This helicopter had 4 main lift rotors but it is not clear in the literature how many control/other rotors were provided and what their purpose was. Can anyone help explain and add some useful references?
* Last updated by: comodo15 on 8/27/2015 @ 10:05 PM *
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Created on: 08/27/15 12:00 AM
Replies: 3
comodo15
Joined: 08/27/15
Posts: 41
makerfeldt
Joined: 08/26/15
Posts: 13
RE: de Bothezat Helicopter
09/01/15 9:41 PM
Wikipedia notes that the aircraft "had two vertical propellers – "steering airscrews" – for lateral control, and two additional three-bladed propellers mounted horizontally above the Le Rhône engine to provide airflow for cooling." The article also notes that the lateral control devices were soon found "useless" and were removed. Hope this helps!
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comodo15
Joined: 08/27/15
Posts: 41
RE: de Bothezat Helicopter
09/01/15 9:53 PM
The Wikipedia article is interesting but it would be useful to see a diagram explaining the configuration of these propellers. 'Vertical propellers’ seems to imply that the axis of rotation was vertical, which would imply that differential thrust could roll the machine. However, this begs the question why similar propellers were not provided to provide pitch control.
comodo15
Joined: 08/27/15
Posts: 41
RE: de Bothezat Helicopter
09/02/15 7:58 PM
Found this really interesting image via the Smithsonian web site (please note that this image is property of the Smithsonian so please don’t download it). This seems to imply that the ‘vertical’ propellers were actually vertical in the sense of the plane of rotation. This almost certainly means that they were used for some sort of yaw control.
These propellers were subsequently removed so I think we are ok with the current description of the configuration detailed in the ‘Aircraft overview’ tab.
* Last updated by: comodo15 on 9/2/2015 @ 9:57 PM *
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