Aerodynamics ~ The Coaxial Myth?

[Dave Jackson]

Barannfin,

Yes, the 27% includes the tail rotor power. It includes all power requirements. This percentage change comes from Prouty's 'Blade Element Calculations for Hover'.

The actual improvement is much better than 1%. It's up to 10%. If the dry weight to payload ratio was 50/50, then the theoretical increase in the payload, for the coaxial over the single rotor, is up to 20%; and that's fairly significant.
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Randy_g,

I understand that the co-axial rotor system works the same as the single rotor system in autorotation. The only difference is that the yaw flight control mechanism automatically switches the pedal inputs.
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widgeon,

As you say, synchronization is critical for the intermeshing configuration. It's not a serious concern in the coaxial configuration though.

Dave J

Edited to remove erroneous statement to widgeon; thanks to a correction by a knowledgeable reader.