Resource person Ali Khalid

Department of Aviation Management & Technology Superior University, Lahore.

By the end of this session , you will be able to:

Understand the basics of helicopters dynamics. Understand how helicopters fly.

Know about different helicopters systems.

Helicopters are aircraft whose lift is generated by one or more engine-driven rotor systems.
Their main advantage over fixed-wing aircraft is the ability to vertically lift off, land, to hover, and to fly forward, aft wards and sideways.

These characteristics allow helicopters to reach places that other vehicles cannot.

The helicopter was a late arrival on the aviation scene compared to more conventional fixed-wing aircraft.
A number of designers experimented with autogiros in the late 1920s and 1930s but it was not until the 1940s that serious helicopter developments began.

In general, the helicopter was regarded at the time as something of an post dated thing and it was not until the post-war years that its serious development began, most of it being undertaken in the US.

The helicopter came of age as a fighting vehicle in the late 1960s and the US involvement in the Vietnam War was probably the first large-scale conflict in which it played a major part in a variety of roles.

As their roles became more demanding so the helicopters became more sophisticated and complex.

Basic helicopters consist of a single main rotor and tail rotor, both powered by a power plant.
Suspended under the main rotor is a hull with a cockpit and cabin, which itself sits upon on a landing gear system. The helicopter can use skids, wheels or floats for landing, and these systems usually have dampers to absorb shocks. Various vertical and horizontal stabilizers provide directional stability during flight.

HELICOPTERS USE ROTORS with variable pitch angle to provide agile motion, including stationary hovers.
Due to powerful gas-turbine engines which makes the rotors to rotate so fast, it simply lifts it self in the air.

The helicopters have proven their usefulness in many scenarios, either in civil aviation or in military.

In military operations they are performing numerous useful task such as: Troop and material transportation. Reconnaissance. Medical and other evacuations. Airborne command posts. Naval anti-submarine missions. Minesweeping operations.

They are equally useful in civil world like:

Aerial Crane Helicopters can be used to carry external loads, connected by long cables, to and from areas that other means of transport have difficulty getting to.

Examples of such sling load operations are placing heavy transmission towers, carrying trees during logging and even transporting ground vehicles

Air Ambulance MEDEVAC helicopters are employed when traditional ambulances cannot quickly get to the scene of trauma, or cannot reach it at all. In other cases, aerial transport is simply the safest and quickest way of transporting patients between medical facilities. These aircraft are equipped with medical equipment to allow caring for patients mid-flight.

Law Enforcement
Many police departments and other law enforcement agencies use helicopters in a variety of roles. They provide air support when tracking suspects, and are equipped with specialized cameras and search lights.

Other Applications Other uses of helicopters include:

Aerial photography Motion picture filming News gathering and reporting (ENG - Electronic News Gathering) Search and Rescue Tourism and recreation Transport

Helicopters come in many sizes and shapes, but most share the same major components.
These components include a cabin where the payload and crew are carried, an airframe, which houses the various components, or where components are attached; a power plant or engine; and a transmission, which, among other things, takes the power from the engine and transmits it to the main rotor, which provides the aerodynamic forces that make the helicopter fly.

Then, to keep the helicopter from turning due to torque, there must be some type of ant torque system. Finally there is the landing gear, which could be skids, wheels, skis, or floats. This chapter is an introduction to these components.

Whereas the lift force for a fixed-wing system is produced by the passage of air over the wing aerofoil.
However the helicopter rotor blades are aerofoils which generate the lift force to counteract the vehicle weight.

The fact that the helicopter lift force is generated by rotation of the rotor causes additional complication for the helicopter.
As the helicopter propulsion system drives the rotor head in one direction, a Newtonian equal and opposite reaction tends to rotate the fuselage in the other direction and clearly this would be unacceptable for normal controlled flight.

This problem is overcome by using a tail rotor which applies a counter-acting force which prevents the helicopter fuselage from rotating.

The rotor system found on helicopters can consist of a single main rotor or dual rotors.
With most dual rotors, the rotors turn in opposite directions so the torque from one rotor is opposed by the torque of the other. This cancels the turning tendencies

In general, a rotor system can be classified as either fully articulated, semi rigid, or rigid. There are variations and combinations of these systems.

FULLY ARTICULATED ROTOR SYSTEM

A fully articulated rotor system usually consists of three or more rotor blades. The blades are allowed to flap, feather, and lead or lag independently of each other. feathering means the changing of the pitch angle of the rotor blades.

Each rotor blade is attached to the rotor hub by a horizontal hinge, called the flapping hinge, which permits the blades to flap up and down.

Each blade can move up and down independently of the others.

Each rotor blade is also attached to the hub by a vertical hinge, called a drag or lag hinge, that permits each blade, independently of the others, to move back and forth in the plane of the rotor disc

A semi rigid rotor system allows for two different movements, flapping and feathering.
This system is normally comprised of two blades, which are rigidly attached to the rotor hub. As one blade flaps down, the other flaps up. Feathering is accomplished by the feathering hinge, which changes the pitch angle of the blade.

The rigid rotor system is mechanically simple, but structurally complex because operating loads must be absorbed in bending rather than through hinges. In this system, the blades cannot flap or lead and lag, but they can be feathered.

TAIL ROTOR Most helicopters with a single, main rotor system require a separate rotor to overcome torque. This is accomplished through a variable pitch, antitorque rotor or tail rotor.

Another form of antitorque rotor is the fenestron or fan-in-tail design.

This system uses a series of rotating blades shrouded within a vertical tail. Because the blades are located within a circular duct, they are less likely to come into contact with people or objects

The NOTAR system is an alternative to the antitorque rotor. The system uses low-pressure air that is forced into the tailboom by a fan mounted within the helicopter. The air is then fed through horizontal slots, located on the right side of the tailboom, and to a controllable rotating nozzle to provide antitorque and directional control.

A typical small helicopter has a reciprocating engine, which is mounted on the airframe. The engine can be mounted horizontally or vertically with the transmission supplying the power to the vertical main rotor shaft.
Another engine type is the gas turbine. This engine is used in most medium to heavy lift helicopters due to its large horsepower output. The engine drives the main transmission, which then transfers power directly to the main rotor system, as well as the tail rotor.

When you begin flying a helicopter, you will use four basic flight controls. They are the cyclic pitch control; the collective pitch control; the throttle and the antitorque pedals.

Tilting the rotor head provides the longitudinal (foreand-aft) and lateral (side-to-side) forces necessary to give the helicopter horizontal movement. This is achieved by varying the cyclic pitch of the rotor head. Picture on the next slide will show you how it works. Moving the pilots stick forward alters the cyclic pitch such that the rotor tilts forward, thereby adding a forward component to the lift force and enabling the helicopter to move forwards.

In general the helicopter is more unstable than its conventional fixed-wing counterpart.
It follows that flying a helicopter is generally much more difficult than flying a fixed-wing aircraft. For this reason, some sophisticated helicopters possess auto-stabilization and multimode autopilot systems to minimize the workload of pilots.

The basic principles of many helicopter systems are identical to similar systems in fixed-wing aircraft.

Engine and transmission system. Hydraulic system. Electrical system. Health monitoring system. Flight control system.

Many helicopters today have a number of engines to supply motive power to the rotor and transmission system.
In fact, all but the smallest helicopters usually have two engines, and some larger ones have three.

The need for multiple engines is obvious; helicopter lift is wholly dependent upon rotor speed, which in turn depends upon the power provided by the engines

For helicopters, the hydraulic systems are a major source of power for the flying controls as for various other auxiliary services. A typical large helicopter, such as the EH 101 Merlin, has three hydraulic systems.

AC generation is supplied by two main generators each of 45 kVA capacity driven by the accessory gearbox.

A battery is provided, mainly to start the APU; however this can provide short duration emergency power in the event of a triple electrical systems failure.

If the correct critical parameters in an engine and transmission system are monitored then it is possible to identify deterioration of components before a critical failure occurs. Just as in the case of human beings we regularly have medical check ups.
This is done by establishing a time-history of the parameter during normal operation of the aircraft, and by constantly measuring those parameters.

The tendency for a parameter to exceed set thresholds on either an occasional or regular basis can be readily identified as may a steadily rising trend in a component vibration measurement.
The expense of overhauling an engine after a major failure is considerable.

It therefore makes sound economic sense to monitor key engine parameters and forestall the problem by removing the engine for overhaul when certain critical condition have been attained.

Most helicopter flight control systems use conventional rod and lever mechanical control units.
In the cockpit, dual controls for cyclic (pitch and roll), collective and yaw are provided. Handling a large helicopter such as the EH 101 Merlin requires a great deal of effort and concentration by pilots who have other considerable demands placed upon them, for instance by Air Traffic Control or mission requirements.

The need for an advanced AFCS is therefore necessary.

The AFCS functions may be split into two main areas:

Auto stabilization functions

Pitch, roll and yaw auto stabilization Pitch and roll attitude hold Heading hold Turn co-ordination

Autopilot functions

Radar altitude hold Air speed hold Hover hold Vertical speed acquire