I was on break at work eating a sandwich when suddenly an idea struck me it was this:
why can't you have a helicopter with a propellor for forward thrust instead of using the main rotor
i wrote some ideas down, came home and did some research and found out they actually exist and are called compound helicopters
i also did some initial drawings when i was on my break, but after doing research i found something which looked exactly like what i had drawn
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piasecki_X-49
so i just have a couple questions:
1. why dont more if not most helicopters use this technology?
2. can an alternative be found to power the main rotor instead of an engine?
3. can current helicopters be simply modified to have a propellor on the back?
well im not an engineer so i cant answer the first and third question (i hope some of you can though)
but i have an idea for the the second question:
you could use tips jets - compressed air from a compressor / small jet producing thrust bled through to the end of the rotors
i say this because then hopefully the torque which the tail rotor compensates for is not there, and it could be lighter without all the 'technical stuff' going from engine to rotor(wouldnt it?)
i thought an autogiro would make a good base if the compound helicopter was being powered by tip jets, or a small helicopter like a mosquito xe could be used and the tail rotor would be taken away and a prop will be added.
Both aircraft will need a set of wings
advice will be very much appreciated
thank-you
why can't you have a helicopter with a propellor for forward thrust instead of using the main rotor
i wrote some ideas down, came home and did some research and found out they actually exist and are called compound helicopters
i also did some initial drawings when i was on my break, but after doing research i found something which looked exactly like what i had drawn
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piasecki_X-49
so i just have a couple questions:
1. why dont more if not most helicopters use this technology?
2. can an alternative be found to power the main rotor instead of an engine?
3. can current helicopters be simply modified to have a propellor on the back?
well im not an engineer so i cant answer the first and third question (i hope some of you can though)
but i have an idea for the the second question:
you could use tips jets - compressed air from a compressor / small jet producing thrust bled through to the end of the rotors
i say this because then hopefully the torque which the tail rotor compensates for is not there, and it could be lighter without all the 'technical stuff' going from engine to rotor(wouldnt it?)
i thought an autogiro would make a good base if the compound helicopter was being powered by tip jets, or a small helicopter like a mosquito xe could be used and the tail rotor would be taken away and a prop will be added.
Both aircraft will need a set of wings
advice will be very much appreciated
thank-you