Patent ID: 8727271

Claim:
A rotary wing aircraft comprising: a fuselage; at least one bladed rotor cooperative with said fuselage; and a hybrid propulsion system coupled to said fuselage and said at least one bladed rotor, said hybrid propulsion system comprising: a gas turbine engine; an electrical generator cooperative with said gas turbine engine such that mechanical power received therefrom by said electrical generator is converted to electric power; an electric storage device; and an electric motor configured to selectively engage said at least one bladed rotor to impart relative rotational motion therebetween and selectively coupled to at least one of said electrical generator and said electric storage device such that during a first portion of a flight envelope of said aircraft, said gas turbine engine and said electric motor provide propulsive power to said aircraft, and during a second portion of said flight envelope, said electric storage device and said electric motor provide said propulsive power to said aircraft.