Airbus’ new Racer is half-plane, half-copter — and it’s lightning-fast

Business execs and politicians gathered at a helicopter base in France yesterday for the first public unveiling of Airbus’ new Racer aircraft. At first glance, Racer looks like a regular helicopter. Look closer, however, and you’ll notice it has both wings and two forward-facing rotors. This means it can take-off vertically like a helicopter, and fly fast like a plane — real fast. Racer can reach speeds in excess of 400 km/h. That eclipses civilian helicopters, which cruise at around 200 km/h. It’s even faster than military choppers like the Black Hawk (295 km/h) or Chinook (302 km/h).       Racer’s so-called…

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