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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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O<strong>the</strong>r types <strong>of</strong> rotorcraft 351<br />

Fig. 9.2 A winged helicopter obtains some <strong>of</strong> its lift in flight from <strong>the</strong> wing. However, in <strong>the</strong> hover, <strong>the</strong> wing<br />

may cause a download. This Sikorsky S-67 prototype flew like a fighter but was not produced.<br />

than <strong>the</strong> pure helicopter, except at moderately high speed where <strong>the</strong> induced drag <strong>of</strong><br />

<strong>the</strong> wing is less and <strong>the</strong> direction <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> wing reaction has less rearward inclination.<br />

<strong>The</strong> reason for fitting a wing is shown in Figure 9.3. This shows how <strong>the</strong> load factor<br />

<strong>of</strong> a rotor and a wing vary with airspeed. <strong>The</strong> wing obviously shows a square law trend<br />

with airspeed, but <strong>the</strong> rotor does not. Although <strong>the</strong> advancing blade shows this trend,<br />

<strong>the</strong> extra lift cannot be used because it would cause imbalance with <strong>the</strong> reduced lift<br />

from <strong>the</strong> retreating blade.<br />

<strong>The</strong> simple helicopter is generally implemented as a low load factor machine because<br />

provision <strong>of</strong> a high load factor implies very poor L/D ratio in <strong>the</strong> hover. Thus if a high<br />

load factor is required in forward flight so that <strong>the</strong> helicopter can make tight banked<br />

turns, a good solution is to add a wing, as was done in <strong>the</strong> Sikorsky S-67 and <strong>the</strong> Boeing<br />

347, nei<strong>the</strong>r <strong>of</strong> which entered production.<br />

Clearly <strong>the</strong> wing will be a drawback in <strong>the</strong> hover and climb where it will cause<br />

a download. It is also a problem in autorotation where it will produce an upload.<br />

Following an engine failure at high speed, <strong>the</strong> wing will carry on lifting and it will be<br />

difficult to maintain rotor speed. A winged helicopter may also be less controllable,<br />

depending on <strong>the</strong> rotor technology. Figure 4.13 showed that a teetering head can only<br />

produce control by directing <strong>the</strong> rotor thrust so that it no longer coincides with <strong>the</strong><br />

CM. If <strong>the</strong> thrust is reduced because <strong>the</strong> wing is providing some <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> load, <strong>the</strong> control<br />

power is reduced in proportion. A hingeless rotor will suffer less from this effect because<br />

it can transfer moments to <strong>the</strong> mast.<br />

Figure 9.4 shows <strong>the</strong> solutions Boeing tried out with <strong>the</strong> experimental 347. This was<br />

basically a CH-47 with a stretched hull, <strong>the</strong> stretch section being fitted with a wing.

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