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Helicopters: How They Work
Unique To Helicopters
These things are unique to helicopters. Well, most everything else that was already
stated was unique to helicopters, but these are more things unique to helicopters. Now,
some may argue that NOE(Nap of the Earth) flight can be performed in airplanes, but nothing like the way
it can be done in a helicopter. I used to take the Airforce pilots out during survival
training exercises low and fast over the trees. They would all comment that they never
had experienced any kind of flying like that. The lowest they ever got was 500 Ft AGL.
Yes, they went much faster than we ever did in a helicopter, but the sensation of speed
and the margin of error at 500 Ft is much different than it is at 5 Ft. In the summer, we
would fly with the doors taken off the aircraft. When you are flying 100 Knots at 5 Ft
with the doors off, it becomes a very exciting and unique experience.
Effective Translational Lift (ETL)
ETL is a state of flight where the aircraft leaves the cushion of
ground effect, and starts to fly forward into "Clean Air". It
is reached at approximately 15-20 knots of forward airspeed, and is noticeable
to the pilot as he/she must change pedal inputs from heavy left pedal inputs
at a hover to a more neutral setting. The pilot will also feel a shuttering
in the rotor system as the aircraft begins to fly out of the recycled rotor wash
generated from the aircraft rotor system. The cyclic will try to move backward
in the pilots hand as the rotor system wants to "Blow Back".
The front of the rotor system will try to rise and slow the aircraft automatically.
This happens since the front of the rotor system is flying in clean air
first, and the aft portion of the rotor system is still not in clean air
quite yet. It is then that the pilot will further induce forward cyclic
inputs to keep the aircraft moving ahead to gain airspeed. ETL can best
be characterized as the transition from a hover to forward flight.
Nap Of the Earth Flight
Nap of the earth flight (NOE) is a mode of flight in which the pilot must
keep the aircraft very close to the ground, following the contours of hills,
streams, canyons, and all other land features. Often, the aircraft is within
a few feet of power lines, trees, grass, rocks, and other obstacles. This
is usually a form of combat maneuvering where you try to limit the enemy's
view of the aircraft. If they can't see it, they usually can't shoot at it.
It was developed as an answer to the problem of being shot down by heat
seeking missiles during the Viet Nam conflict. Pilots used to fly very
high so they were out of the range of small arms fire. Once the deployment
of heat seeking shoulder fired missiles had taken place, the helicopter
pilots needed to develop a new tactic for routine flying to limit the effectiveness
of these portable and very lethal weapons. By putting trees, hills and
other ground contours between the person with the missile and the aircraft,
the pilots found themselves in a lot safer environment. Also, small arms
fire was still not as much of a problem since the aircraft was directly
over the shooter for a very short period, and they could not sight in on
the target in so little time. By the time a shooter could get his weapon
raised, the aircraft was usually out of sight or there would be some obstacle
between the aircraft and the shooter. In NOE flight the pilot must be
in complete control of the aircraft. All obstacles must be avoided, and
navigation must be performed with fewer visual queues for the pilot to
work with. Things look very different at such a low altitude. Ground navigation
techniques must be employed as normal flight navigation is almost useless
at these low altitudes. Aircraft limitations must not be exceeded, radio
calls must be performed, and time schedules must be met. NOE requires an
instant division of attention, and quick reflex actions. If you start taking
fire from the ground, an alternate route must be established immediately.
If obstacles become a problem, evasive maneuvers must be initiated without
hesitation. At maximum airspeed, and minimal altitude, instantaneous decisions
must be made at all times, or the aircraft could become a smoking hole
in the ground in a matter of seconds. NOE flight can be the most exciting,
rewarding, and physically exhausting flying anyone could do in a helicopter.
WSPS System
On
the front of most U.S. Army and many civil helicopters you may notice a
knife like fixture on the top of the cockpit, and one on the bottom of
the aircraft near the chin bubbles. These are not antennae for radios like
most people believe. They are part of the Wire Strike Protection System
(WSPS). The WSPS is made up of several components to protect the helicopter
from high wire strikes. It was developed because of the increased risk
of wire strikes while flying at NOE altitudes. If a helicopter hits a power
line (Telephone line, electrical line, guy wire for a tower, or any other
wire obstacle), the rotor system may become entangled with the wire, and
catastrophic failure of the rotor system could lead to total destruction
of the aircraft. The WSPS was developed to reduce the severity of a wire
obstacle collision by diverting the wire into the cutter blade assemblies.
The cutter blades affixed to the top and bottom of the frontal area of
the aircraft will usually cut the wire and eliminate the hazard. On UH
- 1 Huey helicopters, a set of bars will carry the wire over external parts
of the windshield wipers. On OH-58 helicopters, the center section
of the windshield has an abrasive cutting strip (Built into the windshield
deflector) to score the wire and weaken
it before it comes in contact with the WSPS cutters. The WSPS system protects
90% of the frontal area of the helicopter, and reduces the hazard from
most wire strikes. With the WSPS, the pilot has a 95% chance of surviving
a single wire strike. The odds of survival decrease as the number of wires increases.
2 wires will reduce the chances to 75%, 3 wires to 50%, and 4 wires to
about 25%. Although the WSPS system is quite effective, care must still
be used to avoid all wire obstacles. Apache, Cobra, and Blackhawk helicopters
all have a smaller, less noticeable WSPS system on them. They can usually
be seen just above the cockpit, and near landing gear struts. Chinooks do not
have WSPS systems.
Here is an excerpt from a recent e-mail I received (January 2009):
I work for (Company) where I am responsible for the marketing of
the Wire Strike Protection System (WSPS). My concern is that the
following information relating to the WSPS is incorrect:
The WSPS system protects 90% of the frontal area of the helicopter, and reduces the
hazard from most wire strikes. With the WSPS, the pilot has a 95% chance of surviving
a single wire strike. The odds of survival decrease as the number of wires increases.
2 wires will reduce the chances to 75%, 3 wires to 50%, and 4 wires to about 25%.
No study has ever been conducted to determine chance of survival percentage. There
are too many variables that effect the chance of survival (velocity, yaw, type of
cable, type of helicopter, etc) to be able to assign percentages. If you have data
to support this claim please share with me. I'd be interested to see it. In addition,
the 90% protection of the frontal area of a helicopter varies from model to model. Some
helicopters are higher than 90% coverage and some are much lower.
I would appreciate if you could make the necessary changes to reflect these concerns.
(End of E-mail excerpt)
The original information posted here came from the U.S. Army Aviation Center (Unclassified)
literature concerning WSPS systems on Army helicopters. There are always two sides to just
about every story, and this seems to be no exception. Now, in the interest of fairness and a
better understanding, you have both.
Autorotation
Most people think that a helicopter will fall like a rock and the rotor system will stop once the engine fails.
This is a totally false assumption. A helicopter can continue to fly without any power from the engine. "Autorotation"
is the term used for "Gliding" a helicopter down after the engine fails or the throttle is retarded to the idle position.
If you look at a rotor blade from the tip of the blade toward the root, you will see it will twist laterally. At the tip of the blade,
the leading edge may point down while at the root of the blade, the leading edge may point up. This allows different regions of the blade
to perform different tasks, one of which is Autorotation. The outer portion of the blade, when the collective is lowered all the way to
what is called "Flat Pitch", will drive the rotor system as the aircraft glides downward, increasing or maintaining the speed of the rotor
system. The rotor system is driven normally by a centrifugal clutch which is positively engaged while the engine supplies power, but
disengages when power is removed. The rotor system "Free Wheels", and continues to spin. The air traveling upward through the rotor system
continues to drive the system and maintain rotor RPM.
The aircraft descends rather rapidly, but with a high rotor RPM, the aircraft can be cushioned to the ground effectively and landed without incident.
Additional weights are housed in the tips of the rotor blades to increase the inertia of the rotor system, and aid in autorotation. The procedure for
autorotation is to lower the collective immediately and put in full right pedal, and enter a steady
state of autorotation. Full right pedal must be put in because the torque has stopped from the lack of engine power, and the tail rotor thrust is
only necessary at this point to control aircraft trim. (By putting in right pedal, you effectivly neutralize the tail rotor, and it provides no thrust).
The pilot must find a suitable landing area, and maneuver as necessary to make the intended landing area, making certain that the rotor RPM is within
limits. At approximately 100 FT AGL (Above Ground Level) start a progressive deceleration to decrease forward airspeed, and about 15 FT AGL, lift the
collective in a quick jerking motion to cushion the aircraft initially as a vertical
brake. The initial collective pitch pull should be enough to retard the descent, and the rest of the collective pitch should be pulled in gradually
and continually as the aircraft settles to the ground. You should land with little or no forward airspeed, and the landing should be relatively
soft, depending on the surface you are landing to. A safer autorotational approach depends on where you land. If you land in a field where forward
movement would be dangerous, you should plan for a shorter landing run. This requires a more vertical drop in the last part of the autorotation.
If you have the room to slide, then a more shallow approach can be made and a longer ground run should be allowed. A more vertical drop is harder
to accomplish and your timing needs to be a lot more precise, where a shallower drop is more forgiving and you need to be less precise on your timing.
In a Chinook, the rear wheel locks are electrically operated. During autorotation, If the rotor RPM decreases below a certain value, the generators
will fall off line, and the wheel locks will disengage. If this happens, the aircraft will most likely land aft wheels first, and without swivel locks
engaged on the rear wheels, it could make for a very interesting ride.
If you need one of these, you are not a real pilot!
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