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The Art of the Helicopter John Watkinson - Karatunov.net

The Art of the Helicopter John Watkinson - Karatunov.net

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88 <strong>The</strong> <strong>Art</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Helicopter</strong><br />

(a) (b)<br />

(c) (d)<br />

Fig. 3.21 (a) <strong>The</strong> forces involved during maximum acceleration. Note <strong>the</strong> front <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> disc can be very close<br />

to <strong>the</strong> ground. (b) <strong>The</strong> balance <strong>of</strong> forces in forward flight. <strong>The</strong> forward component <strong>of</strong> rotor thrust balances hull<br />

drag and <strong>the</strong> vertical component balances <strong>the</strong> weight. (c) <strong>The</strong> quickstop is a horizontal autorotation. Note <strong>the</strong><br />

low position <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> tail rotor. (d) A turn at speed is limited by <strong>the</strong> increased thrust necessary to maintain height<br />

whilst accelerating <strong>the</strong> machine towards <strong>the</strong> centre <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> turn.<br />

own weight in cargo. When unladen, <strong>the</strong>ir load factor effectively doubles and <strong>the</strong>y can<br />

safely accomplish some quite alarming manoeuvres.<br />

Note that during acceleration, deceleration and a correctly banked turn gravity still<br />

appears to act vertically down through <strong>the</strong> cockpit floor, and it is possible to complete<br />

an entire flight without spilling a mug <strong>of</strong> c<strong>of</strong>fee placed on <strong>the</strong> floor.<br />

3.20 In translational flight<br />

In translational flight, <strong>the</strong> forward velocity increases <strong>the</strong> velocity <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> air passing<br />

<strong>the</strong> advancing blade and reduces that seen by <strong>the</strong> retreating blade. Figure 3.22 shows<br />

what happens. In (a) it can be seen that <strong>the</strong> velocity <strong>of</strong> a blade element due to rotation

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