This is an about-face to nullify the previous about-face. All mea culpas are off.
Nick, Forget my apology.
Lu, You da man. At least, for da moment.
Both of you guys have made mention of many nuances. We've now got a delta-3 rotor that's pushing more nuances than air molecules. Someone once said that the swashplate is only ideal for a basic teetering rotor and as rotor technology advances, the swashplate becomes less and less capable of providing a satisfactory control input.
Nick,
This whole situation cries out for an 'Absolutely Rigid Rotor'.
Seriously, I do not argue with what you say. You and Wayne Johnson are knowledgeable people and you are in agreement; but Lu's questioning does raise an interesting concern.
Forgetting the nuances and accepting the given; Both 'delta-3' and 'flapping hinge offset' introduce a spring, which increases the effective natural frequency of the flapping motion.
This higher frequency will remove the discrepancy between the control plane and the tip path plane in less rotor rotation than it takes a basic teetering hinge rotor to remove it. Therefore, when Lu asks what happens during the remaining, say 18º, nothing happens because the two planes are now coplanar.
Here is the problem, as I see it. A rotor with 'flapping hinge offset' will cause the control plane and the tip path plane to become coplanar well within a single revolution. But, on a rotor with 'delta-3' we have previously said that;
" if the cyclic stick was somehow instantly advanced by 10º then the disk will have tilted by 7º within one revolution. There is still a discrepancy of 3º. etc. etc. etc." and that
"Delta three softens out the aircraft's response to gusts, so it acts like a stability augmentation system,". Therefore
with delta-3 there is a residual discrepancy between the control plane and the tip path plane during the remaining 18º for a number of revolutions.
Perhaps the stick is moved so slowly, in relationship to the speed of the rotor, that Lu concern becomes just another nuance in a bag full of nuances.