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Old 17th Mar 2008, 08:22
  #12 (permalink)  
Keith.Williams.
 
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Dorset
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We are certainly using different definitons for the term clutch.

I take it to mean a component whereby (either manually or automatically) the engine can be disconnected from and reconnected to the output shaft to permit the engine to rotate without rotating the output shaft.

A freewheel unit is a component which permits the output shaft (and rotors) to turn while the engine is not.

Most bicycle rear wheels contain a freewheel unit, but most people would never call it a clutch.

If you look at the context in which the term clutch has been used by others in this thread, I think that you will find that it is more in keeping with my defibnition, than with what appears to be yours.

Would a freewheel unit permit a fixed turbine engine to be started without also starting the rotors?

In some cases a freewheel unit and a selectable clutch are combined into a single unit. This is the system which I described in my previous post. This sytem is (was) used in Wessex Mk 5, Lynx and SeaKing, and probably may more helicopter types.
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