To: Dave_Jackson
This type of rotor already exists. It is the “Prop-Rotor on the V-22. The blades are not completely rigid but for all intents and purposes, they are. With the input of cyclic pitch the rotors respond similarly to those on a conventional rigid rotor head. However in this case there is minimal interlock with the “mast” (read prop shaft) as the entire rotor system is on an elastomeric “spring” and this “spring” acts as a constant velocity joint so the is no “Hookes Joint” effect and therefore, no lead and lag.
If the rotor system you are describing the interlock would be total and therefor the response to cyclic input would be almost instantaneous. This is both good and bad as with forward cyclic the fuselage would be aligned with the rotor with no means of trimming this tilted angle with a controllable horizontal stabilizer placing the pilots and passengers in an uncomfortable position.
With the rotor aligned with the mast there is no separation between the driving axis and the driven axis. Therefore there would be no leading and lagging and if the rotor system is properly designed with the pitch axis ahead of the driving axis the tendency towards spanwise bending would be minimized. So, the rotorhead would only be exposed to those loads caused by the centripetal / centrifugal forces and those loads associated with lift.
(EDIT) I forgot, the blades are free to flap but this is most important in the propeller mode. If a blade flaps a sensor detects the flapping and sends a signal through the flight control system, which modifies the position of the swashplate to minimize the effects of the flapping and then returns the swashplate to the rigged neutral position.
