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The Art of the Helicopter John Watkinson - Karatunov.net

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

Fig. 4.17 A spider installation in which vertical movement <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> spider controls collective pitch, whereas<br />

tilting <strong>the</strong> spider applies cyclic pitch. In this example <strong>the</strong> arms <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> spider emerge through slots in <strong>the</strong> rotor<br />

shaft. In some cases <strong>the</strong> spider emerges from <strong>the</strong> top <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> rotor shaft.<br />

<strong>The</strong> Enstrom has a control linkage in which <strong>the</strong> pitch control rods pass up <strong>the</strong> centre<br />

<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> rotor shaft to give an extremely neat external appearance and reduced drag.<br />

Figure 4.18 shows that <strong>the</strong> rotor head is fitted with rocker arms to transfer pushrod<br />

motion to <strong>the</strong> pitch operating arms. <strong>The</strong> pushrods are connected to a miniature spider<br />

located below <strong>the</strong> gearbox. <strong>The</strong> spider itself swivels on a universal joint so it can tilt in<br />

two axes whilst turning with <strong>the</strong> rotor. <strong>The</strong> spider support slides up and down in <strong>the</strong><br />

rotor shaft under <strong>the</strong> control <strong>of</strong> a fork on <strong>the</strong> collective crank. <strong>The</strong> cyclic control rods<br />

tilt <strong>the</strong> spider to obtain cyclic pitch variation about <strong>the</strong> average collective setting.<br />

Figure 4.19 shows <strong>the</strong> principle <strong>of</strong> servo tabs. Instead <strong>of</strong> attempting to change <strong>the</strong><br />

blade pitch at <strong>the</strong> root, <strong>the</strong> blade is fitted with a small aerodynamic control surface<br />

ra<strong>the</strong>r like a miniature tail plane, typically at about 75% <strong>of</strong> rotor radius. Pushrods<br />

inside <strong>the</strong> blade allow <strong>the</strong> angle <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> servo tab to be controlled. Servo tab systems<br />

have <strong>the</strong> advantage that <strong>the</strong> pilot only has to move <strong>the</strong> tab; <strong>the</strong> blade is moved by<br />

aerodynamic force on <strong>the</strong> tab. As a result power assistance is not necessary. <strong>The</strong> blade<br />

shank is made flexible to allow <strong>the</strong> tab to twist it. As <strong>the</strong> pitch control force is provided<br />

directly to <strong>the</strong> blade at an outboard location, <strong>the</strong>re are structural and flutter resistance<br />

advantages. Servo tabs have been used extensively in <strong>the</strong> various models produced by<br />

Kaman, and are extremely effective. It is not clear why <strong>the</strong>y have not been more popular<br />

elsewhere.<br />

In a zero-<strong>of</strong>fset rotor head such as <strong>the</strong> one shown in Figure 4.16, <strong>the</strong> rotor has a<br />

phase lag <strong>of</strong> 90 ◦ and to compensate, <strong>the</strong> pitch operating arms have an advance angle<br />

<strong>of</strong> 90 ◦ . In this case, <strong>the</strong> swashplate tilts in two axes exactly as <strong>the</strong> cyclic stick does and

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