Posted by Michael Banks on February 20, 2014 at 11:51am
Is it possible to have a helicopter without a tail rotor ? I'm aware of torque associated with the rotor blade & set ups such as notar & fenistrom style tails. But I'd like to create a aircraft that has a tilting main rotor head... Much like a swash plate on a heliccopter's main rotor head with pitch change links that change the angle of the rotating head ( not the pitch of the blades)But my question is... How can I counter torque from the rotor head without a tail..main body of the craft is simply a long egg shaped sphere running vertically that's located beneath the rotor head. Inside the clear sphere is a camera that I'd like to keep relatively stationary. Could I simply suspend the airframe from a gimbal type bearing.. Would this be enough to prevent the chassis from spinning up. Note: the only time the camera is filming is while the rotor is not turning.. It's in free fall mode as it is going to be thrown from a plane & free fall for a few thousand feet before the rotor blades start up.
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There is nothing like having a tail rotor to give good yaw control.
One solution that I like that eliminates the inherent need for a tailrotor for counter torque control is to directly drive the main blades using motors mounted on the head. This is reputed to give a very efficient model heli but it still requires a tail rotor for yaw.There is a thread on RCGroups about it.
I'm thinking of using contra rotating blades.. Is this this a better alternative... Note the blades need to fold upwards ... As they begin their descent in a shuttlecock style arrangement and spread out at a set altitude.
Replies
I ran across this a couple days ago. Largest CoAx heli I've seen. You could take the body off and just use the mechanics.
http://www.scaleflying.com/Sikorsky-X2_p_2791.html
Dave Herbert did just that when he introduce the Hyperfly. he prove the possibility but your take off and landing would be auto gyro like.
I tried that with my walkera DF4 and it worked.
his trick is a helicopter powered main rotor with swash but with the tail assembly that of a plane with rudder .
but you need a rolling takeoff for it to work
alternative is to have tip jet powered rotor like having two EDFs one the tip of each blade
then same thing a rudder in replace of a tail rotor
old video but it should give you an idea
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2CRfIkwYB4
There is nothing like having a tail rotor to give good yaw control.
One solution that I like that eliminates the inherent need for a tailrotor for counter torque control is to directly drive the main blades using motors mounted on the head. This is reputed to give a very efficient model heli but it still requires a tail rotor for yaw.There is a thread on RCGroups about it.
Peter