Helicopter

I was wondering if an Helicopter could fly upside down?

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In order for a helicopter to maintain a straight and level flight or hover upside down, it needs to reverse the thrust of its main rotor.

There are some radio controlled helicopters capable of doing that (the trick is also known as the "lawn mower"), but not real helicopter can do that.

However, some real helicopters (not remote controlled) are capable of performing loops and rolls. This is usually done only by aerobatics pilots and is considered to be a dangerous maneuver. During a loop, the helicopter's thrust is not reversed and the whole airframe is under positive G factor (unlike a stable upside down flight which put the airframe under negative G factor).

 

 

 


Posted 1 year ago ( permalink )
atyachin was invited by Yedda to answer this question.

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The answer is yes and no. Many military helicopters can perform a vertical loop, where they are inverted momentarily. However, I do not believe there are any helicopters that can sustain inverted flight. The reason for this is not that the rotors would push air upward--the rotors can be rotated to direct air downward.

 

See http://www.glumbert.com/media/flash/player.swf?file=aerobatics&autostart of a helicopter essentially performing inverted loops - but notice how quickly it falls when it is upside down.

 

Cheers

Riaan

London

 


Posted 1 year ago ( permalink )
Riaanvs was invited by Yedda to answer this question.

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Here is another good video where you can see it is not possible without falling:

 


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Thanks guys. Awesome video clip.


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A R/C helicopter can, but i'm not sure if a real helicopter can.


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no once you get to a certain blade pitch,the blades will stall and you'll start comin down


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