How do helicopter fly?: Physics behind the navigation of helicopter # 1 #

Are you wondering how helicopter works or how they can fly, are you willing to build your own helicopter and you think its impossible? yes it is 100% possible. you will understand the science behind it here on this page which might be useful.

This is the main structure of an helicopter right but there is more you need to know. Its not as simple as it looks. pixabay image.com

This flying machine is said to be the fulfillment of man's ancient dreams. The flying machine that needs no runway before flying unlike aeroplanes. how is it possible? is it a magic? …Am going to take my time to explain more. Let's take a closer look.

Helicopters works by vertical push using rotors. As their rotors turn, differences in the pressure of air are made above and beneath the blades as they move. Before we talk about how they stay in the air, let me take a quick shower.

Understanding how helicopter stay
in the air.
Ok! am right here now i guess no more moving around.

The science of airplanes and helicopters are exactly the same. It works by producing an upward pushing pressure that overcome its mass and lift it into the air. planes lift with wings that have a bended cross section which is called "airfoil". As they move forward, their wings change the force and directions of the air approaching, compelling or forcing the air down behind them and they are then powered into the sky, a plane's motors speed it forward, while its wings throw it up. A aieplane needs lot and lot of air to produce enough lift while the air race across its wings that's why it needs a long runway to takeoff and land.

Air also moves over airfoils in helicopter to produce lift just like airplanes but they have airfoils incorporated with their rotor blade unlike aeroplanes which is in their wings. The rotors looks like a thin wings, running on the spot and producing a lot of downward air current that blows the helicopter upward. They can turn on the spot, or float tenderly toward any path.

Let's move to there rotor blade.
How do they work? how do they look like? how many blades does a rotor have?. This questions are mostly asked. The rotor blade is one of the most important part of an helicopter. lets take a good look at it.

The Rotor system or main rotor of a helicopter is the combination of two or more rotor blades and control system that provides lift force that helps the weight of helicopter.


In this diagram, it explans the rotation and the direction the rotor moves. pixabay image.com

The Rotor is the most noticeable features of an helicopter, However no chopper can get by with just one rotor. Why is it so? its because when an action makes something moves, the reaction makes the other move in the opposite direction which is the Newton's third law of motion; action and reaction are equal and opposite. Helicopter rotor spin in a clockwise direction.

As a helicopter rotor turns around (the action), the whole body has a tendency to pivot slowly in the other way (the reaction). Left to its own particular gadgets, this torque (turning power) would make a helicopter totally uncontrollable, so we need to act in opposition to it somehow with counter-torque (a turning force or power the other way).
in this situation, a second big rotor turning the other way is needed. in some cases it is mounted on the same pole as the first rotor(coaxial rotor). In the military, there is an extensive rotor at either of the craft (tandem rotor). long rotor blade will be 54 ft. at 258 rpm but will be 40 ft. for shorter blades, longer blades for high performance (the performance of an helicopter depends on the blade length).

There are three main types of a helicopter's main rotor blade that permits an increase in the amounts of movement as they rotate. There are "Rigid blades, Semi rigid blades and Fully articulated blades".

The hub in which the blades are attached to. pixabay image.com

Firstly, lets talk about Rigid blade. Just as the name "Rigid" which is solidly attached to the rotor center point (hub) which is the wheel that the blade are attached to top of the rotating rotor mast by a pitch hinge or feathering hinge.This enables them to "feather" which is swivel as they spin.
Semi rigid blades have a similar pitch hinge and they also have a flapping hinge that enables them to flap.

Fully articulated blades can do the both that is both flapping and feathering and the likewise have another hinge which enables them to move ahead or behind their normal position. It is called a "Drag hinge"

I think this explains about rotor blade as one of the most essential feature of an helicopter which produces lift but there is a lot more to talk about like the tail rotor and even more about the rotor blade. we will also talk about the lift force, the drag force, and the centrifugal force which are the three main type of force on a rotor blade. But i think i need a break. thanks for your time spent in reading this page. We are moving forward. stay on. Time for dinner.

REFERENCES

• helicopter
• aircraft
• rotor
• hub