Why do some helicopters have elevators on the empanage?
I can maybe see that thing being of limited value at high horizontal speeds... assuming I am understanding this piece of poorly worded bafflegab.
But... I see that thing being utilized even at low speeds too... and I have to ask what benefit is being derived from it? Am I having a brain fart?
I fear and loathe manned rotorcraft; and I think tilt rotors are truly the work of the devil! I will tolerate no dissention on that one!
Any clarity you can provide is sincerely appreciated.
IF YOU AIN;T HANGING ON TO SOMETHING ON THE DECK THE PROP WASH WILL BLOW YOU OFF THE DECK AND IF THE FALL DON'T KILL YOU THE COLD WATER WILL!!!
ReplyDeleteThey say, helicopters don't fly, they beat the air into submission. And being a lowly pedestrian fixed wing driver myself I'd know nothing about that. But reading the "poorly worded bafflegab" a bout six times over it kind of makes sense. After all, that Huey is faster than a plain Jane Cessna 172 and that has a horizontal tailplane on it too. Only the C-172's CG range is quite narrow while Huey carries a way bigger load over a much wider CG range.
ReplyDeleteI forget the name on the UH-60s9maybe horizontal stabilizer) but its called a synchronized elevator on a Huey. It keeps the tail down in forward flight. In rotary wing aircraft whether its the elevator or the tail rotor(anti-torque) its about not letting the main rotor have its way with the rest of the aircraft
ReplyDeleteA hard and fast rule of "why is that thing there?" on most aircraft is: If they didn't need it, it wouldn't be there.
ReplyDeleteYou need an "elevator" on a helo because the advancing blade makes more lift than the receding one and precession causes that extra lift on one side to be applied as pitch.
Thus, you need a control surface to null out the pitch.