Rotor Torque

S-97 Raider makes first flight

Sikorsky’s S-97 Raider rigid coaxial rotor prototype made its first flight from the company’s Development Flight Center at West Palm Beach, Florida on May 22, testing the new design’s airworthiness in the lowspeed flight environment.

The S-97 program’s chief pilot Bill Fell and co-pilot Kevin Bredenbeck flew N971SK for almost an hour, putting the Raider through a series of low-speed manoeuvres with its pusher propeller disconnected, but turning due to friction.