Do you know how a helicopter flies?

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In this installment we will review how a helicopter, functioning, advantage, its different parts and more information about these aircraft.

A helicopter is a type of aircraft that, unlike the plane, can fly vertically, up and down, sideways or back. It can also spin or hang in the air. What's more, can fly lower than airplanes. Among the most frequent uses that are given to helicopters are: transport, construction, search and rescue in natural disasters and accidents, military and surveillance use, but how does a helicopter fly?

Next, Gustavo Junovich, General Manager of Ecocopter Ecuador, explains interesting details about helicopters to learn more about them.

Definition of helicopter

A helicopter is a type of aircraft that is characterized and distinguished because it is supported and propelled from one or more horizontal rotors.. The rotor is composed of two or more blades and is that rotating part of the aircraft that allows the aerodynamic lift of the ship, which is why helicopters are mostly used in isolated areas, or in those in which congestion predominates and in which an aircraft could not operate with its characteristics.

Functioning

Its operation is based on rotating the blades (they are not blades or propellers) of the main rotor that have a wing profile like that of airplanes to avoid this turn, most helicopters have a tail rotor that pushes the fuselage in the opposite direction, stabilizing it.

Advantages of using helicopters

• They travel in a straight line regardless of landforms.
• Landing and take-off operations are much simpler than those of airplanes.
• They are easy to ground almost anywhere, or the ability to orbit over a specific point in hovering flight.
• They don't need landing strips

How does a helicopter fly?

It is important to consider that, over a helicopter, just like in a fixed wing aircraft (airplane), they act 4 fundamental forces during flight: weight, lift, push and drag.

Weight is the force with which the ground pulls the helicopter down, lift is the force that lifts the helicopter, that is to say, the force that opposes the weight and allows it to fly, the thrust is the force that moves the helicopter forward and the drag is the force that opposes the movement of the helicopter. The big difference between a fixed wing aircraft (airplane) and a rotary wing aircraft (helicopter) it is the way in which the lift and thrust forces are generated.

On the plane, lift is generated by the wings, as it moves through the air; while the thrust is generated by the motor. In a helicopter, the main rotor is the one that produces the lift force and at the same time, pushing force.

Main parts of a helicopter:

• Rotor blades: part of the main apparatus that ensures the propulsion and lift of the helicopter.
• Rotor principal: central part of the main apparatus that guarantees the propulsion and lift of the helicopter.
• cockpit: cubicle reserved for handling the apparatus.
• joysticks: helicopter control knob. CYCLIC AND COLLECTIVE
• Rudder pedal control: foot operated rudder control.
• landing skid: metal support device.
• Cola: narrow rear fuselage.
• Vertical and horizontal stabilizers: parts of the aircraft that prevent deviation of the same
• Rotor antipar: auxiliary apparatus that guarantees the lift and propulsion of the helicopter.

Have you ever flown in a helicopter? Here I tell you how is this experience:

Flying over Quito in a Eurocopter AS350B3e

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