikorsky's own demonstration flights have implied that. After reaching barely over 200 kt in Sept 2018, they subsequently have flown progressively slower in their big-to-do demo flights - only reaching 190 kt in July 2019 and then 180 kt in Feb 2020. And of course, nothing since then at all.
So in the 2 years since the maximum achievement of 20% below design speed, they have regressed a further 10% in demonstrated performance.
Plus, don't forget even Sikorsky has been stating that Raider-X will be slower then S-97.