helicopter
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- Key People:
- Igor Sikorsky Dick Smith Charles Wilfred Butler Hanna Reitsch Aleksandr Sergeyevich Yakovlev
- Related Topics:
- propeller Doblhoff WNF 342 pitch control Little Henry Jet Ranger
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What is a helicopter?
Who designed the first helicopter capable of crewed free flight?
What is the principle of helicopter flight?
How is a helicopter different from an airplane?
What is the history of the development of helicopters?
helicopter, aircraft with one or more power-driven horizontal propellers or rotors that enable it to take off and land vertically, to move in any direction, or to remain stationary in the air. Other vertical-flight craft include autogiros, convertiplanes, and V/STOL aircraft of a number of configurations. The idea of taking off vertically, making the transition to horizontal flight to the destination, and landing vertically has been for centuries the dream of inventors. It is the most logical form of flight, dispensing as it does with large landing fields located far from city centres and the inevitable intervening modes of travel—automobile, ...(100 of 4382 words)