Figure 1-16.—H-3 helicopter.gear to the catapult shuttle and for holdback. Incomparison with the bridle and holdback pendantmethod of catapult hookup for launching, the nose gearlaunch equipment requires fewer personnel, the hookupis accomplished more safely, and time is saved inpositioning an aircraft for launch.ROTARY-WING AIRCRAFTLearning Objective: Recognize the con-struction features of the rotary-wing aircraft(helicopter) and identify the fundamentaldifferences as compared to fixed-wing aircraft.The history of rotary-wing development embraces500-year-old efforts to produce a workable direct-lift-type flying machine. Aircraft designers’ earlyexperiments in the helicopter field were fruitless. It isonly within the last 30 years that encouraging progresshas been made. It is within the past 20 years thatproduction line helicopters have become a reality.Today, helicopters are found throughout the world.They perform countless tasks especially suited to theirunique capabilities. Helicopters are the modem-dayversion of the dream envisioned centuries ago byLeonardo da Vinci.Early in the development of rotary-wing aircraft, aneed arose for a new word to designate this direct-liftflying device. A resourceful Frenchman chose the twowords-heliko, which means screw or spiral, and pteron,which means wing. The word helicopter is thecombination of these two words.A helicopter employs one or more power-drivenhorizontal airscrews, or rotors, from which it derives liftand propulsion. If a single rotor is used, it is necessaryto employ a means to counteract torque. If more thanone rotor is used, torque is eliminated by turning therotors in opposite directions.The fundamental advantage the helicopter has overconventional aircraft is that lift and control areindependent of forward speed. A helicopter can flyforward, backward, or sideways, or it can remain instationary flight (hover) above the ground. No runwayis required for a helicopter to take off or land. The roofof an office building is an adequate landing area. Thehelicopter is considered a safe aircraft because thetakeoff and landing speed is zero.The construction of helicoptersconstruction of fixed-wing aircraft.FUSELAGEis similar to theLike the fuselage in fixed-wing aircraft, helicopterfuselages may be welded truss or some form ofmonocoque construction. Many Navy helicopters are ofthe monocoque design.1-16
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