Page 424 - (DK) The Ultimate Visual Dictionary 2nd Ed.

SEA AND AIR

Helicopters

HELICOPTERS USE ROTATING BLADES for lift, propulsion, and steering.
The first machine to achieve sustained, controlled flight using rotating
blades was the autogiro built in the 1920s by the Spaniard Juan de la Cierva. His machine
had unpowered blades above the fuselage that relied on the flow of air to rotate them and
provide lift as the autogiro was driven forward by a conventional propeller. Then, in 1939,
the Russian-born American Igor Sikorsky produced his VS-300, the forerunner of modern
helicopters. Its engine-driven blades provided lift, propulsion, and steering. It could take
off vertically, hover, and fly in any direction, and had a tail rotor to prevent the helicopter
body from spinning. The introduction of gas turbine jet engines to helicopters in 1955
BELL 47G-3B1
produced quieter, safer, and more powerful machines. Because of their versatility in flight,
helicopters are today used for many purposes, including crop spraying, traffic surveillance, and transporting
crews to deep-sea oil rigs, as well as acting as gunships, air ambulances, and air taxis.

Droop stop
Main rotor hub
Blade counterweight
Blade-root attachment

BELL 47G-3B1 Main rotor mast Stabilizer-bar weight
Direct-vision panel
Fuel vent pipe Protective gaiter
Frameless Fuel tank Fuel tank cradle Tail-rotor
plastic canopy drive shaft
Exhaust pipe
Radio
Air intake pipe
Instrument
panel Electric fuel pump
Cyclic-
pitch lever
Battery
Battery
overspill
Electrical
inverter
Pitot head
Breather
pipe
Anti-collision
beacon Oil tank
Landing light Carburetor hot-air
intake pipe
Landing skid Air filter
Navigation Ground
VHF omni-range antenna light handling Valve-rocker cover
wheel
Ventilator Electric power
socket Lycoming six-cylinder engine
Collective-pitch
lever Riveted light-alloy forward
fuselage section

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