Sikorsky Successfully Flies Rotor Blown Wing UAS in Helicopter and Airplane Mode

> “New control laws were required for this transition maneuver to work seamlessly and efficiently.”

Coooool.

I just saw one of the first tiltwing VTOL prototype planes the other day from the early/mid 60s. It seems it didn’t get any commercial takers as it was too new/untested.

A Canadair CL-84 “Dynavert” is on display at the Canada Aviation and Space Museum in Ottawa.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadair_CL-84_Dynavert

https://ingenium.ca/aviation/en/collection-highlight/canadai...

The Coanda effect is one of my favorite little corners of physics. Very happy to see a Blown Wing design operational!

What makes this different or better from something like the osprey?

It's not a tiltrotor, it's a tailsitter, like many drones. "Rotor blown" part means that in any mode except for the level flight the drag is reduced by the rotor wash, making it more efficient in VTOL.

It doesn't use propellers or rotors like a typical flying machine. It uses a blower to blow air over the entire leading edge of the wing (hence the name "blown wing") instead.