(PhysOrg.com) -- Many trees disperse their seeds by releasing "helicopters," those single-winged seeds that are also called "samaras." As these seeds fall to the ground, their wing causes them to swirl and spin in a process ...
(Phys.org) —The flying machine looks something like a helicopter but it is quite different and is intended to be a future answer to the greening of noisy, vibration-heavy helicopters as we have known them. A two-seater ...
A Canadian-built helicopter that is powered by a human riding a bicycle has become the first winner of a decades-old $250,000 engineering prize, the US awarder said Friday.
Hi Tech & Innovation
Jul 12, 2013
18
1
A remote controlled helicopter has been flown through a series of hoops around a college gymnasium in Minnesota. It sounds like your everyday student project; however, there is one caveat… the helicopter was controlled ...
Engineering
Jun 4, 2013
3
0
(PhysOrg.com) -- Seattle research and development company LaserMotive has succeeded in keeping a model helicopter hovering for six hours, powered only by the energy of a laser.
(PhysOrg.com) -- Quadrotors, robotic vehicles resembling tiny helicopters, have been demonstrated by a group of scientists in the US. The quadrotors were shown carrying out impressive maneuvers and lifting payloads both singly ...
For the first time in history, two planets have been home to testing future aircraft designs. In this world, a new rotor that could be used with next-generation Mars helicopters was recently tested at NASA's Jet Propulsion ...
Space Exploration
Nov 22, 2023
6
106
Long time, no speak: NASA has re-established contact with the intrepid Ingenuity Mars Helicopter after more than two months of radio silence, the space agency said Friday.
Planetary Sciences
Jun 30, 2023
0
363
Parenting style—helicopter parenting (disciplinarian) versus free-range explorer (nurturing)—may be a key to the country's political future. A new study out of Carnegie Mellon University has found a person's parenting ...
Social Sciences
Jun 16, 2022
1
410
Imagery has come down from Mars capturing a recent flight in which the rotorcraft flew farther and faster than ever before.
Space Exploration
May 27, 2022
0
960
A helicopter (informally known as a "chopper") is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally. These attributes allow helicopters to be used in congested or isolated areas where fixed-wing aircraft would usually not be able to take off or land. The capability to efficiently hover for extended periods of time allows a helicopter to accomplish tasks that fixed-wing aircraft and other forms of vertical takeoff and landing aircraft cannot perform.
The word 'helicopter' is adapted from the French hélicoptère, coined by Gustave de Ponton d'Amecourt in 1861, which originates from the Greek helix/helik- (ἕλιξ) = "twisted, curved" and pteron (πτερόν) = "wing".
Helicopters were developed and built during the first half-century of flight, with the Focke-Wulf Fw 61 being the first operational helicopter in 1936. Some helicopters reached limited production, but it was not until 1942 that a helicopter designed by Igor Sikorsky reached full-scale production, with 131 aircraft built. Though most earlier designs used more than one main rotor, it was the single main rotor with antitorque tail rotor configuration of this design that would come to be recognized worldwide as the helicopter.
This text uses material from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA
