Rotorcraft
Eurocopter Hybrid Helos in Service in 2012?
Eurocopter expects that its recently tested helicopter hybrid power concept will enter commercial service, soon perhaps as early as next year.

Eurocopter expects that its recently tested helicopter hybrid power concept will enter commercial service, soon perhaps as early as next year. The system combines a turboshaft internal combustion engine with a “supplementary” electric motor to replace the main engine during what would otherwise be called an autorotation.

Once a formal go-ahead is decided next year, Eurocopter said it will take just “a few months” to assimilate the system into its entire range of single-engine helicopters–the EC120, AS350 and EC130.