Question for the Rotor Heads...:)

AKBill

AKBill

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AKBill
Do helicopters feel the same turbulence that small singles do. Flew today and there was a lot of mechanical turbulence with winds coming off the mountains. I was not a happy camper. I would think helicopters would feel the same turbulence.

If so I bet there were some unhappy cruise ship passengers taking site seeing tours around Juneau.

I've only had 2 helo flights. One in a Huey and the second in a Hughs 500. Both fights were VRF/MVFR with mild winds. No turbulence.
 
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Yes. Turbulence is essentially wind shear, and the rotor disc is a wing.
 
AKBill said:
Do helicopters feel the same turbulence that small singles do
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Yes and no. In my experience, turbulence in an airplane is more linear where the same in a helicopter is widely variable. Even though the M/R is a wing there are advancing/retreating movements with only one blade pointing forward at any given time. So you tend to roll, pitch, and yaw more depending how you enter the turbulence. Also the type of M/R design (rigid, teetering, etc) and number of M/R blades affect the ride. Throw in flight control design differences and the turbulence can induce unwanted control movements like collective bounce. It can be a ride sometimes.
 
Generally helicopters do slightly better because of their blades have very high “wing” loading. Also the ability of the blades to flex more than a typical fixed wing tend to dampen the effects. Because of their small vertical tails, you tend to get some pretty good yaw going in a helicopter.

In moderate turbulence or greater I’m not sure you’d notice a difference. I’ve had pax float in their seats because it was so bad. A lot of times I’ll turn the AP off because it will over control. In light turb I leave it on but restrict its movement on the cyclic with my hand.
 
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Yes, and they yaw more. Maybe big ones are less prone, I only have experience in small Hughes
 
I have always noticed less turbulence flying helicopters than fixed wing, for several of the reasons stated above, especially the ability of the blades to flex.
 
Thanks for the replies. Like I said I've only had 2 rides in a helo. The first was when I was in the Navy. The second was a trip out to a remote mine in SE Alaska to inspect a few pieces of underground equipment. That flight was MVFR and we were just off the tree tops. I was impressed and had fun on that ride. They had a camp at they mine and the fed me breakfast before we went underground to check out the equipment. What more could you ask for getting to fly and have a good meal to start the day....:)
 
Being a Cav pilot some days the the 58’s would be puking in refuel and the guns, AH1s and AH-64s could never understand...weight and flight stabilization makes a huge difference just like fixed wing
 
I only have 10 hours in helicopters and another 2 in autogyros, but in my experience the effect of turbulence in both is negligible compared to fixed wing.
 
My first helicopter ride cost only a quarter, and it was in front of the Piggly Wiggly.

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In other news, Hogg’s distant cousin Hendrick is building a fine example of a homemade helicopter in South Africa.


I predict a patent infringement lawsuit from Messerschmitt Bolkow in the future. ;)
 
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Helicopters do seem to tolerate mild amounts of turbulence better than fixed wings, but after that I’d say the two are about equal.
 
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