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

<strong>the</strong> floor to put tanks close to <strong>the</strong> CM, in which case pumps will be required to feed<br />

<strong>the</strong> engines.<br />

Piston engines burn AVGASor aviation gasoline, which is basically similar to automobile<br />

fuel but made to tighter quality standards. Turbines burn AVTUR that has<br />

a similar relationship to kerosene. As a piston engine will stop if AVTUR reaches it,<br />

pilots like to know <strong>the</strong>y have taken on <strong>the</strong> right fuel. AVGASfillers are marked red and<br />

AVTUR fillers are marked black to help prevent a dangerous mistake.<br />

Recently <strong>the</strong>re have been significant advances in <strong>the</strong> development <strong>of</strong> Diesel engines,<br />

allowing a similar power to weight ratio to a gasoline engine to be obtained. <strong>The</strong><br />

advantage <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> aeroDiesel is that it can burn AVTUR and its improved fuel economy<br />

allows better payload or range. A more detailed treatment <strong>of</strong> fuel systems can be found<br />

in Chapter 6.<br />

1.9 <strong>The</strong> landing gear<br />

<strong>The</strong> landing gear is subject to considerable variation. Utility and training helicopters<br />

are invariably fitted with skids to allow a landing on unprepared ground even with<br />

forward speed. Small wheels, known as ground handling wheels, can be fitted so <strong>the</strong><br />

machine can be moved around. Some skids are broader than usual so <strong>the</strong>y can act as<br />

skis for landing on snow or s<strong>of</strong>t ground. Inflatable or rigid floats can be attached to<br />

<strong>the</strong> skids to permit operation over water, but <strong>the</strong>re will be a drag and payload penalty.<br />

Larger machines invariably have wheels, as skids would make <strong>the</strong>m too difficult to<br />

move. Naval helicopters need wheels to allow <strong>the</strong>m to be moved below decks. In many<br />

cases <strong>the</strong> wheels can be locked so as to be tangential to a circle. <strong>The</strong> machine can be<br />

turned into <strong>the</strong> wind, but will not roll as <strong>the</strong> ship heels.<br />

1.10Oleos and ground resonance<br />

Landing gears <strong>of</strong>ten incorporate a telescopic section containing oil and a compressed<br />

gas acting as a spring. <strong>The</strong>se are formally known as oleo-pneumatic struts, invariably<br />

abbreviated to oleos. When <strong>the</strong> length <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> oleo changes, <strong>the</strong> oil is forced through<br />

a small orifice to damp <strong>the</strong> movement. <strong>The</strong> struts that hold up automobile tailgates<br />

work on <strong>the</strong> same principle, but <strong>the</strong>se are sealed units whereas <strong>the</strong> type <strong>of</strong> oil and <strong>the</strong><br />

gas pressure in an oleo may be adjusted to give <strong>the</strong> correct spring rate and damping.<br />

One obvious purpose <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> oleo is to absorb <strong>the</strong> impact <strong>of</strong> landing, but a more<br />

important role is to control ground resonance. Ideally <strong>the</strong> rotor blades rotate with<br />

perfectly even spacing when run up on <strong>the</strong> ground, but it is possible for <strong>the</strong>m to be<br />

disturbed from that condition. This results in <strong>the</strong> CM <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> rotor moving away from<br />

<strong>the</strong> shaft axis and <strong>the</strong> rotor tries to whirl <strong>the</strong> top <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> hull in a circular orbit. Under<br />

certain conditions this motion becomes uncontrollable unless <strong>the</strong>re is damping to dissipate<br />

<strong>the</strong> energy. <strong>The</strong> origin <strong>of</strong> ground resonance will be discussed in Chapter 4 where<br />

it will be shown that <strong>the</strong> rotor head may also need dampers to prevent <strong>the</strong> problem.<br />

1.11 <strong>The</strong> rotors<br />

<strong>The</strong> main rotor takes <strong>the</strong> place <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> wings <strong>of</strong> a conventional aircraft, and it is not<br />

unrealistic to think <strong>of</strong> a helicopter as being supported by <strong>the</strong> lift from wings that<br />

rotate instead <strong>of</strong> flying in a straight line. <strong>The</strong> main difference between rotor blades and

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