PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - Glide angle in autorotation
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Old 12th September 2009 | 03:09
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RaymondKHessel
 
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 23
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From: Washington USA
Nerdiness

Just looking at the formula, since rotor radius is a variable the glide angle can't be the same for all helicopters. So the author's generalization doesn't seem to be quite correct. That's my interpretation anyway (and keep in mind that I rode the curve through calculus 2).

I'm a little surprised that drag doesn't factor into the equation, and that there isn't some correction for solidity of the rotor disc. What I take from this is that your sink rate increases with an increase in angular velocity (=rRPM, right?), and conversely it decreases with a decrease in rRPM. If you let your rRPM increase, you will sink faster; if you want to make it to a distant emergency landing spot, you want a lower rRPM!

Welcome to helicopters. They be addictive.
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