How do helicopters change altitude?

The lower swash plate is fixed and doesn’t rotate. The collective allows the swash plate assembly to change the angle of all blades simultaneously. Doing this increases or decreases the lift that the main rotor supplies to the vehicle, allowing the helicopter to gain or lose altitude.

Which force would cause the helicopter to drop in altitude?

As the helicopter moves forward, it begins to lose altitude because of the lift that is lost as thrust is diverted forward. However, as the helicopter begins to accelerate, the rotor system becomes more efficient due to the increased airflow. The result is excess power over that which is required to hover.

What happens in vortex ring state?

The vortex ring state (VRS) is a dangerous aerodynamic condition that may arise in helicopter flight, when a vortex ring system engulfs the rotor causing severe loss of lift. Vortex ring state is sometimes referred to as settling with power.

How helicopter is controlled and state the mechanism used in flight controls?

A helicopter has four controls: collective pitch control, throttle control, antitorque control, and cyclic pitch control. The collective pitch control is usually found at the pilot’s left hand; it is a lever that moves up and down to change the pitch angle of the main rotor blades.

What is a vortex ring state in helicopters?

A vortex ring state is when the helicopter’s downwash recirculates into the induced flow and the helicopter descends while under power. A vortex ring state is a very dangerous situation but can be avoided. The condition occurs when the vortices from the blade tips recirculate into the induced flow of the rotor.

What causes a vortex ring to develop?

The condition occurs when the vortices from the blade tips recirculate into the induced flow of the rotor. For this to occur, there are several conditions that must be present: If these conditions are present, a vortex ring state could develop. As such, a pilot should be very careful to avoid these conditions.

What is an autorotative descent in a helicopter?

In a helicopter, an autorotative descent is a power-off maneuver in which the engine is disengaged from the main rotor disk and the rotor blades are driven solely by the upward flow of air through the rotor. [Figure 11-1]In other words, the engine is no longer supplying power to the main rotor.

Does it matter which direction you move when flying a helicopter?

Honestly, it doesn’t matter in which direction you move as long as you get out of the disturbed air and you don’t hit anything while trying to do it. Once you leave the disturbed air and you feel your helicopter is falling less, do add some collective and get out of that situation.