HELICOPTER CONFIGURATIONS

5.9. HELICOPTER CONFIGURATIONS

As in the case of fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters have many different configurations. The most popular helicopter
arrangement is that of the single rotor using a tail rotor, such as is illustrated in Fig. 5-59. The single-rotor helicopter
is relatively lightweight when compared to other configurations. This is due to its fairly simple design, with one rotor,
one main transmission, and one set of controls.

Figure 5-59. Sikorsky's 76 Mark II Helicopter. (Sikorsky Aircraft.)

The disadvantages of the single-rotor machine are its limited lifting and speed capabilities and a severe safety hazard
during ground operation, with the tail rotor positioned several feet behind the pilot and out of the line of vision. In
addition, a portion of the available engine power must be diverted from producing lift to provide antitorque
correction.

5.9.1. Tail-Rotor Designs

The conventional tail rotor consists of a rotor of two or more blades located at the end of the tailboom. As already
discussed, the tail rotor is used with single-rotor helicopters to counteract yawing movement resulting from the
torque effect of the engine-transmission-main-rotor system. It does this by generating a side thrust at the end of the
tailboom which tries to rotate the helicopter about its vertical axis. This yawing thrust is varied to counter the yawing
movement imposed by the main-rotor torque. During cruising flight and hovering changes in altitude, the tail rotor
corrects for torque. The tail rotor can also be used to change the heading of the helicopter when in a hover.

The Fenestron tail-rotor system uses what might be called a ducted-fan antitorque system. This system uses a
multibladed fan mounted in the vertical fin on the end of the tailboom. This arrangement reduces aerodynamic
losses due to blade-tip vortices, reduces the blanking of the antitorque control system by the vertical stabilizer, and
reduces the chance of people walking into the tail rotor.

The ring guard is an adaptation of the conventional tail-rotor system which has a ring built around the tail rotor. This
ring acts as a duct for the tail rotor, increases the safety of the tail rotor for ground personnel, and eliminates the
vertical-stabilizer-blanking effect. These three types of antitorque controls are shown in Fig. 5-60.
Figure 5-60. Various types of tail rotors presently in use.

The NOTAR system (NO Tail Rotor), illustrated in Fig. 5-61, was developed by McDonnell-Douglas Helicopter
Company to eliminate the hazards, maintenance, and noise of the conventional tail rotor. This system uses a ducted
airflow in a tail cone to generate a pre-determined amount of lift on one side of the tail cone and a controllable
rotating cold-air exhaust duct to counteract variations in the main-rotor-system torque.

Figure 5-61. A NOTAR helicopter uses a flow of air instead of a tail rotor to control yawing motion.

5.9.2. Tandem-Rotor Helicopters

A tandem-rotor helicopter manufactured by Boeing Vertol, a Division of Boeing Company, is shown in Fig. 5-62. This
helicopter uses two synchronized rotors turning in opposite directions. The opposite rotation of the rotors causes
one rotor to cancel the torque of the other, thus eliminating the need for an antitorque rotor. Each rotor is fully
articulated and has three blades. Climb or descent is accomplished by means of the collective-pitch control. When
the collective-pitch lever is raised, the pitch of all six rotor blades is increased simultaneously, causing the helicopter
to ascend. This control, therefore, operates similarly to the collective-pitch control for a single-rotor helicopter.
Descent is accomplished by lowering the collective pitch control.
Figure 5-62. Tandem-rotor helicopter. (Boeing Vertol, Division of Boeing Commercial Aircraft Co.)

Directional control is achieved by tilting the plane of rotation of the rotors. Control motions to accomplish a turn are
imparted by the control stick (cyclic-pitch control), the directional pedals, or both. These controls tilt the swashplates
in the rotor controls which, in turn, raise or lower the pitch links. The pitch links vary the pitch of the rotor blades
during the rotation cycle. Since the lift of the rotor blades is increased through part of the cycle and decreased
through another part of the cycle, the plane of rotation is tilted. When the pilot applies directional-pedal-control
movement in one direction, the plane of rotation of the forward rotor is tilted downward in that direction and the
plane of rotation of the aft rotor is tilted downward in the opposite direction. This causes the helicopter to make a
hovering turn around the vertical axis, as illustrated in Fig. 5-63. The tandem helicopter is capable of lifting large
loads, since these loads may be distributed between the two rotors. A disadvantage of the tandem-rotor helicopter is
that it is not efficient in forward flight because one rotor is working in the wake of the other. This loss of lift may be
minimized by placing the rear rotor above the main rotor.

Figure 5-63. Rotor-plane movement during a turn. (Boeing Vertol, Division of Boeing Commercial Aircraft Co.)

5.9.3. Side-by-Side Rotor Helicopters

The side-by-side helicopter has two main rotors mounted on pylons or wings positioned out from the sides of the
fuselage, as illustrated in Fig. 5-64. The side-by-side configuration has the rotors turning in opposite directions, which
eliminates the need for a tail rotor.

Figure 5-64. Russian Mi-12 helicopter. (General Electric.)

The advantages of the side-by-side configuration are that it has excellent stability and that the rotors are more
efficient in forward flight than in the tandem arrangement, due to the fact that one rotor is not in the wake of the
other. The side-by-side helicopter has the disadvantages of having high parasitic drag and high structural weight,
both resulting from the structure necessary to support the main rotors.

5.9.4. Coaxial Rotor Helicopters

In the coaxial helicopter, illustrated in Fig. 5-65, fuselage torque is eliminated by using two counter-rotating rigid
main rotors mounted one above the other on a common shaft. This type of configuration is also referred to as the
advancing-blade concept because the lift load at high forward speed is carried primarily by the advancing blades. It
combines the advantages of a low-speed helicopter with those of a high-speed aircraft, without the need for a wing
and without the need for a tail rotor.

Figure 5-65. Sikorsky S-69 Advancing-Blade-Concept Demonstrator. (Sikorsky Aircraft.)

By avoiding retreating-blade stall, which is a key limiting factor in the speed and maneuverability of a pure helicopter,
the coaxial helicopter has been made faster and more maneuverable. This design has successfully demonstrated
forward speeds of more than 250 kt [129 m/s].

5.9.5. Tilt-Rotor Aircraft

After many years of research, the technology in the areas of composites and electronic flight-control systems has
finally been developed to make a functional tilt-rotor aircraft a reality. The tilt rotor has the ability to combine the
vertical takeoff low-speed capabilities of the helicopter with the high-speed performance of a turboprop airplane.

The V-22 Osprey, illustrated in Fig. 5-66, resembles a twin turboprop with large-diameter propellers, or rotors,
mounted on wingtip nacelles. The engines rotate from a vertical position for helicopter flight to a horizontal position
for cruise flight.

Figure 5-66. V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft.

Marine V-22 tiltrotor. (Department of Defense.)

XV-15 tiltrotor aircraft. (NASA.)

Lift in the vertical, or hover, position is provided totally from the 38-ft- [11.6-cm-] diameter prop rotors. When in the
horizontal, or cruise, position, lift is provided by the wings. The tilt rotor operates effectively with the engines
between the vertical and horizontal positions, which provides for a wide range of lift and speed combinations. When
operated in this conversion configuration, lift is provided from both the wings and the prop rotors. Full conversion
from the hover to the fixed-wing mode can be accomplished in approximately 12 seconds.

5.9.6. X-Wing Aircraft

The X-wing aircraft illustrated in Fig. 5-67 is a concept model for a vertical takeoff and landing aircraft which uses a
four-bladed, helicopter-like rotor system that rotates for hover and low-speed flight and stops at approximately 200 kt
[103 m/s] to become a fixed-wing aircraft for high-speed flight. The vehicle then flies as a fixed-wing aircraft while
accelerating to speeds of approximately 450 to 500 kt [232 to 257 m/s] using an auxiliary propulsion system.

Figure 5-67. Sikorsky X-Wing Aircraft. (Sikorsky Aircraft.)

In addition to employing computerized flight controls and the latest in composite technology, the X-wing aircraft
relies on an air-circulation system, which is essential to the X-wing concept. This system is composed of a
compressor, control valves, and ducts to the leading and trailing edges of the rotor/wing. The compressor feeds
pressurized air through hollow leading and trailing edges to slots in the rotor/wing. The air is blown out the slots over
the rounded leading and trailing edges of the symmetrically shaped rotor/wing, providing circulation-controlled lift.
Lift is controlled by altering the airflow through the slots, thus allowing the air-circulation system to substitute for
collective control and cyclic control as well as for flaps and ailerons. During transition from a rotor/wing to a fixed-
wing aircraft, all lift must be generated by the air-circulation system.
Citation
EXPORT
Michael J. Kroes; Michael S. Nolan: Aircraft Basic Science, Eighth Edition. HELICOPTER CONFIGURATIONS, Chapter
(McGraw-Hill Professional, 2013), AccessEngineering

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