Oh, Oh. Up against the top guns.
Nick,
"So Dave, when you agree that the losses for various types of configurations is about 5%, you agree that the previous reference you made to an inefficient tail rotor is incorrect, right? All configurations lose about 5%, you now say. fair enough."
Not exactly. We are talking of two different sources of loss.
Virtually all helicopters have two rotors. The mechanical losses, due to friction, in delivering power from the engine to the rotors will be ROUGHLY the same for all rotor configurations, and this value will be around 5%.
The other loss is that of lift. A helicopter with a tail rotor must apply approximately 10% of its remaining power at the little rotor, just to counteract the torque of the single main rotor. The dual rotor helicopter applies all its remaining power to lift, which is generated by the two counterrotating main rotors.
"A synchropter will ALWAYS have more drag than a single rotor"
I agreed that the drag will be slightly higher, BUT, the intermeshing configuration should be faster.
This is because; its rotors are smaller, there is no tail rotor drag, and most importantly, the 10% saving in power [mentioned above] can be applied to forward thrust.
One should not think in terms of the slow Kaman Huskie. The intermeshing Flettner FL282 was faster than its contemporary, the Sikorsky R-4B.
"I do believe that some of Dave's ideas are questionable."
You're being very polite to use the word "some".
I couldn't agree more with your comment. But; ideas create other ideas, and with enough synergy the occasional good one comes forth.
Shawn,
"Nearly every light helicopter could stand a stabilization system."
True, but Gareth Padfield mentions in his book "Helicopter Flight Dynamics: The Theory and Application of Flying Qualities and Simulation Modeling " that the helicopter should first have the ability to dynamically enact the desired actions in the most effective means possible. He also comments on the importance of this when components fail.
Stability Augmentation Systems cannot be used as a Band-Aid to cover over aerodynamic or dynamic inadequacies.