What is a Helicopter? How Does It Fly?

In this article, we’ve covered general information about helicopters and how they fly in detail. They are extremely important in the defense, transportation, and war industries. However, their technology and features continue to be a source of curiosity.

Helicopters are efficient rotary-wing aircraft used as passenger or fighter aircraft. Known as a type of aircraft, helicopters lack wings and can take off vertically, allowing them to land in very narrow spaces. Unlike airplanes, they don’t require massive airfields or runways.

The first helicopters were built in 1784 by two Frenchmen, Bienvenu and Launoy. Their propellers were even made of feathers. Until 1907, many non-human-carrying helicopters were tested. However, the first helicopter capable of carrying humans was built in 1907 by a Frenchman named Paul Cornu. This helicopter, with a person aboard, reached an altitude of 1.5 meters and flew for approximately one and a half minutes.

How Does a Helicopter Fly?

Helicopters are frequently used transportation vehicles in the aviation industry. While airplanes fly with their wings, helicopters fly with their rotating propellers. While wings provide both airborne and lift in airplanes, this function is achieved in helicopters by their rotating propellers.

Unlike airplanes, helicopters can also take off and land vertically. They are also winged aircraft, capable of hovering in the air. Helicopters, which carry passengers and cargo in civilian and military settings worldwide, are used not only for passenger and cargo transport but also as defensive vehicles. Unlike airplanes, helicopters have rotating wings called blades or rotors. As a helicopter’s wings rotate, they create a force called lift, which allows the helicopter to rise into the air. A helicopter’s rotors serve the same function as an airplane’s wings.

How Does a Helicopter Stay in the Air?

Like airplanes, helicopters operate by generating lift, a force that exceeds their weight and propels them upward. Helicopters generate lift by moving air over their airfoils to create lift and ascend. However, instead of having the airfoils on a single fixed wing, they are placed on rotor blades that rotate at high speed.

Helicopters can take off and land vertically. They can even hover or rotate while stationary. Helicopter rotors are too heavy and large to carry them.

What Are the Main Parts of a Helicopter?

A typical helicopter has thousands of components, consisting of many main parts. These key parts allow helicopters to fly safely and reliably. The main frame is called the fuselage in a helicopter. This fuselage is made of a very strong yet relatively lightweight composite material. Helicopters have one or two main rotors and a tail rotor at the rear, smaller than the main rotor. Powering the helicopter are one or two engines, a transmission, and gearboxes.

Some Major Parts of a Helicopter

Helicopter Body

The body, or basic structure, of a helicopter can be made of metal, wood, or a combination of both. Generally, these composite components consist of many layers of fiber-impregnated resin bonded together to form a flat panel. Tubular and sheet metal substructures are usually made of aluminum, but sometimes stainless steel or titanium is used in areas subject to higher stress or heat. Helicopter body design encompasses a combination of engineering, aerodynamics, materials technology, and manufacturing methods to achieve optimal balances of performance, reliability, and cost.

Engine

While some smaller helicopters still use piston engines like those found in cars and trucks, many helicopters now use gas turbines, more similar to the jet engines found in conventional aircraft. These engines run smoother and vibrate much less. They are more powerful and less mechanically complex. Many modern helicopters have turboshaft engines, similar to those found in regular jet engines in aircraft.

Helicopter Main Rotor

The primary role of helicopter hovering rests on the massive rotating rotors. But of course, no helicopter flies solely on the rotors. The action and reaction are equal and opposite. As a helicopter’s rotor spins, the helicopter itself tends to rotate more slowly in the opposite direction. A helicopter’s main rotor blades come in three basic types, allowing for increased movement as they rotate. These are called rigid, semi-rigid, and fully articulated.

Helicopter Tail Rotor

Helicopters carry a second, much smaller rotor on their tails, perpendicular to the main rotor. The sole purpose and capability of these tail rotors is to prevent the helicopter from spinning. Due to the rotation of the main rotor, the helicopter experiences a reaction force in the opposite direction. The tail rotor creates a force in the opposite direction, helping the helicopter to remain stable in the air.

If a helicopter has a single main rotor, it must have a tail rotor, fenestron, or NOTAR. Otherwise, it cannot perform a safe flight. Furthermore, damage to the tail rotor, such as a bird strike or missile strike, can cause a helicopter to crash suddenly and dangerously.

Helicopter Landing Gear or Skids

A helicopter’s landing gear is simply a set of tubular metal skids. Many helicopters have wheeled landing gear, some of which are retractable. These landing gears enable the helicopter to land safely.

Helicopter Structure and Operating System

Helicopter structures are designed to give them unique flight characteristics. Unlike aircraft, their most important feature is their ability to move forward, but also backward and sideways. Helicopters, which can hover in place, do not require runways for takeoff and landing like aircraft do. They are used for search, rescue, and transport purposes even in the most difficult terrain.

A helicopter’s engine provides the necessary power to turn the rotors. As the rotors move through the air, they create low pressure on the upper surfaces and high pressure on the lower surfaces. This pressure difference creates lift. A helicopter’s engine is the vehicle that enables the rotors to rotate. Conversely, the fuselage tends to rotate in the opposite direction. To counter this, a smaller propeller is added to the rear section. This propeller spins six times faster than the main engine and maintains the helicopter’s stability.