Synthesized Understanding of Symmetrical Aerodynamic Nuances
Did Charles Kaman foretell the future when he said;
"You only have one pure helicopter development program in the country, the Boeing-Sikorsky Comanche, and you have one convertiplane, now called a tiltrotor, that's the Bell-Boeing Osprey. That's all there is and there are no others in sight. None on the horizon, so what's being bought was developed a long time ago, 20 years or more, or variations are being bought.
So the verdict is clear, there isn't any other thing that's going to happen on the helicopter front."
Maybe Yes; Maybe No.
Who has the technological foresight and the financial ability to optimize the rotor blade's lift; at every blade segment, at every azimuth, and in every flight mode?
Or, to put it another way, who, how, and when will a concerted research effort be put into unifying the rotor attributes of;
~ Active Blade Twist.
~ Higher Cyclic Control.
~ Slowed Rotor Speed.
~ Reverse Velocity Utilization.
, and then combine two of these rotors in an efficient laterally symmetrical configuration
c/w with separate propulsor(s).
Prouty has stated that;
"The overall airplane lift-to-drag ratio can be 10 to 30, depending on the configuration, whereas the maximum a helicopter can do is 4 to 6."
IMHO, the gap between the helicopter and the airplane can never be meaningfully reduced until the above features are developed and unified.
Any arguments?
Dave