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Old 28th July 2009 | 08:14
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From: EGDC
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Helicopter 2009 - in zero wind (or zero forward speed if you prefer) at a given pitch angle, a rotor blade will produce the same lift (thrust) throughout its 360 degrees of travel.

If you add wind from the front (or forward speed), the blade moving forward from a position over the tail (the advancing blade) will experience increasing airspeed until it is at 90 degrees to the fuselage and then the airspeed will reduce until it get to the nose where it will have the same airspeed as it did over the tail. From nose to tail, the blade (now the retreating blade) will experience reducing airspeed as the wind is coming from behind it - the minimum airspeed position will be at 90 degrees to the fuselage opposite to the maximum airspeed position, then the airspeed will gradually increase again until the blade is over the tail once more having completed a full 360 degrees.

If you increase the airspeed over an aerofoil at a given pitch setting, you will produce more lift (thrust) and if you reduce airspeed you produce less lift.

That hopefully answers your question that lift (thrust) does change in azimuth on a helicopter, but only when there is a difference of airspeed around that azimuth due to wind or forward speed.
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