Written from a pilot's perspective, this unique book provides a comprehensive overview of helicopter flying. It provides insight into all aspects of the modern helicopter, from turbine engines to automatic flight control systems, including descriptions of phenomena not explained elsewhere. Based on the author's experience of flying more than 43 types of helicopters, the book is easily understood and describes not only the way helicopters fly but also some of the peculiar things they do, and why.
Possibly the most complete book written to date on helicopters and helicopter flying. Covers subjects not covered by other manuals such as turbine engines, performance, flight manuals, automatic flight controls, legal aspects, introductory stability and control and multi-engine helicopters.
The modern helicopter is a sophisticated device which merges a surprising number of technologies together. This wide range of disciplines is one of the fascinations of the helicopter, but it is also makes a complete understanding difficult. Those searching for an understanding of the helicopter will find The Art of the Helicopter invaluable. John Watkinson approaches every subject associated with the helicopter from first principles and builds up in a clearly explained logical sequence using plain English and clear diagrams, avoiding unnecessary mathematics. Technical terms and buzzwords are defined and acronyms are spelled out. Misnomers, myths and old wives tales (for there are plenty surrounding helicopters) are disposed of. Whilst the contents of the book are expressed in straightforward language there is no oversimplification and the content is based on established physics and accepted theory. The student of helicopter technology or aerodynamics will find here a concise introduction leading naturally to more advanced textbooks on the subject.* Designed to complement the instruction of PPL(H) flying training in order to assist helicopter pilots in-training to achieve their "wings".* Clear and simple diagrams aid verbal explanations to provide an easy to understand account of how helicopters are made, how they fly and how to fly them.* The only book to cover all the aspects of helicopter design, manufacture and performance in one volume.
The history of the helicopter may be traced back to the Chinese flying top (c. 400 BC) and to the work of Leonardo da Vinci, who sketched designs for a vertical flight machine utilizing a screw-type propeller. In the late 19th-century, Thomas Edison experimented with helicopter models, realizing that no such machine would be able to fly until the development of a sufficiently lightweight engine. When the internal combustion gasoline engine came on the scene around 1900, the stage was set for the real development of helicopter technology. While this text provides a concise history of helicopter development, its true purpose is to provide the engineering analysis required to design a highly successful rotorcraft. Toward that end the book offers thorough, comprehensive coverage of the theory of helicopter flight: the elements of vertical flight, forward flight, performance, design, mathematics of rotating systems, rotary wing dynamics and aerodynamics, aeroelasticity, stability and control, stall, noise and more. Wayne Johnson has worked for the U.S. Army and NASA at the Ames Research Center in California. Through his company Johnson Aeronautics, he is engaged in the development of software that is used throughout the world for the analysis of rotorcraft. In this book, Dr. Johnson has compiled a monumental resource that is essential reading for any student or aeronautical engineer interested in the design and development of vertical-flight aircraft.
From an engineer and futurist, an impassioned account of technological stagnation since the 1970s and an imaginative blueprint for a richer, more abundant future The science fiction of the 1960s promised us a future remade by technological innovation: we’d vacation in geodesic domes on Mars, have meaningful conversations with computers, and drop our children off at school in flying cars. Fast-forward 60 years, and we’re still stuck in traffic in gas-guzzling sedans and boarding the same types of planes we flew in over half a century ago. What happened to the future we were promised? In Where Is My Flying Car?, J. Storrs Hall sets out to answer this deceptively simple question. What starts as an examination of the technical limitations of building flying cars evolves into an investigation of the scientific, technological, and social roots of the economic stagnation that started in the 1970s. From the failure to adopt nuclear energy and the suppression of cold fusion technology to the rise of a counterculture hostile to progress, Hall recounts how our collective ambitions for the future were derailed, with devastating consequences for global wealth creation and distribution. Hall then outlines a framework for a future powered by exponential progress—one in which we build as much in the world of atoms as we do in the world of bits, one rich in abundance and wonder. Drawing on years of original research and personal engineering experience, Where Is My Flying Car?, originally published in 2018, is an urgent, timely analysis of technological progress over the last 50 years and a bold vision for a better future.
Includes the Aerial Warfare In Europe During World War II illustrations pack with over 200 maps, plans, and photos. Hanna Reitsch is unusual in being a feminine woman who was yet the equal of men in a dangerous male profession — test-piloting new military aircraft. Her love of flying from childhood on, along with her superior intelligence, determination, and ability to withstand tremendous stresses, gave her the edge that allowed her to rise to the top of the aviation world. Hanna Reitsch offered her gifts to the German nation in the same way that Adolf Hitler and many others did — with a complete giving of herself and her abilities, holding nothing back. Although she lived to 1979, she never renounced her participation with the National Socialist government or criticized Hitler, even under pressure to do so. Hanna’s life story is an amazing one that sounds almost unbelievable in its drama and acts of heroism. She never married or had children; instead she occupied herself with the two burning loves of her life — flying and the salvation of her beloved Fatherland in its time of need.
The story behind the technology that revolutionized both aeronautics, and the course of history On a moonless night in January 1991, a dozen airplanes appeared in the skies over Baghdad. Or, rather, didn't appear. They arrived in the dark, their black outlines cloaking them from sight. More importantly, their odd, angular shapes, which made them look like flying origami, rendered them undetectable to Iraq's formidable air defenses. Stealth technology, developed during the decades before Desert Storm, had arrived. To American planners and strategists at the outset of the Cold War, this seemingly ultimate way to gain ascendance over the USSR was only a question. What if the United States could defend its airspace while at the same time send a plane through Soviet skies undetected? A craft with such capacity would have to be essentially invisible to radar - an apparently miraculous feat of physics and engineering. In Stealth, Peter Westwick unveils the process by which the impossible was achieved. At heart, Stealth is a tale of two aerospace companies, Lockheed and Northrop, and their fierce competition - with each other and with themselves - to obtain what was estimated one of the largest procurement contracts in history. Westwick's book fully explores the individual and collective ingenuity and determination required to make these planes and in the process provides a fresh view of the period leading up to the end of the Soviet Union. Taking into account the role of technology, as well as the art and science of physics and engineering, Westwick offers an engaging narrative, one that immerses readers in the race to produce a weapon that some thought might save the world, and which certainly changed it.
Acquire the Life-Saving Skills Needed to Eliminate or Reduce Most Helicopter Accidents A vital resource for pilots, helicopter enthusiasts, and aircraft maintenance technicians, Fatal Traps for Helicopter Pilots analyzes all aspects of helicopter accidents, including flight basics, engineering, meteorology, flight training, and human factors. This life-saving guide shows how proper preparation can help prevent accidents by addressing causes such as aerodynamic problems, mechanical failures, poor loading, mid-air collisions, and more. Filled with case studies and first-hand accounts of accidents, the book organizes accident types by primary causes, presenting proven methods for eliminating or reducing the possibility of each type. Greg Whyte, an ex commercial helicopter pilot and professional aviation writer, draws on his own flying experiences and those of other flight veterans to provide a wealth of practical information and safety tips that are essential for everyone who flies, maintains or crews in helicopters. Filled with over 100 helpful illustrations, Fatal Traps for Helicopter Pilots enables readers to: Identify and address the common causes of helicopter accidents Explore in-depth examples of accident scenarios Examine the technical details of accident causes Review case studies and first-hand accounts of accidents Learn from the plain-English notes on avoidance and recovery Inside This Aviation Accident-Prevention Guide • Basic Flight Principles • Vortex Ring State • Recirculation • Ground Resonance • Retreating Blade Stall • Dynamic Rollover • Overpitching • Main Rotor Strikes • Mid-Air Collisions • Mast Bumping • Engine Failures • Tail Rotor Failures • Mechanical Failures • Fuel • Fire • Ditching • Loading Issues • Winching • Weather • Crew and Pre-flight Hazards • Human Factors • Training Mishaps
