Originally Posted by
DeltaNg
RMK is correct. The two are related, as the Coriolis is "caused" by movement N/S being closer(or further away) to the perpendicular of Earths axis of rotation, thus being closer to the 'centre of the roundabout'. But over a rotor disc dimension, the effect of Earth's Curvature is beyond negligible. Blade coning, however, will cause an increase in Nr as the diameter will be (slightly) reduced, and therefore angular velocity will increase in order to conserve angular momentum.
Same reason it's funny to get kids to sit at the edge of roundabout as you start pushing it, then get them to try and touch the middle. Hilarious.
Of course I did not consider the roation of the earth (indeed negledible for a helicopter rotor), but the rotation of the rotor.
The Coriolis force appears in a rotating coordinate system when moving an object in a straight line. This movement in a straigth line (in the rotating system) requires rotational accelerations and decelerations when analyzed in a non-rotating system. The force necessary for these changes in rotational speed, and therfore changes in rotational momentum, is the coriolis force.
Of course this difference in speed changes relative to the two coordinate systems also applies to trajectories other than straight lines, but this is the easiest excample.