Helicopter Physics Series - #2 Chopper Control - Smarter Every Day 46

The presenter demonstrates that helicopter control becomes easy once you understand the physics behind it.

Leonardo Da Vinci designed a medieval helicopter concept, but it lacked a mechanism to counteract the torque created by the rotating blades.

Modern helicopters use a tail rotor to provide counter-torque, but applying force to a free-floating body causes it to drift, raising the question of how helicopters maintain stability.

The video will progress from basic helicopter operation to a deep understanding of how all control systems work together.

The main rotor system provides both lift and control for the helicopter by varying the pitch of each rotor blade.

The swashplate converts non-rotating control motion into rotating control motion, serving as the source of all helicopter control.

• Collective pitch: moves the swashplate up or down to change the pitch of both blades simultaneously, controlling altitude • Cyclic pitch: tilts the swashplate to change blade pitch every revolution, controlling pitch and roll • Antitorque: the tail rotor system prevents the helicopter body from rotating

Helicopter altitude is not controlled by blade speed, which remains constant; instead, it's controlled by changing the pitch angle of the blades to take more or less of a bite of air.

Collective pitch is the control that changes the pitch of both rotor blades by moving the swashplate up or down.

The swashplate moves vertically, which directly controls how much of a bite of air the rotors take from the atmosphere.

Moving the collective up increases blade pitch and makes the helicopter rise; moving it down decreases pitch and makes the helicopter descend.

If the helicopter is upside down, the effect reverses because the blade orientation is inverted.

The tail rotor counteracts the reaction torque from the main blades spinning, which would otherwise make the helicopter body rotate in the opposite direction.

The tail rotor blades maintain constant speed, just like the main blades; thrust control is achieved by changing the pitch of the tail rotor blades.

By pushing or pulling air with variable pitch, the tail rotor can generate thrust in both directions to control the helicopter's yaw.

The spinning action of the main blades creates a torque that makes the helicopter want to rotate opposite to the blade direction; the tail rotor's counter-torque cancels this effect.

Cyclic pitch works by tilting the swashplate, which changes the pitch of the rotor blades continuously through the rotation of the rotor shaft.

As the swashplate tilts, a linkage rides on it and pushes up on different sides of the blade during each rotation, changing the pitch at specific points in the rotation cycle.

Cyclic pitch control allows the pilot to tilt the helicopter in any direction by controlling the pitch and roll independently.

With cyclic pitch control mastered, the pilot can perform aerobatic maneuvers and flip the helicopter in any direction desired.

Understanding collective pitch, cyclic pitch, and antitorque control means the viewer now fundamentally understands how helicopters are controlled.

These three fundamental control systems and their terminology will be essential for understanding more advanced helicopter physics in upcoming videos.

Future videos in the series will build on this knowledge and explore deeper, more mind-blowing aspects of helicopter physics.

Viewers are encouraged to subscribe to see the continuation of the helicopter physics video series.