CH-46 Flight Controls

[mkoch]

Ok, a technical question for you phrog flyers. I'm fairly familiar with "traditional" single rotor birds with the tail rotor hooked into the rudder pedals for control along the horizontal axis. However, the phrog lacks a "traditional" tail rotor for this. Is this bird capable of rotating in a hover like a single-rotor craft, and if so, how does it work?

 

[Steve Wilkins]

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that the blades counter rotate and that each blade creates a torque that is equal to, but in the opposite direction of the "other" blade and therefore creating a net torque of zero, hence no need for a tail rotor. But I'm just a SWO, so this is all just a wild guess....I think.

The tail rotor controls the aircraft along the vertical axis (akin to a rudder of fixed wing a/c, but yes, different none the less).

 

[squeeze]

http://www.helicopterpage.com/html/tandem.html

first result when googling "how does it work tandem helicopter"
go figure

 

[mkoch]

You're dead on that they counter rotate and create a net torque of zero, which prevents unwanted rotation. However, what I'm asking is how to cause controlled rotation, e.g. turning the bird around in a smaller space than flying in a big arc like a fixed-wing bird would do. I suppose it's possible that adjusting rotating speed could cause the desired affect, but with my limited physics expertise and zero flight time, I'm just shooting in the dark. I wish the sikorsky actually produced a dual rotor bird, then I'd just walk downstairs and ask the engineers.

 

[mkoch]

Thanks squeeze, in all my googling i never thought to use the word "tandem". That's exactly what I was looking for.

 

[eddie]

A lot of times, when people ask questions, it is because they know they are looking for something, but don't necessarily know what. Without the right criteria, they'll never find it, even with the magic of Google.

And a lot of times, they are just lazy...

Just thoughts.

 

[phrogdriver]

If you're talking about yaw control, i.e. about the vertical axis, the rotors tilt in opposite directions left/right. In the other axis, it is almost identical to a normal helo.

 

[phrogpilot73]

If you're talking about yaw control, i.e. about the vertical axis, the rotors tilt in opposite directions left/right. In the other axis, it is almost identical to a normal helo.

I'm waiting for the "how do you tilt the rotor discs forward without chopping yourselves in half?" Question...

 

[Scab]

I'm waiting for the "how do you tilt the rotor discs forward without chopping yourselves in half?" Question...

Then you have to auto a '23'