Honors Engineering: Week Twelve

This week I decided to look into Helicopters. Helicopters are interesting because in many ways they are much more difficult to fly and build compared to an airplane.

The helicopter was initially imagined by Leonardo da Vinci. He based its design off of that of a screw. A screw has threads on it that continue to descend at a constant rate. He decided to take that idea and applied it to a flying machine. The threads on the screw became the propeller of the helicopter, since air would continue to circulate around the propeller at a constant rate, allowing it to remain airborne. It is not certain that this design worked, or was even built, but it is rumored that da Vinci did in fact build the machine, and that it hovered successfully.

The helicopter has been designed and redesigned several times now, but it still a tricky machine to opperate. The helicopter depends less on thrust and gravity, and more on balance. Considering the somewhat awkward shape of the helicopter, it is easy to understand why balancing an object such as itself would be a difficult task to complete successfully. It is very front heavy and has a long tail sticking out at the back.

The helicopter depends very heavily on the gyroscope. The gyroscope was initially thought of in 1817 by Johann Bohnenberger, and was later redesigned by Walter R. Johnson. The gyroscope is basically an internal compass or a guidance system. It assists in balance and guidence, which is why it helps the helicopter so greatly.