New Technologies By UTC

Blog 3
New technology
Erik Weber

As I have stated in my other two blogs, innovation is a key element to success of any person, company, or country.  It is what drives us all forward and without it, without new ideas and out of the box thinking, advancements would stop.  And as I have said before, if you’re not moving forwards, you’re moving backwards, which is never good, unless, you’re Marty McFly. Recent technologies come to surface very often, big and small.  In this blog I will talk about recent technologies by United Technologies Corp. (UTC).

Right off the bat, Carrier, a climate control company owned by UTC, invented one product that makes many of our lives way better.  In 1902, in an attempt to fix a humidity problem Dr. Willis H. Carrier, inventor and founder of Carrier, stumbled upon modern air conditioning.  That’s old news though, one recent invention by UTC is the Sikorsky S-97 Raider.¹ 

The S-97 is a co-axial compound helicopter.  The co-axial stands for two helicopter rotors mounted one above the other, and spinning in the opposite direction.¹  This idea isn’t entirely new, however it does have a lot of benefits.  First off, it allows a helicopter to have a higher payload for the same engine power; a tail rotor typically wastes some available engine power. This is more efficient, which is always a good thing.  A second benefit is a reduction in noise; since most of the loud “slapping” noise is associated with the interaction between the tail rotor and main rotor in conventional helicopters, co-axial helicopters avoid this.   Coaxial helicopters usually have a smaller footprint as well, this is a benefit when space is lacking. 

The main benefit of the new Raider by Sikorsky is how it avoids dis-symmetry of lift.  According to copters.com, dis-symmetry of lift is the difference in lift that exists between the advancing half of the rotor disk and the retreating half. It is caused by the fact that in directional flight the aircraft relative wind is added to the rotational relative wind on the advancing blade, and subtracted on the retreating blade.  Basically, there is more thrust on the forward spinning side of the rotor than on the backwards spinning side.  With coaxial helicopters like the S-97 Raider, dis-symmetry of lift is solved. 

UTC is also a contributor to the new line of Boeing commercial jets.  In fact, UTC has some sort of product on just about everything that flies.  They were just awarded by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to develop a “greener”, advanced nacelle for the CLEEN II Initiative.²  A nacelle is the streamline housing or tank that encompasses the turbo engines which mount to the wings of most commercial jets.  The FAA wants UTC to develop a nacelle that will reduce engine fuel consumption and noise. 

United Technologies Corporation is a fine example of continued innovation in America.  As I have stated before, I believe innovation is in direct relationship with success.   Having creative minds is very important in the advancement of a country. 

Resources:

¹http://www.utc.com/News/Pages/Sikorsky-S-97-Raider-Helicopter-Achieves-Successful-First-Flight.aspx
²http://news.utcaerospacesystems.com/2015-09-08-FAA-Selects-UTC-Aerospace-Systems-to-Develop-        Greener-Advanced-Nacelle-Technologies-for-Its-CLEEN-II-Initiative