Provisional chapter
Helicopter Flight Physics
Constantin Rotaru and Michael Todorov
Additional information is available at the end of the chapter
Abstract
This chapter is dedicated to present the principles that constitute the fundamentals of
helicopter flight physics, starting from the basics of the main rotor aerodynamics and
of the component parts related to flight control. The chapter opens with a short history
of helicopter development, taking the date of 13th November 1907 for a reference point;
this is the date when the first helicopter flight occurred, having the French man, Paul
Cornu, for a pilot. The main constructive solutions for helicopters are presented and the
basic equations of fluid mechanics are applied on a helicopter model with one main rotor
and tail rotor. Helicopter hovering, vertical flight, and forward flight are approached, too,
one by one. Furthermore, the ground effect, autorotation, stability, and helicopter control
are focused on. At the end of the chapter, the main factors that determine the helicopter
performances are mentioned.
Keywords: helicopter aerodynamics, induced velocity, autorotation, ground effect, hover
1. Introduction
The helicopter belongs to the flight machine category with the highest operational efficiency
because it does not need special take-off and landing grounds with expensive utilities and
logistics equipment. For the short and medium range, the flight efficiency of helicopters is
comparable with those of the airplanes. It is able to hover, fly sideward, backward, forward,
and perform other desirable maneuvers in civilian field like sea and mountain rescue, police
surveillance, and firefighting; or in military missions such as battlefield surveillance, troop
transport, assault, and antitank operations. So far with the help of helicopters, lives of over a
million of people were saved. In the last years, the results obtained in the scientific research of
many aeronautical disciplines has allowed for large increase in the flight dynamics, control,
navigation, and lift capabilities of helicopters.
The aerodynamic limitations imposed by the main rotor were understood better and overcome
gradually so, the present helicopters are able to fly at about 370 km/h. The continued advance
© The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons
Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use,
distribution, and eproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.71516
© 2018 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons
Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use,
distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
