tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-308340212121889567.post8254996254831069554..comments2024-03-11T09:53:09.705+03:00Comments on Empires of the mind.: Rotating WingsTerry Kiddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03888160718812027224noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-308340212121889567.post-64583905537063524702009-11-06T07:52:16.080+02:002009-11-06T07:52:16.080+02:00Yes I recall the Rotodyne. The tip jets were suppl...Yes I recall the Rotodyne. The tip jets were supplied with air from compressors which was mixed with fuel inside the tip jets, (according to wiki)<br /><br />This make a non-torque rotor system which means that an opposing tail rotor is uneccessary. This IS a good thing, but I imagine engineering the air and fuel feed up the main shaft and out along the rotors might have had some intersting safety implications.<br /><br />The tip-jet concept, or rather a tip-rocket, is an idea that's been hijacked recently for a backpack sized Hydrogen Peroxide powered helicopter. <br /><br />H2O2 flows down the rotors to pass through a catalist where it flashes off into steam to produce thrust to push the rotor around.<br /><br />It sounds like it ought to work.Terry Kiddhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03888160718812027224noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-308340212121889567.post-29275825167571849442009-11-05T13:30:48.750+02:002009-11-05T13:30:48.750+02:00Fairy Rotodyne.
This was a gyrocopter that was de...Fairy Rotodyne.<br /><br />This was a gyrocopter that was developed in the uk. It was intended as a short-hop airliner for city-to-city travel. The engineering was amazing, it took off as a helicopter, with the rotors propelled by tiny jet-engines at their tips (these powered from the main engines in some way that I now forget). When it was in the air, the two main propeller engines took over, the tip-jets shut down, and it became a gyrocopter, meaning it could fly faster than a helicopter (the same idea as used in 'airwolf', but the rotodyne existed). If the tip-jets failed when you were landing, no problem, fly to an airstrip and land it like a normal aircraft. If either engine failed, no problem, if both engines failed it was still possible to safely land as a pure gyro, provided you got down quickly (the gyro-copter effect allowed you to soft-land like a sycamore leaf).<br /><br />This amazing piece of technology would have revolutionized short-hop transport, except that the government chose to forcibly amalgamate all the helicopter companies into 'Westland' (remember that? What happened to that, I wonder?) and the project got 'lost' in the shake-up. Eventually, even the working prototypes were lost, and the rotodyne is now just a few pictures on wikipedia.<br /><br />Another great British technical achievement snafued by like of vision, and government meddling.<br /><br />ColumAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-308340212121889567.post-23619480877198768922009-09-21T06:27:16.141+03:002009-09-21T06:27:16.141+03:00Oooo! I want one! Wouldn't it be fun to fly a ...Oooo! I want one! Wouldn't it be fun to fly a gyrocopter? Very cool. Thanks for the explanation on how they work. What I had in my head was something entirely different. This makes much more sense.Annette Bowmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10550559452745322804noreply@blogger.com