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Fans of stereotypes will likely accept that the French are good at some things: seduction, the non-verbal expression of disdain, and the manufacture of both fine wine and stinky cheeses are all among the less-offensive Gallic archetypes. But think of France and you’re probably not thinking about the design and manufacture of helicopters.
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Yet it turns out that the French make more whirlybirds than almost anybody else, with Airbus Helicopters—formally Eurocopter—making around a third of the world’s rotorcraft. And the new Airbus H160, as seen here, was designed with the assistance of automaker Peugeot’s Design Lab.
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The H160 is certainly set to be a serious piece of kit when it goes fully operational in a couple of years’ time. It’s based around a fully composite airframe, has rotor blades with a boomerang end profile to reduce noise and improve stability, and is the first commercial helicopter to have electrically operated landing gear. It will be a mid-size workhorse used from everything from offshore drilling platform resupply and police interceptor duty to ferrying time-crunched playboys between pool parties.
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It’s a fine-looking helicopter to our non-expert eyes. Despite the involvement of Peugeot, we’re struggling to see a resemblance to any of the brand’s current road cars—although the nose cone’s profile does have something reminiscent of a French waiter’s sneer to it. In the official release, Airbus says “we used the initial styling developed by Peugeot Design Lab to define a strong personality for the rotorcraft—a mirror reflection of the innovations, performance and emotion unique to the H160.”
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- Peugeot Creates the Frenchest (Read: Weirdest) Food Truck Ever
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- First Drive Review: Peugeot 308 GTi 270
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- A Burly Pickup Appears In the Rugged Alaskan Wilderness, and It’s—a Renault?
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We’ll leave you to decide whether emotion is something you expect a helicopter to deliver.
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