From what you have said " it only works on turbines" I think you may be under the misconception that a NOTAR is driven by exhaust gas ..........
I think you might be right HB - thanks.
I had thought it utilised turbine exhaust and the elegance of such a solution always appealed. I take it then, that unlike a 'straight through turbojet' or even a fan jet, where a lot of energy is taken out of core engine ehaust to drive the fan, that helo turbine waste gas is too 'soft' to provide torque counter reaction?
I was aware that there were other elements to NOTAR - even the 'laminar flow' effect around the tube - but not to the extent you suggest. Does this mean that for all its
external simplicity, NOTAR is complicated internally and thus provides less of the benefit I imagined? As I mentioned, the engineer in me always regarded the TR as a temporary fix to an inevitable problem and a terribly fragile one at that. Sadly, Youtube is full of very distressing images of perfectly servicable helicopters, changing suddenly into terrifying, uncontrollable collections of large masses trying to resolve implacable forces.
The concept of a counter to torque reaction that would 'fail safe' - in that it can only fail if the engine/s stop, in which case the need for it is reduced (okay, I'm going to get jumped on for that
) - is a highly desirable one. I had thought NOTAR was it.
Roger.