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Message no. 1
From: Mike J Diamond <Xingche@***.COM>
Subject: <SR2> Helicopter question
Date: Tue, 21 Jan 1997 04:51:25 -0500
Question for all y'all pilot knowledgable types, What does "Autorotation"
mean as far as a chopper goes? I seen it mentioned several placews, but it's
never explained. And it sounds like something I'm gonna need in a run
sometime soon.
-Mike
Message no. 2
From: Ted Cabeen <cabeen@******.COM>
Subject: Re: <SR2> Helicopter question
Date: Tue, 21 Jan 1997 04:08:54 -0600
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----

At 04:51 AM 1/21/97 -0500, you wrote:
>Question for all y'all pilot knowledgable types, What does "Autorotation"
>mean as far as a chopper goes? I seen it mentioned several placews, but it's

>never explained. And it sounds like something I'm gonna need in a run
>sometime soon.

- From what I remember, Autorotation is the ability of a helicopter to slow
it's
rate of descent when the the engine is not running. If the engine is out of
fuel, the blades rotate even though they have no power to them which prevents
the copter from crashing fatally and instead does not hit the ground hard
enough to kill the passengers. Depending on the specific helicopter, it may
land really hard, or it may touch down somewhat softly. It depends on how
good the autorotation system is.

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--
______________________________________________________________________________
Ted Cabeen http://shadowland.rh.uchicago.edu cabeen@******.com
Check Website or finger for PGP Public Key secabeen@******.uchicago.edu
"I have taken all knowledge to be my province." -F. Bacon cococabeen@***.com
"Human kind cannot bear very much reality."-T.S.Eliot 73126.626@**********.com
Message no. 3
From: Gurth <gurth@******.NL>
Subject: Re: <SR2> Helicopter question
Date: Tue, 21 Jan 1997 14:14:23 +0100
Mike J Diamond said on 4:51/21 Jan 97...

> Question for all y'all pilot knowledgable types, What does "Autorotation"
> mean as far as a chopper goes? I seen it mentioned several placews, but it's
> never explained. And it sounds like something I'm gonna need in a run
> sometime soon.

It means you disconnect the engine from the rotor, so it can turn freely
-- this allows you to land the chopper after an engine failure, because
the rotor keeps turning and providing some lift. Basically, it's to a
helicopter what gliding is to a fixed-wing aircraft.

The most important drawback (as with gliding) is that you don't get a
second chance if you mess up your first landing attempt.

--
Gurth@******.nl - http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/index.html
I wonder why anyone would want to name their kid after an airport...?
-> NERPS Project Leader & Unofficial Shadowrun Guru <-
-> The Plastic Warriors Page: http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/plastic.html <-

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Message no. 4
From: Spike <u5a77@*****.CS.KEELE.AC.UK>
Subject: Re: <SR2> Helicopter question
Date: Tue, 21 Jan 1997 14:57:01 +0000
|
|Question for all y'all pilot knowledgable types, What does "Autorotation"
|mean as far as a chopper goes? I seen it mentioned several placews, but it's
|never explained. And it sounds like something I'm gonna need in a run
|sometime soon.

If the engines fail, the rotors continue to spin due to the air forcing
itself through them. The spin *should* be just enough to slow the 'copter
down enough for a safe(ish) crash landing....

That, as far as I know, is autorotation.
--
______________________________________________________________________________
|u5a77@*****.cs.keele.ac.uk| "Are you pondering what I'm pondering Pinky?" |
|Andrew Halliwell | |
|Principal subjects in:- | "I think so brain, but this time, you control |
|Comp Sci & Electronics | the Encounter suit, and I'll do the voice..." |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|GCv3.1 GCS/EL>$ d---(dpu) s+/- a- C++ U N++ o+ K- w-- M+/++ PS+++ PE- Y t+ |
|5++ X+/++ R+ tv+ b+ D G e>PhD h/h+ !r! !y-|I can't say F**K either now! :( |
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Message no. 5
From: "Q (not from Star Trek)" <Scott.E.Meyer@*******.EDU>
Subject: Re: <SR2> Helicopter question
Date: Tue, 21 Jan 1997 11:06:48 -0600
On Tue, 21 Jan 1997, Ted Cabeen wrote:

> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
>
> At 04:51 AM 1/21/97 -0500, you wrote:
> >Question for all y'all pilot knowledgable types, What does
"Autorotation"
> >mean as far as a chopper goes? I seen it mentioned several placews,
but it's
> >never explained. And it sounds like something I'm gonna need in a run
> >sometime soon.
>
> - From what I remember, Autorotation is the ability of a helicopter to slow
> it's
> rate of descent when the the engine is not running. If the engine is out of
> fuel, the blades rotate even though they have no power to them which prevents
> the copter from crashing fatally and instead does not hit the ground hard
> enough to kill the passengers. Depending on the specific helicopter, it may
> land really hard, or it may touch down somewhat softly. It depends on how
> good the autorotation system is.
>
Some aircraft operate exclusively on autorotation. Spcecifically,
gyrocopters (aka autogyros) have 2 sets of propellers, the one on top is
completely free spinning, the one on the back provides forward momentum.
I'm not completely sure about the mechanics, but I know that gyrocopters
require forward momentum to stay airborn, but can still take off and land
vertically in small spaces. Gyrocopters have several advantages
over normal helicopters in that they are quieter, more economical, and
safer in that if the engine should stall, the vehicle is already in
autorotation so the pilot doesn't have to consciously disengage the engine
for a safe landing.

-Q

[snip PGP]
> ______________________________________________________________________________
> Ted Cabeen http://shadowland.rh.uchicago.edu cabeen@******.com
> Check Website or finger for PGP Public Key secabeen@******.uchicago.edu
> "I have taken all knowledge to be my province." -F. Bacon
cococabeen@***.com
> "Human kind cannot bear very much reality."-T.S.Eliot
73126.626@**********.com
>

---------------------------------------
"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human
stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former."
-Albert Einstein

Scott "Q" Meyer
Scott.E.Meyer@*******.edu
http://johnh.wheaton.edu/~smeyer
Message no. 6
From: "Paul J. Adam" <shadowrn@********.DEMON.CO.UK>
Subject: Re: <SR2> Helicopter question
Date: Tue, 21 Jan 1997 17:28:38 +0000
In message <970121045124_714444607@*******.mail.aol.com>, Mike J Diamond
<Xingche@***.COM> writes
>Question for all y'all pilot knowledgable types, What does "Autorotation"
>mean as far as a chopper goes? I seen it mentioned several placews, but it's
>never explained. And it sounds like something I'm gonna need in a run
>sometime soon.

Autorotation is how you "glide" a helicopter.

If the engine or gearbox in your helicopter dies and the aircraft is
still fairly intact, then the procedure goes like this.

Declutch the rotors from the engine: if it's damaged it will slow them
down, and those spinning rotors are the only thing keeping you airborne.
Also, immediately bottom the collective (it controls the amount the
rotors "bite" the air and thus the amount of lift it produces).

At this point you're still flying, but losing altitude: you need that
airflow through the rotors to keep their speed up. The drag of the
airflow through the rotor disc stops you falling too fast and also keeps
the blades turning at a decent speed.

Now you find somewhere to set down. Quickly. And you fly the aircraft
towards it before you run out of altitude.

As you descend - and here the timing is key - you raise the collective.
The rotors "bite" into the air and generate lift, slowing your descent.
However, the rotors are also slowing down and becoming less effective.

So, you have to get it just right. Too late, and you just crash into the
ground rather hard. Too early and your descent slows... then the rotors
run out of speed, can't generate any more lift, and you discover the
joys of free fall.

It basically lets you put a damaged helicopter down in not too many
pieces rather than simply falling out of the sky.



--
There are four kinds of homicide: felonious, excusable, justifiable and
praiseworthy...

Paul J. Adam paul@********.demon.co.uk
Message no. 7
From: Denzil Kruse <dkruse@***.AZ05.BULL.COM>
Subject: Re: <SR2> Helicopter question
Date: Wed, 22 Jan 1997 10:06:00 MST
>It basically lets you put a damaged helicopter down in not too many
>pieces rather than simply falling out of the sky.

When I was working at Honeywell programming the software that flew the
McDonald-Douglas MD11 and the Boeing 777, that was one of our favorite
sayings when discussing errors in the code. "Well, it's not like the plane
is going to fall out of the sky!" Of course we didn't say that when the
Boeing people were around...or the FAA auditors.

Denzil Kruse
d.kruse@****.com
Message no. 8
From: Mike Hartmann <hartmann@***********.M.EUNET.DE>
Subject: Re: <SR2> Helicopter question
Date: Wed, 22 Jan 1997 19:59:29 +0000
On 21 Jan 97 at 14:14, Gurth wrote:

> Mike J Diamond said on 4:51/21 Jan 97...
>
> > Question for all y'all pilot knowledgable types, What does
"Autorotation"
> > mean as far as a chopper goes? I seen it mentioned several placews, but it's
> > never explained. And it sounds like something I'm gonna need in a run
> > sometime soon.
>
> It means you disconnect the engine from the rotor, so it can turn freely
> -- this allows you to land the chopper after an engine failure, because
> the rotor keeps turning and providing some lift. Basically, it's to a
> helicopter what gliding is to a fixed-wing aircraft.

Not really, what happens is the following:
if the engine fails, the rotors don't provide any more lift forcing
the helicopter to descend at an accelerating speed. What the pilot
now does, is to change the angle of the rotor blades so that they get
rotated by the air that the helicopter is passing (thus starting to
"store" kinetic energy). At a certain point the pilot changes the
angle of the rotors again so that they use up the stored kinetic
energy and change the energy into lift again (actually it only slows
down the helicopter). Usually the decrease in speed is enough to let
the helicopter land safely. So autorotation is not a "built-in"
feature, but it depends on the piloting skill of your pilot. I once
was passenger in a helicopter that "lost" his engine at a height of
about 1300 meters. It was quite impressing, when the pilot didn't
show any sign of fear or nervosity. Later he explained what happened
and how it is done.
You even have a certain degree of maneuverability with autorotation,
but it uses up alot of the stored kinetic energy.

bye Mike

---
Character Generator nearly done..:-)
Only section missing for this release is gear...
Message no. 9
From: "Falin \"Dark-Claw\"" <jhyatt@****.WINCOM.NET>
Subject: Re: <SR2> Helicopter question
Date: Wed, 5 Feb 1997 09:44:05 -0500
> From: Mike J Diamond <Xingche@***.COM>
> To: SHADOWRN@********.ITRIBE.NET
> Subject: <SR2> Helicopter question
> Date: January 21, 1997 4:51 AM
>
> Question for all y'all pilot knowledgable types, What does
"Autorotation"
> mean as far as a chopper goes? I seen it mentioned several placews,
but it's
> never explained. And it sounds like something I'm gonna need in a
run
> sometime soon.
> -Mike

I know this is old but for auto rotation to works there is limits that
must be met first the helicopter must be above 100m or travelling at
least 30 kn for autorotation to begin theses two limits create an
envelope which most helicopter pilots stay out of except for in certain
situations - rescue , police copters.

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