Introduction
to Rotary-Wing Flight
"Helicopter pilots don't
fly, they beat the air into submission!" This is a popular saying
among pilots of rotary-wing aircraft, who consider themselves to be a unique
breed, not like fixed-wing pilots. It is easy to see why—helicopters seemingly
defy the laws of physics. The only thing that keeps them aloft is a constantly
beating rotor, which acts as a rotating wing, producing lower pressure above
the rotor and higher pressure below it and thus pushing the helicopter up.
While fixed-wing aircraft progressed
rapidly once the Wright Brothers proved that powered flight was feasible, rotary-wing
aircraft advanced slowly. Rotary-wing engineers had to overcome several major
hurdles before helicopters became possible, and they had to advance rotary-wing
technology further before helicopters became practical.
With early fixed-wing aircraft, the
propulsion system (the engine and propeller) and the lift device (the wing)
were relatively simple and the challenge was developing control systems to keep
the aircraft in level flight and to change direction. But with helicopters,
the propulsion system, the lift device, and the control systems were all part
of the same mechanism. This presented several major challenges. The first challenge
was the need to provide sufficient lift. With a fixed-wing aircraft, even a
relatively low-powered engine could propel an aircraft fast enough for its wings
to generate lift. But with a helicopter, more powerful, and lighter engines
were needed and it was many years before relatively lightweight, powerful enough
engines were developed that could turn a rotor fast enough to life an aircraft
off the ground. It was not until the 1930s that such engines existed to run
a helicopter's rotors.
Another major problem was control.
Once the helicopter was lifted off the ground, how could the thrust be aimed
so that the aircraft moved in a specific direction? The solution to this—pitching
the rotor blades so that they pushed the aircraft in a certain direction—was
difficult to perfect, after all, the control devices themselves were constantly
moving at high speed, not affixed to an unmoving wing. There were also a lot
of other problems that designers had to overcome, such as the tendency for the
rotors to flap.
An additional problem was that the
whirling rotors produced a twisting motion, or "torque" in the opposite
direction. This motion had to be counteracted. Eventually, the most common way
of accomplishing this was by placing a small vertical propeller on a tail so
that it blew air in the direction opposite of the twisting force, thereby preventing
the helicopter from spinning around and around.
Finally, there was the ever-present
headache of vibration. Early fixed-wing aircraft had a small propeller spinning
at a high rate of speed close to the engine. The propeller rotated, but did
not otherwise change pitch or angle. But a helicopter's rotor was large,
spun very fast, and was connected to the engine by a relatively long drive shaft.
In addition, the engine's power had to be redirected from a horizontal
drive shaft to a vertical one and an additional drive shaft had to be run to
the tail rotor. This created a lot of vibration, and early helicopters threatened
to shake themselves apart. Even today, after over six decades of rotary-winged
flight, many helicopters vibrate considerably more than aircraft.
The first successful helicopter was
built by French aviation pioneer Jacque Bréguet in the mid-1930s. Bréguet's
Gyroplane-Laboratoire flew in 1935. Although it established a number of records,
it was still a limited craft, with relatively short range and lifting capability.
The next major advance in helicopter flight was made by Germans Heinrich Focke
and Gerd Achgelis. Their Fa 61 aircraft used a conventional biplane fuselage,
but instead of wings it had two large rotors mounted on outriggers on either
side of the aircraft. The Fa 61 had its first flight in 1936 and was a far more
capable aircraft than Bréguet's machine. It was the first truly practical
helicopter. But it also had serious control problems in low speed turns—a
flaw that was inherent to the layout of the rotors.
During the late 1930s, another person
was experimenting with helicopters. His name was Igor Sikorsky and he was a
Russian ‚migr‚ to the United States. Sikorsky's VS-300 made its first
free flight in 1940. Unlike the earlier French and German designs, Sikorsky's
helicopter used a small tail-rotor to control torque. During World War II, although
the Germans fielded small numbers of helicopters, Sikorsky built hundreds. They
served in minor support roles during the last year of the war.
After World War II ended in 1945,
the United States continued to lead the world in helicopter development. A number
of new helicopter companies were created. Bell developed its highly successful
Model 47. Piasecki soon developed a tandem rotor helicopter called the "Flying
Banana," which had a large cabin capable of carrying a number of passengers
or cargo. This was the forerunner to several later highly-successful tandem
rotor designs.
By the 1950s, Bell began development
of the first mass-produced helicopter powered by a jet turbine. Designated the
HU-1 by the U.S. Army, it quickly became known as the Huey and by the early
1960s Hueys were being procured in large numbers, with over 15,000 eventually
entering service. (By that time they had been re-designated the UH-1.) The Huey
was the most successful helicopter ever built and its distinctive "whomp-whomp"
sound could be heard miles away.
The Soviet Union did not begin developing
practical helicopters until the late 1940s. Its first mass-produced helicopters
entered service in the 1950s. The largest and most powerful helicopter in the
world was built by the Soviets. It was known as the Mi-6 Hook and entered service
in 1957. It was soon followed by the even larger and more powerful Mi-6 Harke.
By the early 1960s, the Mil design bureau developed the Mi-8 Hip, the most prolific
non-western helicopter to enter service, with over 10,000 produced by the 1990s.
The United States used helicopters
in many new and innovative roles. Beginning in the 1950s, the U.S. Navy equipped
helicopters with sonar that could be lowered into the water to listen for submarines
and torpedoes to kill the subs that they found. The SH-3 Sea King entered service
in this role and served for over three decades as a submarine hunter.
The United States was the first country
to arm its operational helicopters, conducting experiments in 1956. By the early
1960s, the U.S. Army was deploying armed helicopters to Vietnam. By 1967 it
was operating the HueyCobra, a dedicated gunship intended to provide support
for troops on the ground.
Vietnam proved to be a major testing
ground for the helicopter and a new form of warfare known as air mobility. No
longer would armies fight each other along long fronts on the ground. Now they
could be lifted deep into enemy territory, striking suddenly and powerfully.
The Bell Huey and dedicated troop-carrying and heavy-lift helicopters like the
CH-46 Sea Knight and the CH-47 Chinook were used to ferry troops in large helicopter
assaults. Although the United States lost the Vietnam War, it emerged with a
new way of fighting battles and other countries followed its example.
By the 1970s, the United States began
development of a new generation of helicopters based upon its experience in
Vietnam. Both the UH-60 Black Hawk troop carrying helicopter and the AH-64 Apache
attack helicopter were better protected against ground fire. The Soviets developed
the Mi-24 Hind gunship. Although it was as powerful as it was ugly, it proved
too large for its intended mission and eventually the Russians decided to develop
smaller, more maneuverable gunships.
Although helicopters were first and
foremost military aircraft, they soon entered civilian service as well. Early
civilian helicopters were used for various roles, including lifting cargo to
inaccessible areas and the evacuation of critically injured patients. They also
entered service with law enforcement, being used by various police departments
to search for fleeing suspects and to monitor traffic. They are also used for
drug interdiction and border patrol. But their cost and complexity limited their
commercial service for many years.
The Huey was marketed to commercial
firms as a cargo-carrying helicopter beginning in the early 1960s. Some other
helicopters were also used to ferry passengers, particularly between urban "heliports"
and large airports. But they never proved very successful in this role. One
area that helicopters proved successful was carrying crews to offshore oil rigs.
By the 1970s and later, helicopters were in service in a large number of commercial
roles, from crop dusting to searching for schools of tuna to lifting lumber
out of forests to carrying rich business executives to meetings.
Despite all of these uses, the helicopter
has remained a limited aircraft and has never entered service in the same numbers
as conventional aircraft. They are expensive, difficult to maintain, and have
a short range, slow speed, and limited carrying capability. Attempts to develop
hybrid aircraft that have the speed and range of aircraft and the vertical liftoff
capabilities of helicopters have not been very successful. The best example
of such an aircraft is the Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor. But the search
for an aircraft that can operate like a helicopter—but lacks its limitations—continues.
Dwayne A. Day
References and Further Reading:
Adcock, Al. H-3
Sea King in Action. Carrollton, TX: Squadron/Signal Publications,
1995.
Ahnstrom, D.N. The
Complete Book of Helicopters. New York: The World Publishing Company,
1971.
Bilstein, Roger E. Flight
in America, Revised Edition. Baltimore, Md.: Johns Hopkins University
Press, 1994.
Bowden, Mark. Blackhawk
Down, New York: Atlantic Monthly Press: 1999.
Brehm, Jack, and Nelson, Pete. That
Others May Live: The True Story of a PJ, a Member of America's Most Daring
Rescue Force, New York: Crown Publishers, 2000.
Brooks, Peter W. Cierva
Autogiros: the Development of Rotary-Wing Flight. Washington, D.C.:
Smithsonian Institution Press, 1988.
Butowski, Peter. "Forever Hip." Combat
Aircraft 3 (2) 120-129.
Carey, Keith. The
Helicopter. Blue Ridge Summit, Penn.: Tab Books, 1986, pp. 13-16.
Carlson, Ted. "Marine Twin Hueys." World
Airpower Journal 42 (Autumn/Fall 2000) 134-143.
Chant, Christopher. Fighting
Helicopters of the 20th Century. England: Tiger Books,
1996.
Chanute, Octave. Progress
in Flying Machines. M N Forney 1894, Lorenz & Herweg 1976, Dover
1997 also at http://hawaii.psychology.msstate.edu/invent/i/Chanute/library/Prog_Contents.html.
Cook, John
L. Rescue Under Fire. Atglen,
Penn.: Schiffer, 1998.
Debay, Yves. Combat
Helicopters. France: Histoire & Collections, 1996.
Donald, David, ed. The
Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft. New York: Barnes and Noble
Books, 1997.
Dorr, Robert F., and Bishop, Chris. Vietnam
Air War Debrief. London: Aerospace Publishing, 1996.
Dowling, John, RAF Helicopters: The First
20 Years. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1992.
Everett-Heath, John.
Soviet Helicopters. London: Jane's Publishing Company, 1983.
Francillon, Ren‚ J. Vietnam:
The War in the Air. New York: Arch Cape Press, 1987.
Gablehouse, Charles. Helicopters
and Autogiros; A History of Rotating-wing and V/STOL Aviation. Philadelphia:
J.B. Lippincott Company, 1969.
Gordon, Yefim and Komissarov, Dimitriy. "Mil
Mi-24 ‘Hind.'" World Airpower Journal 37 (Summer 1999): 42-89.
Gunston, Bill. Helicopters
of the World. New York: Crescent Books, 1983.
Harding, Stephen. U.S. Army Aircraft Since 1947:
An Illustrated Reference. Atglen, PA: Schiffer, 1997.
Heatley, Michael. The
Illustrated History of Helicopters. New York: Bison Books, 1985.
Hewson, Robert. "Lockheed AH-56 Cheyenne."
Wings of Fame 14. 138-157.
Hunt, William E. Helicopter:
Pioneering With Igor Sikorsky. Shrewsbury, England: Airlife Publishing,
1998.
Junger, Sebastian. The
Perfect Storm. New York: Harperperennial, 1999.
Lake, Jon. "Sikorsky S-61/H3 Sea King Variant
Briefing." World Airpower Journal,
26, (Autumn/Fall 1996): 116-137.
Landis, Tony, and Jenkins, Dennis. Lockheed
AH-56A Cheyenne. North Branch, Minn.: Specialty Press, 2000.
Liberatore, E.K. Helicopters
Before Helicopters. Malabar, Fla.: Krieger Publishing Company, 1998.
Lightbody, Andy and Poyer, Joe. The
Illustrated History of Helicopters. Lincolnwood, Ill.: Publications
International, 1990.
Lundh, Lennart. Sikorsky
H-34. Atglen, Penn.: Schiffer, 1998.
Mesko, Jim. Airmobile: The Helicopter War
in Vietnam. Carrollton, TX: Squadron Signal Publications, 1984.
Novosel, Michael J. Dustoff:
The Memoir of an Army Aviator. Novato, Calif.: Presidio, 1999.
O'Grady, Scott. Return
With Honor. New York: Harper, 1996.
Pickett, Paul.
Walk Around UH-60 Black Hawk, Carrollton, Texas: Squadron/Signal
Publications, 1999.
___________. H-60
Black Hawk in Action. Carrollton, Texas: Squadron/Signal Publications,
1993.
Ripley, Tim. Jane's Pocket Guide:
Modern Military Helicopters. England: Jane's, 1997.
Rogers, Mike. VTOL
Military Research Aircraft. Somerset, England: Haynes & Co.,
1989.
Sheehan, Neil. A
Bright Shining Lie, John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam. New York:
Random House, 1988.
Simpson,
Rod. Airlife's Helicopters & Rotorcraft.
Shrewsbury, England: Airlife, 1998.
Smith, J. Richard. Focke-Wulf:
An Aircraft Album No. 7. New York: Arco Publishing Co., 1973.
Spenser, Jay P. Vertical Challenge: The
Hiller Aircraft Story. Seattle, Wash: University of Washington Press, 1992.
Stapfer, Hans-Heiri. Mi-24
Hind in Action. Carrollton, Texas: Squadron/Signal Publications,
1988.
Young, Ralph B. Army
Aviation in Vietnam, 1961-1963. Ramsey, N.J.: The Huey Company, 1999.
Young, Ralph B. Army
Aviation in Vietnam, 1963-1966. Ramsey, N.J.: The Huey Company, 2000.
Young, Warren R. and the editors of Time-Life Books
The Helicopters. Alexandria, Va.:
Time-Life Books, 1982.
On-Line References:
Brain, Marshall. "How Helicopters Work."
http://www.howstuffworks.com/helicopter.htm.
"The Development of the Helicopter."
Sikorsky Archives.
http://www.sikorskyarchives.com/tdoth.html.
Erickson Air
Crane Company. http://www.erickson-aircrane.com.
Helicopter History Website. http://www.helis.com.
Helicopter World. http://helicopter.virtualave.net.
"Helicopters of the U.S. Army"
http://www.geocities.com/capecanaveral/hangar/3393/army.html.
Hirschberg, Michael and Daley, David K. "US
and Russian Helicopter Development in the 20th Century." American
Helicopter Society, International, 2000. http://www.vtol.org/History.htm.
Leishman, J.
Gordon. "Evolution of Helicopter Flight." http://www.flight100.org/history/helicopter.html.
Manning, Treg.
"The Helicopter in Air Medical Service." Bell Aircraft Company.
http://www.bellhelicopter.com/content/encyclopedia/applications/ems/airMedBook/index.html.
"Pitcairn
PCA-1A." National Air and Space Museum. http://www.nasm.edu/nasm/aircraaft/pitcairn_pca.htm.
Sikorsky Corporation.
http://www.sikorsky.com.
Tipton, Richard S. "Arthur Young: Maker of
the Bell." Bell Aircraft Company. http://www.arthuryoung.com/maker1.html.
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