Lu
>I’m sorry I can’t agree. <
Thanks for the above statement. As I read it, you are not saying that my position is right or wrong. You are saying that you, personally, are not willing to accept it. (At least not accept it yet.
>Even the proverbial bicycle wheel which is considerably lighter than a gyro rotor of the same diameter and rotates at a speed maybe 1 100th of that of a gyro rotor will exhibit rigidity in space and precession. <
Remember that, unlike the helicopter rotor, this bicycle wheel has just about all its mass at the rim (tip). I would suggest that the bicycle wheel is a lot closer to the gyroscope then it is to the helicopter rotor.
>However the stored energy in a helicopter rotor is capable of exerting rigidity in space and precession. <
This may not be a fair analogy but; the spinning gyroscopic toy will maintain orientation for say 1/2 a minute. With the helicopter, you can kiss autorotation goodbye, if you don't do something within a few seconds.
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Correct me if I am wrong, but it has been mathematically proven and I think we can agree on the fact that aerodynamic 'precession' can be less then 90-degrees.
My previous posting did not go into the mathematics of gyroscopic precession. Its intent was simply to show that gyroscopic precession can be less than 90-degrees, as well.
In other words; both gyroscopic precession and aerodynamic precession can be, under certain circumstances, less than 90-degrees.
If you agree with this then we can try to determine what these circumstances are.
[ 17 August 2001: Message edited by: Dave Jackson ]