Re: Now this is the way to fly!

Doug Jones (random@qnet.com)
Thu, 18 Nov 1999 11:26:01 -0800

Chuck Kuecker wrote:

> It's not a true helicopter, in that it has no blade pitch controls.
> It's essentially two big propellers that you hang from. If all the
> engines quit, it could autorotate you straight down, without much
> control sideways. I believe they were going to put a ballistic
> parachute on top of the rotors, in case of catastrophe.

If the collective blade pitch cannot be lowered to a negative value, the rotors will *not* autorotate at all, but will simply slow down until they stall. At this point you're flying a rock and a chute is the only way to avoid being street pizza. 

--
Doug Jones
Rocket Plumber, XCOR Aerospace
http://www.xcor-aerospace.com