Airbus Helicopters X3: Catch it if You Can

Follow the X3 team from the beginning to the speed record!

The X3 hybrid helicopter has opened the frontiers of aviation by attaining a speed milestone of 255 knots (472 km/hr) in level flight on June 7. Several days before this accomplishment, the X3 reached a speed of 263 knots (487 km/hr) during a descent. With these two successes, the X3 surpasses the unofficial speed record for a helicopter.

Airbus Helicopters achieved the historic 255-knot speed milestone with the X3 flying at an altitude of around 10,000 feet during a 40 minute test flight over southern France near Istres. It marks the latest in a growing list of achievements for the X3, which is Airbus Helicopters' technology demonstrator for an advanced, cost-effective vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) transportation system that offers the speed of a turboprop-powered aircraft and the full-flight capabilities of a helicopter.

See more at Paris Air Show 2013
More info on the Airbus Helicopters Events Website: http://events.AirbusHelicopters.com

Footage: Thibault TEYCHENE
Editing: Camille DARLEY
©Airbus Helicopters, Productions Autrement Dit, June 2013