Aerodyne: A heavier-than-air aircraft (as an airplane, helicopter, or glider) —From http://www.webster.com

AAH: Advanced Attack Helicopter

AH: Attack Helicopter

Antitorque Pedal: The pedal used to control the pitch of the tail rotor or air diffuser in a NOTAR® system. —Rotorcraft Flying Handbook, U.S. Department of Transportation. 2000, p. G-1

ARH: Attack & Reconnaissance Helicopter

Articulated: A rotor hub which provides coning/flapping and lead/lag drag hinges, as well as rotary bearings for pitch change. —Modern Fighting Helicopters, by Bill Gunston & Mike Spick, 1998, page 204.

CH: Cargo Helicopter

Coaxil Rotor (or Contra-rotating co-axial rotor): A rotor system utilizing two rotors turning in opposite directions on the same centerline. This system is used to eliminate the need for a tail rotor. —Rotorcraft Flying Handbook, U.S. Department of Transportation. 2000, p. G-2

Collective Pitch Control: The control for changing the pitch of all the rotor blades in the main rotor system equally and simultaneously and, consequently, the amount of lift or thrust being generated. —Rotorcraft Flying Handbook, U.S. Department of Transportation. 2000, p. G-2

Cyclic Pitch Control: The control for changing the pitch of each rotor blade individually as it rotates through one cycle to govern the tilt of the rotor disc and, consequently, the direction and velocity of horizontal movement. —Rotorcraft Flying Handbook, U.S. Department of Transportation. 2000, p. G-2

Ground Effect: Effect of having a solid flat surface close beneath a hovering helicopter. —Modern Fighting Helicopters, by Bill Gunston & Mike Spick, 1998, page 204.

Gyroplane: “...An aircraft that gets lift from a freely turning rotary wing (rotor blades), and which derives its thrust from an engine-driven propeller.” —from http://www.groenbros.com. (Also known as: autogyros, gyros, gyrocopters, and gyroplane. One final note, gyroplanes have no tail rotor.)

Helicopter: A rotorcraft deriving the whole or a substantial part of its lift from one or more power-driven rotors. —John Fay, The Helicopter: History, piloting and how it flies. 1989, p. 1

Helicopter, Origin of the word:
“4th September 1863, Viscount Gustave de Ponton d'On 2Amecourt used the word in a monograph entitled “La Conquete de l'air par l'helice. Expose d'un nouveau systeme d'av iation,” published in Paris. In this 40-page document he put together the Greek words helico and pteron, meaning “spiral” and “wing,”to make the word helicoptere. (Thanks Chris Jones)” —Quoted directly from the famous Helicopter History Site: http://www.helis.com

HH: Search and Rescue Helicopter

HLH: Heavy Lift Helicopter

Intermeshing Rotors: Counter-rotating main rotors (and no tail rotor) which allows all engine power to go directly to the main rotors for the highest lifting efficiency of any rotor configuration. —from http://www.knowledgerush.com/kr/encyclopedia/Kamen

Ko Hung (320 AD): “Ko Hung describes the Chinese flyling top.” ~John Fay, The Helicopter, History, Piloting and How it Flies, David and Charles, 1976, page 126.

Leonardo da Vinci: Considered the father of the modern helicopter. Da Vinci was an architect, musician, anatomist, inventor, engineer, sculptor, geometer, painter, and a homosexual. A good role model for people of any age as he was considered the archetype of the "Renaissance man" and as a universal genius. He is also considered one of the greatest painters who ever lived. —some excerpts listed are quoted directly from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_Da_Vinci (However, see Ko Hung, above..)

LOH: Light Observation Helicopter

NOTAR®: No Tail Rotor. "NO" "TA"il "R"otor. See http://www.mdhelicopters.com for a complete explanation of MDHelicopters' incredible Notar® anti-torque system. This is helicopter safety and low noise at its finest.

OEM: Original Equipment Manufacturer. A manufacturer that sells a complete product to its end user. The internal parts used in the final product might be purchased from other manufacturers or internal parts might be manufactured on-site, usually a combination of both. Optimum Speed Rotor (OSR): A rotor system designed so it's rotor speed is able to vary across a wide range and by doing so is able to find the most efficient flight condition. —Paraphrased from Defence Helicopter (magazine), Vol. 24, No. 5, October/November 2005, page 9, 1st paragraph, David S. Harvey, Editorial Director, North America.

Piston Engine: An internal combustion engine with working cylinders in which the process of combustion takes place within the cylinder or cylinders. —paraphrased from a Webster's Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, 1989.

Rotor: A system of rotating aerofoils. —John Fay, The Helicopter: History, piloting and how it flies. 1989, p. 1

Rotorcraft: An aerodyne which throughout all or part of its flight derives the whole or part of its lift from a rotor or rotors rotating in a substantially horizontal plane. —John Fay, The Helicopter: History, piloting and how it flies. 1989, p. 1

Rotary-wing aircraft: A broad category of any aircraft with a moving wing, including helicopters and autogyros. This is to distinguish from fixed-wing aircraft. A third type, tilt-wing (or tilt-rotor) aircraft, are a mix of the two, as the lift surfaces in vertical flight are rotary, but stationary in forward flight. —from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotary-wing_aircraft

SH: Anti-Submarine Helicopter

Skycar: A specific form of Volantor, developed by Moller International. Multi-passenger aircraft capable of vertical take-off and landing, high-speed (300+ mph) travel.
—From http://www.moller.com

Helicopterlinks.com “Skycar” definition: A highly advanced (for our time period) VTOL vehicle about the size of a car. Similar to the vehicles called “speeders” as seen in Star Wars Episodes I, II, III, and IV. http://www.starwars.com.

Swashplate: A disc either fixed or rotating on the main rotor drive shaft, which is tilted in various directions by the pilot's control inputs. Rods from the swashplate control the pitch angles of the blades. —Modern Fighting Helicopters, by Bill Gunston & Mike Spick, 1998, page 205.

Tail Rotor: A rotor turning in a plane perpendicular to that of the main rotor and parallel to the longitudinal axis of the fuselage. It is used to control the torque of the main rotor and to provide movement about the yaw axis of the helicopter. —Rotorcraft Flying Handbook, U.S. Department of Transportation. 2000, p. G-4

Tandem rotor system: The two main rotors are located at the front and rear extremity of a long fuselage. —from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helicopter

Tiltrotor: An aircraft that combines the vertical lift capability of a helicopter with the speed of a turboprop aeroplane. As the name implies, it uses tiltable (rotating) propellers, or proprotors, for lift and propulsion. For vertical flight the proprotors are angled to direct their thrust downwards, providing lift. In this mode of operation the craft is essentially identical to a helicopter. As the craft gains speed, the proprotors are slowly tilted forward, eventually becoming perpendicular to the ground. In this mode the wing provides the lift, and the wing's greater efficiency helps the tiltrotor achieve its high speed. In this mode, the craft is essentially a turboprop aircraft. —from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiltrotor

Tip Path: The path in space traced out by the tips of the rotor blades. —Modern Fighting Helicopters, by Bill Gunston & Mike Spick, 1998, page 205.

Turbine Engine: An internal combustion engine in which expanding gases from the combustion chamber drive the blades of a turbine. —From http://www.webster.com

UH: Utility Helicopter Variable Thrust Ducted Propeller (VTDP): A "ringtail" ducted propeller which replaces the typical tail rotor of a helicopter which results in increased speed, range, payload and reduces fuel consumption of the converted compound helicopter. The modification also includes added fixed wings. This would turn a Blackhawk into a Speedhawk. This add-on component is being developed by Piasecki Aircraft Corp. —Paraphrased from Defence Helicopter (magazine), Vol. 25, No.1, February/March 2006, pages 33-36, by David S. Harvey, Editorial Director, North America.

VTOL: Vertical Take-Off and Landing

VSTOVL: Very Short Take-Off and Vertical Landing

VS-300: The world's first practical single main rotor helicopter built by Igor Ivanovitch Sikorsky. It first flew September 14, 1939.

back to top