Helicopters make good rescue aircraft because they can hover in the air and land in small spaces. At sea they hover while the crew pulls people from the water. They are also used to lift injured mountaineers to hospital.
Who invented the first true helicopter?
People had been making brief helicopter flights since 1907, but the first successful helicopter flight was in 1939. Inventor Igor, Sikorsky flew his VS-300, which had a single main rotor and a tail rotor. This was the ancestor of all modern helicopters.
Amazing! Helicopters can be used as cranes! ‘Skycranes’ can move heavy objects over short distances. They have a cargo space where the fuselage normally is.
Is it true? All helicopters have two rotors.
No. Very modern helicopters have a tail thruster, instead of a second rotor, but most helicopters do have two rotors. As the engine spins the main rotor one way, it also tries to spin the fuselage the other way. A second rotor on the tail stops this happening. On twin-rotor helicopters, the main rotors spin in opposite directions, so no tail rotor is needed.
What is an autogyro?
An autogyro has a rotor that is not driven by an engine. As the autogyro is pushed along by its propeller, the rotor spins round automatically, providing the lift that keeps the autogyro in the air.
Picture Credit : Google