Originally Posted by
aa777888
That is where I got the picture above from. At least as interesting is this:
The flow around a helicopter is very complex; it becomes much more complex when it comes close to the ground. The presence of the ground changes the aerodynamic characteristics of the rotor and the flow environment becomes much more complex compared with that of flight out-of-ground effect (OGE) and hence the behavior of the rotor wake in the vicinity of the ground is challenging to predict. Under in-ground-effect(IGE) conditions, the wake collides with the ground and causes a significant perturbation to the flow near the blade. Significant interactions between the main rotor wake and the ground have been associated with the formation and passage of the ground vortex in forward flight. The presence of a ground vortex affects the handling qualities of the helicopter.