Elenco Aerial Screw - Manual (Page 9)

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In 1907 a French engineer, Paul Comu, managed to lift a twin-rotor model off
the ground for just a few seconds. A little more than a decade later, another
Frenchman, Etienne Oehmichen demonstrated a helicopter that flew for under
10 minutes. It wasn't until the late 1930s that helicopters became reliable
machines of flight. Igor Sikorsky, a Russian-American designed and flew the
Vought-Sikorsky VS-300, the first viable helicopter, which pioneered the rotor
configuration used by most helicopters today.
THE AERIAL SCREW CONCEPT
HAS DEVELOPED INTO OUR
MODERN DAY HELICOPTER
WHO DEVELOPED THE MODERN HELCOPTER?
HOW HELICOPTERS FLY
The rotary aircraft is lifted into the air by two or more wings on a central spinning
rotor shaft. The helicopter’s rotating wing assembly is called the main rotor. An
engine powers the spin shaft and by slightly angling the moving wings downward,
a principle called LIFT is created. The lift however, needs to be controlled in order
to keep the helicopter from spinning in circles once it is airborne. This is achieved
with a force called THRUST, which is applied in a sideways direction to counteract
the engine’s inclination to continually spin the body. The usual way to provide a
thrust force is to attach another set of rotating wings to a long boom. These wings
are known as the TAIL ROTOR. The thrust of the tail rotor equals the reaction
of the main rotor, thereby canceling each other out. This not only stops the helicopter
from spinning, but also steers the machine while in flight. Although the pedals that
a helicopter uses to steer are called RUDDER PEDALS, the machine does not in fact
have a rudder, but rather has pedals that control the thrust of the tail rotor.