How does a helicopter
Fly?
Inside of a Helicopter 2 1
5 6 1. Rotor Blades 2. The hub 3. Rotating Mast by a feathering hinge 4. Pitch Link attached to each blade 5.Rotating Upper Swash Plate
7
3 4
11 10
8
9
6. Static Lowerr Swash Plate 7. Driveshaft 8. Gearbox 9. Longer Driveshaft 10. Gearbox that spins the Tail Rotor 11. Turboshaft Jet Engines
Taking off The main rotors blades on top spin at 500 revolutions per minutes (RPM), which creates a force to causing it to lift off the floor
The force is generated by the blades pushing the air below the helicopter
This creates an upward pushing force to overcome the helicopters weight to force it off the ground
Moving Up The faster the blades spins the higher the helicopter moves upwards
This is caused by a huge amount of down draft of air blowing the helicopter upwards
The slower the blades spins there is less downdraft, pulling the helicopter downwards
...And Down
Rear Rotors
The rear rotors faces sideways and outwards on the tail of the helicopter. The rear rotors face a different direction to the main rotors, allowing the helicopter to move forward, backwards and sideways.
As the side rotors faces a different way to the main rotor, it counteracts the main rotor stoping the body of the helicopter from spinning round
The rear rotors are powered by a driveshaft within the engine thats connected to the tail of the helicopter.
Steering There are three main controls within the cockpit of a helicopter. These 3 controls are called the Cyclic Pitch, the Collective Pitch and the Foot Pedals
The Foot Pedals control which way the cockpit faces during flight. for example, if you were to press the left foot pedal, the helicopter chassis would turn left and the pilot would be facing a different direction
The Cyclic Pitch controls the direction the helicopter will fly. For example, if the helicopter was stationary and you were to pull the lever to the right, the helicopter would move right with the control
The Collective Pitch controls the altitude of the helicopter. For example, if you were to push the collective pitch lever forward, the helicopter would gain altitude and vice versa
Engine Modern helicopters use gas turbines like jet engines on conventional planes to power the helicopter
The engines used to power the aircraft are smoother in operation, more powerful and more reliable
Most helicopters have turboshaft engines, which are similar to normal jet engines on airplanes
Instead of the helicopter engine prepelling hot jet of exhaust gas to thrust them forward, it uses the energy from the burning exhaust gas. This spins a central turbine and driveshaft that powers the transmission
Landing
In the case of an emergency, pilots are able to land the helicopter with engine failure because of autorotation of the main rotor blades
The pilot can either turn the engine off or drop the engine below a certain number of RPM A special clutch mechanisim called freewheeling unit disengages the engine from main rotor automatically abeling the rotors to spin without resistance from the engine The pilot must immediately lower the pitch reducing lift and drag, then begins to descend. It must maintain optimal rotor RPM to have the correct glide angle which are based on weather conditions,weight, allitude and speed
The correct glide angle produces an upwards flow of air, spining the main rotor at optimal RPM, resulting in kinetic engery being stored within the blades
When approaching the ground, the pilot must remove their forward motion and slow the decent using the stored up kinetic engery in the rotor. They accomplish this by executing a flare at the right moment. This transfers some energy from the forward momentum into the main rotor, making it spin faster to allow for a smooth landing
What Does Make a Helicopter Fly? Find out how a helicopter flies in seven easy steps in this information booklet. “How Does A Helicopter Fly?” teaches you the different mechanisms that makes up a helicopter, and how the mechanisms make the helicopter fly. Learn new technical terms such as “turboshaft” and “autorotaion” to become a true helicopter fanatic!