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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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9<br />

O<strong>the</strong>r types <strong>of</strong> rotorcraft<br />

Although <strong>the</strong> single main rotor helicopter with a tail rotor predominates, <strong>the</strong>re are many<br />

o<strong>the</strong>r possibilities, sometimes more complex, which give advantages under certain<br />

conditions that outweigh <strong>the</strong> complexity. This chapter considers those possibilities.<br />

Some <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se are flawed and have not been developed, whereas some were ahead<br />

<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir time and deserve to be revisited. Some have been a success from <strong>the</strong> outset,<br />

whereas o<strong>the</strong>rs have required a great deal <strong>of</strong> development.<br />

9.1 <strong>The</strong> gyroplane<br />

<strong>The</strong> gyroplane was <strong>the</strong> first successful type <strong>of</strong> rotary wing craft and many <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> constructional<br />

techniques used in early helicopters were developed <strong>the</strong>re. <strong>The</strong> rotor is not<br />

mechanically driven in normal flight but instead <strong>the</strong> machine is driven forwards by a<br />

conventional aircraft engine and airscrew in ei<strong>the</strong>r a tractor or pusher arrangement.<br />

Figure 1.10 showed that <strong>the</strong> tip path axis <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> gyroplane rotor is tilted aft so that <strong>the</strong>re<br />

is an upward component <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> relative airflow along <strong>the</strong> rotor axis. Effectively <strong>the</strong> rotor<br />

is in translational autorotation. This was sometimes called automatic gyration hence<br />

<strong>the</strong> trade name ‘autogyro’ which Juan de la Cierva’s gyroplanes were given. <strong>The</strong> name<br />

is now used almost interchangeably with gyroplane. <strong>The</strong> aft tilt <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> rotor means<br />

that <strong>the</strong> rotor thrust is not vertical and has an aft-facing component comparable to <strong>the</strong><br />

drag <strong>of</strong> a wing, and similarly comprising pr<strong>of</strong>ile drag and induced drag. At constant<br />

airspeed in level flight <strong>the</strong> thrust <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> propeller is in equilibrium with <strong>the</strong> weight, hull<br />

drag and <strong>the</strong> rotor thrust. <strong>The</strong> propeller is doing work against <strong>the</strong> induced drag <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />

rotor and thus delivers power to produce lift.<br />

Driving <strong>the</strong> rotor in this way has <strong>the</strong> advantages that <strong>the</strong>re is no mechanical transmission<br />

and no torque reaction. No tail rotor is necessary. However, <strong>the</strong> gyroplane is<br />

unable to hover because it needs constant upward inflow. If <strong>the</strong> airspeed is brought to<br />

zero, <strong>the</strong> machine will descend in a vertical autorotation. <strong>The</strong> gyroplane is an STOL<br />

aircraft that cannot stall and in <strong>the</strong> proper hands it is a very safe form <strong>of</strong> transport.<br />

However, in <strong>the</strong> absence <strong>of</strong> a tail rotor, yaw control at very low airspeeds is generally<br />

unsatisfactory and some accidents have occurred due to uncorrected yaw on touchdown.<br />

A generous amount <strong>of</strong> vertical tail area is required, for example <strong>the</strong> triple fins<br />

<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Air and Space Model U-18. As <strong>the</strong> rotor is driven in <strong>the</strong> same way as a wing,<br />

it is quite common for gyroplanes to include a fixed wing. This has <strong>the</strong> advantage <strong>of</strong><br />

improving <strong>the</strong> load factor at high speeds.<br />

<strong>The</strong> inability <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> gyroplane to hover is its greatest shortcoming. Before <strong>the</strong> helicopter<br />

was developed, <strong>the</strong> gyroplane occupied a niche in which fixed-wing aircraft

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