Will My Helicopter Fly Straight?
Helicopter control system
- Longitudinal cyclic stick to make the main rotor pull forward or aft.
- Lateral cyclic stick to make the main rotor pull sideways.
- Directional control pedals to point the nose.
- Collective stick to control how much vertical force is provided by the main rotor.
Directional control provides additional benefit
- Anti-torque
- Stand on skates and try to twist a vertical pole that is fixed in the ground.
- You won’t move the pole.
- You will turn around the pole backwards.
- Without directional control the fuselage will rotate opposite of the rotor.
How do you design the directional control system?