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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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Fig. 5.10 Tail plane locations: (a) forward location almost always in downwash. (b) fin-top location is never in<br />

<strong>the</strong> downwash. (c) Asymmetrical tail plane opposite <strong>the</strong> tail rotor. (d) Low aft-mounted tail plane causes strong<br />

trim shifts but protects tail rotor.<br />

efficiently produces downthrust in forward flight but which stalls in autorotation. <strong>The</strong><br />

Bell 206 JetRanger uses this approach.<br />

Ano<strong>the</strong>r concern is avoiding tail plane stall in <strong>the</strong> climb where <strong>the</strong> (negative) angle <strong>of</strong><br />

attack becomes large. Sometimes leading edge slats will be used. Ano<strong>the</strong>r solution is<br />

to use a device called a Gurney flap. This non-intuitive device consists <strong>of</strong> a thin tab set<br />

across <strong>the</strong> trailing edge mounted at 90 ◦ to <strong>the</strong> chord line. <strong>The</strong> effect is to delay stalling<br />

up to extremely large positive and negative angles <strong>of</strong> attack, with a small amount <strong>of</strong><br />

increased drag at low angles <strong>of</strong> attack. <strong>The</strong> Sikorsky S-76B uses such a device.<br />

5.7 <strong>The</strong> stabilator<br />

<strong>The</strong> stabilator is basically a variable-incidence tail plane that is moved to different<br />

angles, generally automatically, according to <strong>the</strong> flight regime. <strong>The</strong> stabilator and its<br />

actuator will be more costly than a fixed tail plane, so <strong>the</strong>re must be a good reason to<br />

employ it. <strong>The</strong> advantage <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> stabilator is that it can be aligned with <strong>the</strong> downwash<br />

so that it can give <strong>the</strong> stabilizing effect <strong>of</strong> a tail plane without <strong>the</strong> unwanted down- or<br />

uploads in climb or autorotation. A beneficial reduction in pilot workload will result,<br />

along with improved hover performance.<br />

Figure 5.11(a) shows that in forward translational flight <strong>the</strong> stabilator may assume<br />

a slightly negative angle <strong>of</strong> attack to counter <strong>the</strong> hull drag moment. In <strong>the</strong> hover and<br />

in slow forward flight <strong>the</strong> stabilator will move to a large positive angle (b) in order to<br />

minimize <strong>the</strong> download. In a steep climb, <strong>the</strong> stabilator may also adopt a small positive<br />

angle (c). This not only reduces download and aids <strong>the</strong> climb, but it also levels <strong>the</strong><br />

hull. In a tandem seat attack helicopter this may give <strong>the</strong> pilot in <strong>the</strong> rear seat a better<br />

view forward in a climb. Figure 5.11(d) shows that in autorotation <strong>the</strong> stabilator should<br />

move to a negative pitch to avoid an upload which would pitch <strong>the</strong> machine nose down.<br />

In addition to <strong>the</strong>se deterministic movements, <strong>the</strong> stabilator may also be linked to an<br />

artificial stability system based on gyroscopic pitch sensors in <strong>the</strong> hull.<br />

<strong>The</strong> tail 181

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