Innovation Award 2017: overall winner

New development, production and testing of a complete helicopter drive system

Zoerkler was commissioned to develop a completely new drive train for a civil helicopter. This is a helicopter in the 6.5-tonne class, which has room for 17 people and is used for off-shore activities. Using Europe's most modern production technology and experimental tools, which were specially developed by Zoerkler, weight-optimised prototypes were manufactured and subjected to long-term tests in order to continuously optimise prototypes. The successful maiden flight of the helicopter, equipped with Zoerkler's drive system, took place in May 2017. This new development by Zoerkler represents the first propulsion system for a manned helicopter developed and manufactured entirely in Austria and is therefore part of Austrian aviation history.