Kopp–Etchells effect after two soldiers who had died in the war, one American and one British.
History
The use of a rotor for vertical
flight
Flight or flying is the process by which an object moves through a space without contacting any planetary surface, either within an atmosphere (i.e. air flight or aviation) or through the vacuum of outer space (i.e. spaceflight). This can be a ...
has existed since 400 BC in the form of the
bamboo-copter
The bamboo-copter, also known as the bamboo dragonfly or Chinese top (Chinese ''zhuqingting'' (竹蜻蜓), Japanese ''taketonbo'' ), is a toy helicopter rotor that flies up when its shaft is rapidly spun. This helicopter-like top originated in ...
, an ancient Chinese toy.
[Leishman, J. Gordon. ''Principles of Helicopter Aerodynamics''. Cambridge aerospace series, 18. Cambridge: ]Cambridge University Press
Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII of England, King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press
A university press is an academic publishing hou ...
, 2006. . pp. 7-9
Web extract
The bamboo-copter is spun by rolling a stick attached to a rotor. The spinning creates lift, and the toy flies when released.
The philosopher
Ge Hong
Ge Hong (; b. 283 – d. 343 or 364), courtesy name Zhichuan (稚川), was a Chinese linguist, Taoist practitioner, philosopher, physician, politician, and writer during the Eastern Jin dynasty. He was the author of '' Essays on Chinese Characte ...
's book the ''
Baopuzi'' (Master Who Embraces Simplicity), written around 317, describes the apocryphal use of a possible rotor in aircraft: "Some have made flying cars
eiche 飛車with wood from the inner part of the jujube tree, using ox-leather (straps) fastened to returning blades so as to set the machine in motion."
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, Drawing, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially res ...
designed a machine known as an "aerial screw" with a rotor based on a
water screw
A screw pump is a positive-displacement pump that use one or several screws to move fluid solids or liquids along the screw(s) axis.
Three principal forms exist; In its simplest form (the Archimedes' screw pump or 'water screw'), a single scr ...
. The Russian polymath
Mikhail Lomonosov
Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov (; russian: Михаил (Михайло) Васильевич Ломоносов, p=mʲɪxɐˈil vɐˈsʲilʲjɪvʲɪtɕ , a=Ru-Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov.ogg; – ) was a Russian Empire, Russian polymath, s ...
developed a rotor based on the Chinese toy. The French naturalist Christian de Launoy constructed his rotor out of turkey feathers.
Sir George Cayley
Sir George Cayley, 6th Baronet (27 December 1773 – 15 December 1857) was an English engineer, inventor, and aviator. He is one of the most important people in the history of aeronautics. Many consider him to be the first true scientific aer ...
, inspired by the Chinese toy in his childhood, created multiple vertical flight machines with rotors made of tin sheets.
Alphonse Pénaud
Alphonse Pénaud (31 May 1850 – 22 October 1880), was a 19th-century French pioneer of aviation design and engineering. He was the originator of the use of twisted rubber to power model aircraft, and his 1871 model airplane, which he called ...
would later develop the coaxial rotor model helicopter toys in 1870, powered by rubber bands. One of these toys, given as a gift by their father, would inspire the
Wright brothers to pursue the dream of flight.
Before development of powered helicopters in the mid 20th century,
autogyro
An autogyro (from Greek and , "self-turning"), also known as a ''gyroplane'', is a type of rotorcraft that uses an unpowered rotor in free autorotation to develop lift. Forward thrust is provided independently, by an engine-driven propeller. Whi ...
pioneer
Juan de la Cierva
Juan de la Cierva y Codorníu, 1st Count of la Cierva (; 21 September 1895 in Murcia, Spain – 9 December 1936 in Croydon, United Kingdom) was a Spanish civil engineer, pilot and a self taught aeronautical engineer. His most famous accomplish ...
researched and developed many of the fundamentals of the rotor. De la Cierva is credited with successful development of multi-bladed, fully articulated rotor systems. These systems, in their various modified forms, are the basis of most modern multi-bladed helicopter rotor systems.
The first successful attempt at a single-lift rotor helicopter design used a four-blade main rotor, as designed by Soviet aeronautical engineers Boris N. Yuriev and Alexei M. Cheremukhin, both working at the ''
Tsentralniy Aerogidrodinamicheskiy Institut'' (TsAGI, the Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute) near
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
in the early 1930s. Their
TsAGI
The Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute (also (Zhukovsky) Central Institute of Aerodynamics, russian: Центра́льный аэрогидродинами́ческий институ́т, ЦАГИ, Tsentral'nyy Aerogidrodinamicheskiy Institut, ...
1-EA helicopter was able to fly in low altitude testing in 1931–32, with Cheremukhin flying it as high as 605 meters (1,985 ft) by mid-August 1932.
[Savine, Alexandre]
"TsAGI 1-EA."
''ctrl-c.liu.se,'' 24 March 1997. Retrieved 12 December 2010.
In the 1930s,
Arthur Young improved the stability of two-bladed rotor systems with the introduction of a stabilizer bar. This system was used in several
Bell
A bell is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be made by an inter ...
and
Hiller helicopter models. The Hiller system variant using airfoiled paddles at the flybar's ends has been used in many of the earliest designs of
remote control model helicopters, from their 1970s origins onwards to the very early 21st century.
In the late 1940s, the making of helicopter rotor blades was a job that inspired
John T. Parsons to be a pioneer of
numerical control
Numerical control (also computer numerical control, and commonly called CNC) is the automated control of machining tools (such as drills, lathes, mills, grinders, routers and 3D printers) by means of a computer. A CNC machine processes a pi ...
(NC). NC and CNC (computerized numerical control) turned out to be an important new technology that later affected all
machining
Machining is a process in which a material (often metal) is cut to a desired final shape and size by a controlled material-removal process. The processes that have this common theme are collectively called subtractive manufacturing, which utilizes ...
industries.
References
External links
Rotor Analysis - Blade Element Momentum Theory"Helicopter Aircraft" US Patent 2,368,698, for flybar invention, by Arthur Young
{{DEFAULTSORT:Helicopter Rotor
Rotor
Rotor may refer to:
Science and technology
Engineering
*Rotor (electric), the non-stationary part of an alternator or electric motor, operating with a stationary element so called the stator
* Helicopter rotor, the rotary wing(s) of a rotorcraft ...
Rotor
Rotor may refer to:
Science and technology
Engineering
*Rotor (electric), the non-stationary part of an alternator or electric motor, operating with a stationary element so called the stator
* Helicopter rotor, the rotary wing(s) of a rotorcraft ...
Chinese inventions
Leonardo da Vinci projects