Compound Helos

[cyberzomby]

Originally Posted by Hunt3r

Basically, it automatically deflects the wash from the ducted fan to compensate for torque of the rotors spinning.

As said before, there's a video of it hovering. Because the ducted fan is blowing air, the pitch required to keep it in a stable hover is about 10-15 degrees for the Apache.

The advantage is that you can now launch behind cover if there is a lase. Hellfire flies from cover, finds laser, and off it goes.

This is basically the same deal as the Cheyenne, which can go at 216 knots. Compound helos are in essence a helo with a pusher prop and some stub wings.

They can hover, they can do anything a standard helo can, except with a payload penalty that is resolved by more power or a rolling takeoff

Once again, here's the video to show what the current X-49A can do:

Thanks a lot for the clear explenation

[Hunt3r]

Originally Posted by Tirak

Okay, some things. For the swept wing, I really hope you guys are just talking about forward sweep. We've had swept back wings on aircraft since the end of WWII and let's not forget America's first jet fighter which had swept wings.



Another thing, modern fighter aircraft are designed with stability in mind. When you let go of the controls they are designed to go into level flight. THE EXCEPTION TO THIS RULE is the F16 which was deliberately designed with negative stability to increase agility. Now this practice is used by the US military, if other military forces do it differently then so be it.

Regarding the "fighters are inherently stable" idea, no, it's not how jet fighters are designed. As it is, most all fighter jets (F-22, F-35, F-16, etc.) require FBW.

[Tirak]

The F-16 was a proof of concept that did far better than predicted showing how well an unstable design can work. The F-22 has an unstable design due to shape, not for maneuverability but for stealth. The F-35 has an extremely complex VTOL system and is also designed with semi stealth in mind. The design of sharp angles for radar reflection is unstable in itself, which is why they need the FBW, this is the reason, not because they were looking to increase agility.

[Zrix]

The J10, JAS39, EF, Mirage 2000, and probably some more all have an unstable design requiring some degree of FBW to control, in order to gain agility.
Maybe you were talking about US fighters only, but at least globally, unstable designs are no longer PoC's or unavoidable side effects.

[CastleBravo]

Most fighters that were designed after the F-16 went into production have been designed with relaxed stability. Still, most fighters that are in service today are not of a relaxed-stability design. The F-16 and the Mirage 2000 are the only relaxed-stability fighters I know of that have been around for a while. The F-15, F/A-18, Mig-29, SU-27, ect.. are all designed for positive-stability.

Fly by wire is still used by some stable aircraft for its other benefits, such as the ability to limit angle-of-attack and G-forces automaticly so that the pilot can easily fly the jet on the very edge of its performance without exceding design limits or departing controlled flight.

[Ironfist7997]

whilst it all looks cool and you get a faster helo, isn't it just something else to go wrong?

now i know current kit is very complicate already so why add to the workload?

But I can understand the need for faster helo's, especially with gunships doing escort duty, seeing as a chinook can outpace an apache. I guess i'm just having trouble seeing the full benefit of this system.

nice vid tho, thanks to the OP for the post

[Hunt3r]

Originally Posted by Ironfist7997

whilst it all looks cool and you get a faster helo, isn't it just something else to go wrong?

now i know current kit is very complicate already so why add to the workload?

But I can understand the need for faster helo's, especially with gunships doing escort duty, seeing as a chinook can outpace an apache. I guess i'm just having trouble seeing the full benefit of this system.

nice vid tho, thanks to the OP for the post

Eh not much to go wrong. It's basically rearranging the current tail system, and really isn't very complicated.

However it does require more power to drive it at high speed.

[chilean]

Woww... New Choppers generation, didnt like it looks like take it from a Science Fiction movie

[PowerPickle]

It would be cool if helicopters could use the magnetic field of the Earth to move somehow..

[Zrix]

Originally Posted by PowerPickle

It would be cool if helicopters could use the magnetic field of the Earth to move somehow..

Oh but they do. It's called falling.