dchinww
Senior Heliman
Location: Seattle, Washington
| 1. Most blade manufacturers measure from the center of the blade hole to the outer tip of the blade.
2A. If it's too loose the tail will lose rpm and authority when you put in tail commands during an autorotation.
2B. If it's too tight the centrifugal clutch will not disengage and the rotor head will actually back-drive the engine. You will lose a lot of autorotation energy if this happens!
3. Yes it does rob more energy compared to a full driven tail. There are more fictional losses because the clutch bell and drive pinion are forced to rotate with the main rotor. In practice the difference is subtle, the slipper clutch system gives you a little less energy at the bottom. |
