To: Dave Jackson
Not being a graduate engineer I find it difficult to follow Nicks' example. Did he or did he not say that when the force was applied to the upper portion of the spinning wheel that the wheel reacted 90-degrees later. If he did not say there was a reaction then the axis of the wheel had to be rigidized so that no movement is allowed. The normal explanation using the bicycle wheel is to have it mounted on an axis that allowed the person conducting the test to hold the spinning wheel in space. Under this condition when a force was applied to the axis the wheel would move in a direction 90-degrees after the input. Another experiment is for the individual to sit on a chair that is free to rotate. Holding the spinning wheel in the same manner and applying a lateral force the spinning wheel (gyro rotor) will cause the individual to rotate on the chair.
I don’t understand your comparison of a spinning gyroscope rotor to a helicopter rotor by saying that the gyro spins at a high rate and therefor has more “angular momentum” (if that’s the correct term) than a helicopter rotor which weighs ten thousand times more than the gyro rotor but is spinning much slower speed. Some time back I described the Cheyenne rotor system. It is controlled by a gyroscope (control gyro) and is installed above the rotorhead, and is positioned in relation to the rotor by applied force to the swashplate. Unlike any other helicopter there is no direct linkage from the pilots controls to the rotorhead. The movement of the control gyro initiates all pitch change. Now this control gyro weighs considerably less than the rotor system that it controls but never the less, it is a gyro. It is not traveling at a great speed but for its’ size it can generate a great deal of nutating forces. Gyros and rotors can be of any size and can rotate at any speed. If they both are properly designed, speed of rotation and mass make no difference.