Tail Rotor Design

Part I: Aerodynamics
R. R. Lynn
Chief of Research and Development
F. D. Robinson
Senior Research and Development Engineer*
N. N. Batra
Research and Development Engineer

J. M. Duhon
Group Engineer. Aerodynamics
Bell Helicopter Company
Fort Worth, Texas

El = average lift coefficient of rotor aftefter trip loss

This paper discusses the various aerodynamic conside~.ationr correction (h = fiT/bp~(BR)~n~)
involved in tail rotor design. Sizing criteria aye given, and the CT/a = thrust coefficient/solidit,y (C,/v = T/bpcR3n2)
contribution of gyroscopic precession in cawing blade st,nll dur- Fti, = fin force, lb
ing f a d turns is explained. The stall boundariex for severnl Bell
helicnpters are shown as a function of yaw rate and acceleration.
I, = polar moment of inertia (per blade for :I. t.ail
These acceleration and rate values are suggested ns n minimum rotor), slug ft2
reqniremont for future designs. I,, = helicopter yaw moment of inertia, slug ft.2
The effects of fin inlerferencc for both the Lrectur and p11sI1c1. M = moment, Ib-ft
configurations are disc~lssedand t,he apparent effects of direction R = rotor radius, f t
of rotation are noted. Considerat,ions ~ 1 . cdiscussed which in- = ratio of bloclced disc area t,o t,otal disc area
volve selecting a tail rotor's d h c loading, tip speed, airfoil s e e S/A
tion, and design torque. Iueh~dedare noise, efficiency, and str11r:- T = tail rotor thrust, lb
tural loading. T, = tail rotor thrust requircd t,o compeusate for
The directional conLrn1 requirements of n. helicopter and simpli- main rotor torque, lb
fied equations for yaw and gust sensitivity, and yam damping a1.e V = velocity, fps
discussed. Some of the directional control prohlems encountered X = distance bet.nreen maiu rotor axis and tail
by the indmtry a1.e descrihed along with steps taken to col~eet
them.
rotor, ft
= first harmonic flappiug (augle bet,ween t,he
rotor disc and the control plane), radians
-y = Lock number; ratio of air forccs to mass forces
NOTATION
(Y = pR4ac/I,)
a = lift curve slope (a = 5.73/wdian) 63 = pitch-flap coupling (positive a3 produccs nose-
B = tip loss factor; blade elements outboard of down pitch with up flapping)
radius BR are assumed to have profile 0 = blade pitch, rad
drag but no lift, p = air density, slugs/fta3
b = number of blades $ = yaw rate, rad/sec
C = damping coefficient, ( - M / $ ) ft-lb/rad/scc 3; = yaw acceleration, rad/sec2
c = blade chord, ft n = rotor speed, rad/sec
cl = section lift coefficient
l'rcsenre,l HL tlra '25th A n n ~ t t lNutiamal lic~r11111
of ~ I I B
A~~~rriviklt Direction of rotation-Main rotor direction of rota-
-
Ilclicoptcr Sorietv, A l ~ I'IRO
s
N o w Senior Stnif I.:ncito*!er, Huaht\i 'l'ool Cnm,ral.s, Aircrtxft
Division, Culver City, Caiifornis
t.ion is assumed to be counterclockwise when viewed
from above.
 OCTOBER 1970 TAIL ROTOR DESIGN PART I : 9EROOYNhMlCS 3

THE LOW DISC loading tail rotor is by far the most, must produce sufficient net thrust to couuteract residual
efficient approach t,o torque compensatio~land direc- main rotor torque and simultaneously maneuver the
tional control for the single rotor helicopter. Experience aircraft in yaw and/or correct for disturbances. The
on a wide vaxiety of helicopters has shown that it is term net thrust is used to account for the effect of fin-
far from a simple task t o develop a tail rotor installation tail rot,or and other such interferences which are dis-
t,liat has completely acceptable co~itrol,stability, and cussed in a later section. Residual main rotor torque is
structural characteristics. In view of the tail rotor's used because of the ~iowcommon practice to unload the
know11 advautages as a coutml and alltitorque device, tail rotor io forward flight with a cambered or canted
it is considered highly desirable t.o develop it thorougll fin. Also, in sideward flight, static stability of t,he air-
uuderstanding of its operating e~lviroilmetitand tlie frame affects the tail rotor thrust required.
important co~~sidcratiotis for its design. This kuowledgc There are no special high-speed tail rotor thrust
is essential if successful, long life tail rotors are to be requirements. Experience lias shown that if the lom-
designed wit.h conlideoce for future high performance speed trailrotor thrust rcquirements discussed below are
helicopters. met, the forward flight requiremeuts will be satisfied.
A tail rotor is often thought of, incorrectly, as a The tail rotor t,lirust capability should be checked,
propeller or a small main rotor. Unlike a propeller, t,he however, for various forward flight maneuvers. This is
tail rotor must produce thrust with t,he free air corniug especially so when higli advance ratios or high ivlacl~
from all directions. Unlilce a main rotor, a tail rotor is numbers are used.
not trimmed for wind or flight velocities with cyclic In liover aud low-speed flight there are two condi-
pitch. It operates in an extremely adverse aerodynamic t.ions which need to be evaluated to establish the maxi-
aud dynamic environme~it and must produce hot11 mum required tail rotor thrust. These are: 1) thc critical
positive and negative t,l~rust.Despite the difficulty of maximum sideward flight velocity, and 2) near zero
tlie design task, tail rotors have operated successfully velocity yawing maneuvers. It is one of these condi-
for the most part, which at,tests to the fact that they tions in combination with maximum maiu rotor torque
are very "forgiving." However, as wit11 the design of that results in the maximum required tail rotor thrust.
all mechanical equipment, concentrated effort and I n all cases investigated, the yawiug maneuver require-
attention can produce an improved product, aud it is t,o ment lias been found to be critical.
t,hat,eud that this two-part paper is dedicated. During a low-speed yawing maneuver, tail rotor
111 tlie succeeding Part I1 of this paper, the struc- thrust capability is required to: 1) compensate for main
tural dynamics aspects of stiff-inplane tail rotor de- rotor torque, 2) accelerate the aircraft in yaw, and 3)
signs are co~widered.I11 this Part I, the major aero- accommodate tail rotor precession effects at the yaw-
dynamic aspect,sof tail rotor design are discussed. ing rate of the aircraft. For most tail rotors, these re-
quirements are of comparable magnitude. The first
DEfiIGN CRITERIA two are usually well understood; the third require-
ment is not, and its origiu is explained in the following
Critical Ambient Co?iditio?~ section.
A tail rotor should be desigried for one of the follow- effects of Precession. A tail rotor is a gyroscope
ing ambient conditions: (a) the aircraft's critical which must be precessed wlie~leverthe helicopter has a
hovering altitude and temperature, or (b) the engi~lc yawing rate. The moment required to precess a gyro-
critical altitude. Usually the most severe of those scope is equal to I,$ and is applied 90" ahead of the
c~ndit~ions should be used; however, in certai~icases direction of precession. For a fan or propeller this
where the rotorcraft has extreme altitude capability, moment is carried structurally, but for a flapping tail
such as a crane-type machine at light gross weight, a rotor it must be produced aerodynamically. As the air-
less severe hovering altitude-temperahre design condi- craft yaws, the tail rotor tip path plane axis lags the
t,ion \r.ould be adequate. tail rotor mast or co~ltrolaxis. This produces an equiv-
The use of eugine crit,ical altitude as the tail rotor alerlt cyclic feathering or differential blade angle of
design condition covers the normal situation for rotor- :l,t,taclc from one side of tlie rotor to the other. As IL
craft wit,h supercharged or flat-rated engines. Tlie couscquence, olie side of the disc will be loaded more
use of tlie aircraft's critical liover condition provides highly than the other. If stall is encountered, tlie addi-
for the spccial cases noted above and for rotorcraft t,ioual precessional moment must be produced by t,lie
designed with sea level engines. u~wtalledside of the disc \vIiere it subtracts from the
basic thrust.. This significa~ltly reduces the thrust
capability of the tail rotor.
Tlie first step in designiiig a tail rotor is to establish After subt,racting the tail rotor thrust required for
t,he required t,hrust and the conditions under which it main rotor torque compensation, tlie stall boundary of
must be generated. In all fliglit regimes, the tail rotor the tail rotor call be plotted as a function of yaw ac-
4 I,YNN, ROBINSON, BATItll A N 0 DUHOS J O U R N A L 01' THE A M E R I C A N HELICOPTER SOCIETY

main rotor's direction of rotation and is independent of

the direction of rotmationof the t,ail rotor. Consequently,
in fol'~vard flight, helicopters with main rotors that
rotat,e counterclocliwise when viewed from above will
be susceptible to precessional stall of t.he tail rotor when
turning or yawing left.
Precessional stall can be delayed by increasing the
airfoil el,,,,, the blade Lock number, or the tail rotor
tip speed. Pitch-flap coupling, fig, does not affect stall
due to precession. It only increases the amount of
4 - YAW RATE
equivalent cyclic feathering produced by the blade
flapping, and thereby changes the magnitude and aei-
muth of the resultant blade flapping.
Suggesled Criteria. Figure 2 shows the tail rotor
st,all boundaries for tl~reeBell helicopters calculated a8
indicated in the appendix. I n each case, the boundarjz
was determined for the critical altitude condition
noted. Two-dimensional NACA airfoil data were used
to determine el,.,, and t.he tip loss factorB mas assumed
to be (1-c/2R).
The st.all boundary sllown for the UH-1D is believed
to represent an acceptable minimum for future designs.
6 - YAW RATE
Based on the UH-1D capability, the follomi~~g
are suggested: A rotorcraft should be able to perform
criteria

1. Tail rotor stall hountla13,in a ho~cl.ingt u ~ n

Tr~oun~ the following maneuvers at its critical ambient design
condition: (1) Start a left hovering turn wit11 an
initial yaw acceleration of 1.0 rad/sec2, (2) Stop a right
celeration and yaw rate as sliomn in Fig. 1. The limiting hovering turn ratmeof 0.75 md/sec with an initial
rate and acceleration values indicated on Fig. 1 are de- deceleration of 0.4 rad/sec2.
rived in tlie appendix. The first of the above maneuvers is critical from tbc
When stall due to precession is encou~ltered,large thrust standpoint. The second is critical due to tbe
flapping angles occur as the unstallcd side of tlie disc gyroscopic moment, required for high inertia, low 1,ock
attempts t,o create all of the required precessional number blades.
moment. This pl~euomenonis the principal reason for In the next seet,ion the major considerations involved
the excessive hover and high speed maneuver flapping in designing a,tail rotor to meet these requirements a.re
mliich has been encountered during the development of discussed.
many helicopters.
Stall due to precession is most likely to occur when-
ever there is a combinatio~lof high tail rotor thrust and AT OGE HOVER CEILINGS OR
- ENGINE CRITICAL ALTITUDE
high yaw rate. This occurs when stopping a uose-
right hovering turn. The trail rotor thrust required for 206A @ 2900 LB
main rotor torque compensat,ionis cssent,ially the same UH-LD @ 8500 LB
in steady turns to the riglit or left as it. is in steady 47-G-38 @ 10,000 FT
hover. Therefore, changes in tail rotor thrust are pri-
marily dependent, on wliet,her or not the aircraft is being
accelerated in yaw. A nose-left yaw acceleration in-
creases the tail rotor thrust rcquired and occurs either
at the beginning of a lcft turn or when stopping a rigbt
tunl. Thus, stall is most liicely to occur in stopping :I
right turn when bot.11 t,he t,lirust,and yaw rate are maxi-
mum.
In forvard flight, thc situation is somewhat altered.
Although yam rates are generally lower than in liover- 0 .5 1.0
ing maneuvers, the effect of precession is to increase thc
angle of attacli of the tail rotor's ret,reating blade when
YAW RATE, *, RAD/SEC
the aircraft is turning lcft. This is dependent on tlie F I O U ~2.~Typical
E caleulat~dstall boundaries at nltitudc
OCTOBER 1070 , T A I L ROT011 OESlGN PART I: .4El<OOTXA31ICS 5

PRINCIPAL DESIGIN CONSIDERATIONS

Vwtical Pin. Aerodynamic interact.ions betweell

t,he tail rotor and vertical fin can impact, significant.1~
on the aircraft's low speed yaw characteristics; con-
sequently, they must he considered in definiug maxi-
mum thrust requirements. These iuterferences depcud
on thc size, shape, and position of tlie vertical fin with
respect to the t.ail rotor. They are sensitive to flight or
mind velocit,y and are believed to be affected by the
main rot,orwake.
Bell's illvestigat,ions of these effects have included
both the tractor and pusher co~lfigurations.For the

*filFfi"
tractor, the )>overing tail rotor walce st,rikes tlie fin.
For the pusher, it does not. The related intcrfereuces
are discussed below. The dat,a shown in Figs. 3 and 5
are from B/lI1-scalemodel tests.
Tnet = T-F€in
Tvaclov. The fin sideload caused by tlie \\ralce from a
t,ract,or tail rotor subt.racts from t,he t,ail rotor t,lrrust.
Model tests indicate that the ratio of fill sideload to PIN LOOKING AFT

rotor thrust is approximat~ely0.75 S/A. (S/A is the FIGURE4 . P L I S ~tail

I C rotor-fin
~ interference,
ratio of disc area blockcd by the fin to tot#aldisc area.)
Similar t,est,results lvere reported in Ref. 1. Thus,
Pusher. Although a high velocity wake does liot
st&e the fin in the case of the pusher, more subtle
I'igure 3 sliows the measured effect of fin intcrfcrence thrust and efficiency losses exist. Thcse effects, mhich
OII the tail rotor performance of two Bell llelicopters. liave only been defined experimentally, are shown by
As sho\vn, thc ilet thrust of the AH-1G helicopter is Fig. 4.
reduced by about 20% at maximum design torque due A pusher tail rotor when producing thrust causes air
to fin i~lt,erference.This call reduce its yaw acceleration to flow along tlie surface of the fin, creatilig negative
capability by nearly GO% based 011 t,he design criteria pressures on thc fin and tail boom on the side adjacent
suggested ill a previous sect,ioil. to tlie rotor. The negative pressures iutegrated over
t,he area affected must be subtracted from the tail
rotor thrust to obtain the net thrust. In addit.ion, a tail
rotor efficiency loss is experienced duo to fin blocl<agein
frout of the rotor. The fin force is a function of thrust,
fin size, sliape, and separation dista~icebetween the
fin aud rotor. It is sensitive to wind velocity and main
rotor walce.
1Figure 5 shows the effects of fin-tail mtor separatioli
distalme for both tlie tractor and pusher coufiguratio~ls
for three helicopters of different fin-tail rotor area
ratios. Unlike the tractor, the separation distance is a
major parameter for the pusher configoratio~i.For the
pusher, beyond a distance of six-tenths rotor radius,
the fin force is negligible, irrespective of fin size.
Experimental flight tests with the UH-1C co~~ligura-
tion, where the pusher separation distauce ratio was
increased from 0.21R to 0.42R, shoxvcd results similar
h
E .I .4 .a .Lo
to the model data. For that case, the fin force/tlirust
rat.io mas reduced about 5%.
TORQUE C O E F F I C I E N T - CQ x lo3
Flight testa with the pusher configuratio~ihave also
sllolvn a sensitivity of the fin force t o vvind direction.
F l a u n ~3. EKect of sidelontl on tractor tail rotor perforlnnnce in
With a steady mind from the left, the fin force, as de-
hover. filled by prcssurcs measured on the fin surfaces, showed
(5 LYNN, ROBINSONJ, BATRA AND OUHON JOURNAL O F THE AAIERICAN HElrlCOPTEH SOCIETY

Because of this uncert,ainty, t,he puslrer should be ap-

proached ~vit,hcaut.ion.
The tractor configuration with the hladc moving aft,
has becn sho~vnto be free from t,he adverse wind effects,
so it, can be used wwrith confidcncc. Thc inhcrent high fin
sidcload losses associated ~w~it~l~the t.ract,or are severe,
AH- 1G and efforts t o eliminate t,hc pushcr problems could well
S/A=.264
be worthwhile.
Engine Ezlraust. It has bccn theorized t8hatin hover
!
AH- 1G and low-speed flight,, condit.ions might exist where tlie
UH- 1C hot exhaust from the powcr plant can flow through the
15
tail rotor, reducing the air density and thus the tail
rotor thrust. This possibility was invest,igated with a
10
UH-1 helicopter instrumented wit11 thermocouples ontlie
fin, boom, and tail rotor blade. It was found t,hat hot
gases from the engine are indecd in tlic vicinity of thc
tail rotor and pass through it. under certain conditions
while tlre aircraft is tied down. However, in 1'1 hover
or lowv-speed flight conditions invehgated, including a
long interval IGE, t,ail rotor blade and fin tempera-
TRACTOR PUSHER t,ures did not rise appreciably above ambient,. Thus, for
t,his aircraft t.he exhaust gases do not pass through the
P I G ~5 .EENerl of fin-tail rotor sel~nmtion tail rot,or or affect its performance for t.lie crit,ical lev-
speed maneuvers. i\lot.ion pict,ures of a hovering UH-1
\vit,h a tail pipe smol\-egenerator, shown by the photo-
graph in Fig. 6, confirm this. I n high-spccd flight, ex-
a significant increase in comparison to tlic model and haust. gas impingement on the tail rotor has been ell-
zero wind flight dat.a. Furthermore, the adverse countcred and is belicved to hnve caused mild yaw
pressures extended over a la,rgcr portiou of the tail oscillat,ions~vliichwere corrected by a tail pipe changc.
boom. Thus, wit,li an aft and left wind, a higher t,ail Whether or not the engine exhaust effects on the
rot,or tlirust is required to overcome the larger adverse UH-1 t,ailrot,or represent the general case is not lcnown.
fin and boom forces. This increase in tail rotor tlirust It is believed that tlie abovc theorized low-speed
required can become significant under crit~icaloper- phenomenon could occur and that it call be investi-
ating condit,ions. gated qualitatively by smolce flow &dies of models.
It is believed that tlic wind effect on the pusher fin Sucli t,ests, and tlle provisio~ifor exhaust angle change
intcrference is related to the main rotor malce. Al- by t,ail pipe design, are recommended approxches to
though tlie exact mechanism has not becn dcfined, avoid possible interference due to enginc exhaust,.
model t,ests show that. when a tail rotor is operat,ing,
t,hc main rot,or wvalce is drawn toward the t.ail mtor and
fin. Thus, t,he main rotor walce affects the fin and tail
boom pressures. The changes duc to wind direct,ionseen
in tlic flight data suggest tallatthe effect,s of main rotor
wake are sensitive to the wind. In addition, the main
rot,or flow field may determine tlie best tail rotor direc-
tion of rot,at.ion as discussed later. The individual
effect,sof fin-tail rotor, and maill rotor male-tail rotor,
are extremely difficult to isolatc.
The UH-1C pusher flight tests, with the longer t,ail
rotor mast mentioncd earlier, shon, that the wind sen-
sitivity effect persists even when the fin-tail rot,or sep-
aration distance is doubled. This gives rise to t,lie possi-
bility that tlie principal wind effect is related to the
main rotor wake and tail rotor's direction of mtat.ion
since thc effccts have not beenseparated. For reference,
t,he rotation of the UH-1C trail rotor is blade forward
nt t.he top of tlie disc. This mill be disc~ascdlater.
 OCTOBER 1970 -TAIL ROTOR DESIGN Pf LRT I: AERODYNiIAIICS

Rotor Pa7.aateters
Diameter and Disc Loading. Principal consider-
ations in establishing the tail rotor diameter, moment
arm, and disc loading are: 1) the overall size of the air-
craft as limited by such requiremeuts a9 air trans-
portability or carrier operation; 2) ground clearance,
particularly for rotorcraft with low-mounted tail rotors;
and 3) t.he effect of tail rotor power required and weight
(including balance) on tlie overall performance of the
helicopter.
To make t,he tradeoffs suggested by item 3, it is
necessary to estimate the weiglit changes in the air-
frame, drive syst.em, and tail rotor, as the tail rotor di- TAIL ROTOR D I S C LOADING (PSP)

ameter is varied. Both weight and power required can FIGURE 7. Effect, of tail rotor disc loading an nntitorque powcr
be expressed in terms of payload to find the optimum required.
diameter (or disc loading) for a give11 design. I11 such a
study the tail rotor power considered should be bascd
on the critical hovering condition for the aircraft. sound pressure energy levels of a tail rotor are usually
System weight should be based on tail rotor thrust and slightly lower t,hau those of a main rotor; however, due
torque resulting from the most critical paw strwt.ura1 to their frequencies being more within the audible
requirement. range, they sound louder to the observer.
The t,rade study suggested here has often been Tail rotor rotational uoise is a funct,ion of t,he total
neglected because tlie effects are small. Under certain aerodynamic forces acti~igon the blades, the number
critical hover condit,ions,ho~vever,small changes in t,otal of blades, and the tip speed. Of these, tip speed is t.he
power required, which might be obt,ained with proper most important. Lower thrust, per blade reduces noise,
attention given t,o the tail rot,or, can result in significant and this is frequently the primary aerodynamic con-
payload increments. For example, the UH-1H at GOO0 sideration in selecting the number of blades. Compressi-
ft, 95'F day, has a payload of 767 lb. If tlie total power bility increases the noise directly by its effect on the
required were reduced by 2%, tlle payload would in- related forces, and indirectly by increasing the more
crease to 887 Ib, or 14.7%. In many cases a 2% total easily perceived Irigher frequency components.
power reduct,io~lmay be obt,ained by careful at,tent.ion A great deal of effort is being made to reduce rotor
to the tail rotor design. noise. Recent i~~vestigations by Bell and o t l ~ e r shave
~,~
The performance aspects of such an approach are shown that significant reductions are possible (4 t.o 8
easily shown by considering disc loading. Typical tail db) by altering the blade tip loading and/or by reduc-
rotor disc loadings for present-day helicopters are iug the compressibility effects. In any eveut, future
G to 12 psf for main rotor torque compensation. Tliesc rotorcraft designed with noise as a primary consider-
values can easily double momeut,arily during a critical ation will probably feat,ure mult,ibladed designs 1vit11
maneuver. Fig. 7 shows the effect of disc loading 011 t,he tip speeds b e b e e n 575 and 650 fps.
rot,or power, expressed in terms of percent total power Some degradation of performance will have to be
required. accepted to achieve a significant reduction in noise
Tip Speed; N ~ n b e rof Blatles. Factors which must, level. Since there is a laclc of valid noise criteria, or even
be considered in select,ing t,lie t,ail rotor t,ip speed in- definition, it is hoped that both the customer and the
clude noise, profile power, blade stall at high advance regulatory agencies mill exercise caution in est,ablishing
ratio, drive system torque, weight, and control forces. rest,rictive noise limitations.
I n comparison to a low-tip-speed design, biglier-tip- I',tuist. Negative values of blade twist have been
speed tail rotors are relatively light, permit a lomer- used for the tail rotor, as for the main rotor, to improve
torque drive system, are less suscept,ible to blade stall the spanmise load distribution. In hover and low specd
at high advance ratio and yawing maneuvers, and are flight, twist is helpful in reducing the tail rot,or torque
less sensitive to gusts. However, higher t,ip speeds required at. lhigh t,hrusts. I n high-speed flight, the in-
result in illcreased profile power, compreesibility flow can be from either side of the disc so negative twist
effects, and noise. In the past, noise was [lot considered is not advautageous. This is especially true when the
of primary importauce. This is no longer true. tail rotor is unloaded by a fixed surface. Increases in
For nearly all flight condit,ions, t,he tail rotor is the oscillatory blade moments have bee11 observed ~vhich
predominant noise source for single rotor iielicopters. were attributed to increased twist,. However, for low-
Tlle perceived noise occurs at discrete harmonics which speed lielicopt,ers, t~vistsliould be considered because
are multiples of the blade passnge frequency. The of t,he higlrcr hovcring efficiency.
 JOURNAL O F THE AMERICAN HELICOPTER SOCIETY

Compressibilit,y effects, of course, me significant for

all of the parameters associated witah the airfoil. For
example, the cl,., of an NACA 0015 airfoil at a Mach
number of 0.6 is only about 2/s of its CI,,,, at low Mach
numbers.TTs effect, plus the fact that inflo!!, reduces
the angle of attack at the tip less than it does inboard,
makes the typical untwisted tail rotor quit,e suscept,ible
to tip st,all. The i d i g h t photograph in Fig. 8 sho~vs1'1
examplc of this. Radial locations for the calculated
critical, drag divergence, and shock stall R4acb num-
bers are indicated. Compressibility also produces
pitching moments and t,orquc increases due to drag
divergence.
It is expccted that a great dcal more attenti011will be
givcn tail rotor airfoil selection in the future and opti-
mum airfoils, including those nrit,h camber, will be
used. The results of recent BHC experiment,alwork~vith
tail rot,or airfoil sect,ionssupport this. Recent,l.v, a lavge
increase in maximum thrust was achieved by adding
leading edge camber to a symmetric~lsect.ion and
eliminatting t,he abrasion strip discontinuit,y. For this
case, the helicopter flight envelope and t,ai1 rotor t,ip
speed allowed the use of a large amount of f o ~ ~ v a r d
camber. Figure 9 illustrates the combined effect. of
droop and elimination of the abrasion strip.
C h o ~ d . Wit11 the other dcsign parameters defined,
T I G I ~8.~1Jppel.
E sul.face of IJH-l tail rotor a 1 high tl>l.,nst in the blade chord required can bc calculated using the
flight. following expressioli which is derived in t.he appendix :

Airfoil Section. A primary parametcr in tail rotor

design is the blade airfoil section. This is generally To satisfy the maneuver criteria suggest,ed in n pre-
realized, but has often bccn neglected due to conccnt,ra- vious section, 6 = 0.75 and II: = 0.4 can be substituted
tion in other areas. Many t,imes airfoil shape has beell into the above for the critical ambient condition. For
i~ducnced sig11ificant.ly by structural, dynamic, or helicopters with large fins, an additional margin should
manufacturing considerat,ions. A good airfoil section be allowed for interfercnce.
has often been degraded acrodynamicallg by a thick In deriving the foregoing expression, and in t,I~efol-
abrasion &rip placed around the leading edge. Such Ionring control section, linear theory has been em-
considerations am important,, but tlic solutio~~s to de- ployed for clarity and simplicity. In somc cases, more
sign problems should not violate the basic aerodynamic det,a.iledanalyses would be appropriate.
requirements. Airfoil selection is important because the
blade airfoil section is one of only three means available
to the designer to minimize the adverse characteristics
of a tail rotor that is designed for high thrust (i.e., FORWARD
increased gust sensitivity, high design torque, added CAMBER
weight). The other two means available to the designer
are to make the blade as light as possible (delays pre-
cessional stall) and to increase the tip speed. SYMMETRICAL WITH
The principal feature desired of a tail rotor blade ABRASION S T R I P
airfoil section is a high maximum lift coefficient at t11e
operating Mach and Reynolds numbers. Low minimum
drag cocfficients are desircd but. are secondary in im-
portance to t,he stalling characteristics. Zero or Ion.
pitching moment,s in thc past have been tliougl~tdcsir- COLLECTIVE PITCH (DEG)
able; ho~vever,i t is believed that the design can be FIGURE
9. Effect of leading edge camber and abrasion strip elimi-
such that section pitching moments are not a problem. nation.
OCTOBER 1970 ,TAIL HOTOR DESIGN PART I: AERODYNAMICS 9

Pitcl~.Range. Select,ion of the correct t,a.ilrotor pitch

range as controlled by the rudder pedals has impo~-tant
effects on directional handling qualities. Maximum
posit,ive tail rotor collective pitch is required at the
maximum right sideward flight speed for the critical
combination of power, design altitude, and tempera-
ture. This condition requires the higllest pitch travel
due primarily to the inflow velocity in sideward flight,.
The maximum negat,ive pitch is usually based on the
negative t,hrust required to trim and maneuver the
rotorcraft in autorotation. This requiremeut is strongly
influenced by a canted or cambercd fin uscd to unload
the tail rotor in forwad flight. I n certain cascs, side-
ward fliglit to the left may define this value.
Convelitio~lal are applicable in esti-
mat.ing the required tail rotor collective pitch values.
Some of the problems and peculiarities associated with
tail rotor control in sideward flight are discussed in a
Froun~10. Typical test vnlucs of yaw dnmping, acceleration.
later sect,ion. and rate sensitivities.
I'atu Acceleration Se~rsitiuitu. Reference 7 defines
the acceptable pedal travel for aircraft design as 1 3 in.
Wit,h the control travel fixed at the cockpit and a t the helicopters, the valuc of the inherent damping will only
tail rotor, the pitch change per inch of pedal travel is be about one-half that required by Rcf. 8.
established. With t,he tail rotor sized to prevent blade By combining the damping expressioll rnit.11 that. for
stall, t,his determines the minimum y a acceleration
~ control se~isitivityfrom t,he preceding paragraph, the
per inch of pedal travel. Neglecting the change in ill- steady (final) rate of yaw per inch of pedal call be ex-
duced velocity, and letting (Acl)/in. = a(AO)/in., the pressed as:
instanta~ieousy a acceleration
~ sensitivit,y ($/in.) of t,he
aircraft is:

M,,,/in. = -
1
6
abcp(BRJ3S12 (e)
m.
);.( I,, It can be sho~vnthat about 2/3 of this rate is obtained
after a time equal to I,,/C, following an abrupt pedal
Actually, the change in induced velocity is not negli- displacement. Figure 10 gives typical flight test values
gible. For severe maneuvers, it can reduce the yaw ac- of yaw damping, acceleration sensitivity, and rate
celeration per inch by 50% or more. Therefore, the sensitivity for several helicopters.
preceding expression should be used for comparat,ive The pitch change per inch of pedal is dictated by the
purposes only and not to correlate with flight test data. sideward flight and human factors requirements; the
I'azu Dampiny; Rate Sensitivity. When a rotorcraft tail arm, X, by geometric considerations; and the tip
has a yaw rate, the airflow through the tail rotor changes speed by the considerations listed earlier. Therefore,
the elemental angle of attack on the blades. This alters the designer is not left with a great deal of freedom to
the tail rotor thrust so as to oppose the yax7 rate. alter the yaw rate sensitivity.
Neglecting the change in induced velocity and 1ett.ing: Gust Response. I n the expression for yaw damping,
$S is the sideward velocity of the tail rotor due to a
atl = $ X a and AT = J-
-
1 b~p(rSl)~(AC~)cZr, given yaw rate. If the velocity of a side gust, V...,, is
1.n 2 substituted into the expression in place of $ S , the
an approximate expression for tail rotor damping, ref- following expression for gust response is obtained:
erenced to the aircraft's yaw inertia, is:

This means that there are no basic parameters, other

As with the y a acceleration
~ sensitivity, meeting the than tail length, which the designer can usc to change
maneuver criteria tends to establish the minimum yaw the ratio of the gust. response to yaw damping. This
damping for a given design. For small and medium size ratio, which is important mith respect t o the aircraft's
 10 LYNN, ROBINSON, BATHA AND DUHON JOURNAL O F THE AnIERICAN HELICOPTER SOCIETY

Sideward Flight
The major aerodynamic tail rotor problems en-
WITH VORTEX $ countered have occurred in left, sideward flight. As
RING EFFECTS
noted earlicr, thc problems generally relat,e primarily to
WINDMILL the aircraft's yaw control charact,eristics. In the
BRAKE
STATE following paragraphs, the principal peculiarities as-
sociated with sideward flight are discussed.
T'ortex Ring Slate. Tlic Bell i\~Iodel47 and many
ot,her helicopters experieiice a not.iceable difficulty in
LEFT 0 RIGHT
establishing pedal trim in left sideward flight from 5
SIDEWARD FLIGHT VEIDCITY to 15 knots. Trim pedal posit,ion vs sideward flight
11. Tail rotor pitch in sideward flight.
FIGURE speed is extremely difficult to define in flight test. The
pedal-speed gradient appears to be flat or with a slight
reversal. When flight under these conditions must be
maintained, the characteristic is annoying; if possible,
flying qualities, can only be varied for a given machine pilots change heading t,o avoid it,. This is caused by
by adding artificial damping. operation in the vortex ring state.
Tho consequences of t,his are that as the inherent I11 sideward flight to the left, the vortex ring state is
damping (C/I,,) of the tail rotor is increased, the ma- entered at 5-10 knots and extends up to 15-35 knots
chine will become more susceptible to gusts. In- depending on tail rotor disc loading. This flow state
creasing the inherent damping of tlie tail rotor will im- produces strong vortex formations which increase t.he
prove a helicopter's "no mind" handling characteristics rotor power and effective induced velocity at. the rotor
in a hovcr, but it will make it more gust sensitive and plane and produce nonuniform flow through tlie rotor
less accept,able to the pilot. disc. I n the higher speed range of the vortex ring state
Thc consequences of a gust are largely dcpcndent on there is a tendency for the f l o ~ to be unstable as tlie
tlie reaction timc available to the pilot for corrective voltices are carried away from the blades.
action. This can be altered favorably if the damping, References 10 and 11, for example, give experimeutal
and therefore the gust sensitivit,~,cnn be reduced for a data ~ h i c hcan be used in calculating the steady state
given maximum thrust capability. The lower the gust power and control angles throughout the sideward
sensit,ivit,y,the slower and less severe will be the yaw flight speed range, including the vortex ring state. This
resulting from a gust,. The gust response is redefined has been done for several cases for a free tail rotor and
below in terms of the maneuver thrust requirement and tlie effects of t,he vortex ring statc are illustrated in
related parameters: Fig. 11. Test data for the Bell Model 47 and other
helicopters substant,iate these trends.
The vortex ring state causes a reversal tendency in
the steady-statc tail rotor blade pitch vs sideward
It is seen that the gust response can be reduced by in- flight velocit,y plot. For higher thrust,s and disc load-
creasing the tip speed or maximum lift coefficient of the ings, the vortex ring state, and consequently the re-
blade or by lowering the maximum tbrust/inertia ratio. versal, occurs at a higher speed due to the increase in
To explain this physically, increasing the cl,.., or tail rotor induced velocity.
lowering the maximum thrust/inertia ratio allows the Main. Rotor Torque T'ariation. When in ground
required maximum thrust to be produced with less effect during steady-st,ate sideward flight, just as the
blade area. Thus, a given gust will produce the same
change in blade anglc of attack but less change in
thrust. Increasing the tip speed also reduces gust re-
sponse, but not by its reduction in blade area required,
since this is accompanied by a corresponding increase in
dynamic pressure. For this case a given gust velocity
combined with the higher t.angentia1velocity produces
a smaller change in thc blade angle of attack and hence,
less change in tlirust.
For a given configuration, with a required maneuver
capability and normal restrictions on tip speed, the LEFT 0 RIGHT
only variable left that will reduce gust response is an
increase in CI,. Yaw gust response effccts are also SIDEWARD FLIGHT VELOCITY
discussed in Ref. 9. 12. Effcct of main rotor torque (Q,,,,)variation.
FIGURE
helicopter "loses its ground cusl~ion," tllcrc is an in- tlirough the vortex ring st,at,eof tlie tail rot,or, t,l~erewas
crease in main rotor power required. This requires a dist,inct shudder of the tail, causi~igviolent reaction of
addit,ional t,ail rotor thrust,, and hence, more left pedal. the pilot's pedal movement^." For one of the aircraft,
This effect increases t.lie pedal reversal in left sideward it is stated that t,he problem occurred only in t,rue left
flight as shown by Fig. 12, which is based on Model 47 side~va,rdflight. I t disappeared when a small component
flight data. of forward or aft speed was present. Details are missing;
Other phenomena affect the pedal reversal ttendency, however, it is uilderstood that tlie instability was not
but are usually of minor impo~l.ance. Under certain accompa.nied by excessive flapping or tail rot,or ttorqne.
condit,ions, liowevcr, such effects as t,lie aircraft's Comments mit,h respect t,o t,he cause indicate that the
weathervaning characteristics a.nd sideload produced by Row aroillid the hi1 fin or pylon, t,he t.ail rotor speed,
the main rotor wake act,ing on t,he boom must be con- and the direction of tail rotor rotation were significant.
sidered in evaluat,ing t,lie pedal reversal. In most cases, multiple changes to t,he aircraft were
made simultaneously in an cffol-t to correct t,he problem.
Stall a71rl Con~bi~ied qfeets. Any phenomenon that
However, in three cases t,he reversal of direction of rot,a-
causes a dissymmetry of angle of attack across the tail tion of the tail rotor (from moving formard to aft at
rotor disc reduces the maximum thrust capabilit,~of
tlie top of the disc) is credited with changing the un-
the rotor. The vortex ring state a ~ i dfin and main rotor
acceptable characterist.ics to a~cept~able, even though
\ralce interferences are examples. ot,her changes were made at tlie same timc. I n tlie fourth
If a tail rotor is operated at its maximum thrust
case, the problem is said t o have been eliminated by
capability a ~ i dthen subjected to one of the above, its only the clii~ngein direction of rotation.
thrust \\rill be reduced due to the stall produced by the A similar problem was e~lcountercdwit.11 t,he AH-1G
dissymmet,ry. Under such a condition, t,lie applica-
Cobra helicopter when configured with a pusher tail
tion of additional pitch will aggravate the situation. rotor, rotating blade for\va.rd at the top of the disc.
3Ianifestations of this t,ype of plienome~lonare loss of
With a118-15 knot,1vi11d coming from the aft left quarter
control, high torque, and reduced thrust. Also, n.lien
a left pedal input would have little or no effect,. The
operat,io~~ is at full engine power available, the incre- characterist,ics were similar to a static divergence in
ment in t,ail rotor power can cause loss of Rlt,it,udeor
yaw to the riglit. The most adverse situatio~iwas when
"settling." tlie aircra.ft was heavily loaded, on a hot day or at
A similar situat.ion might occur mit,liout t,he stall and
alt.itude. Under such conditions, ~vhenleft pcda.1 was
h i ~ l itorque if the phenomenon produci~igt,he dissym- applied to a.rrest a right turn for instance, the ship
met,ry were more effect,iveiii reducing t,ail rotor t,hrust
somet,imes would swing around to the right momen-
t,han the pitcli is in increasing it,. hIai11rot,or wake and
tarily. As left pedal was applied, a rise in tail rotor
vortex effects may be t,11ispowerful. torque occnrrcd, sugge~t~ive of blade stall. 17lapping
When problems such as described here occur, usually cha~igeswere not noted. Tests showed that t,he problem
they result fromacombinat,ion of effects. It is not surpris-
was diminatfed by repositioning the t,ail rotor to the
ing to find many explanations as to the cause. In t,he opposite side of tho fin (from pusher to t,metor) and
follo~vingparagraphs, several problems of this t,ypc are simultaneously, cl~angingthe direction of rot,at,ionof t,he
recorded. tail rotor t,o blade t.ip moving aft at the top of the disc.
Pavtict~lav Pvobleins E'ncout~tererl. During informal Diveclio~aof Rolatiot~. The above problems and their
discussions with representatives of several helicopter reported solutions have resulted in considerable coli-
manufacturcrs from this connt,~yand abroad, a problem jecture as to the combined effects of direction of rota-
in left sideward flight was noted. As far as can be de- t,ion of the tail rotor, main mtor wake, and ~vind.In
tcrmincd, all aircraft, were of the pusher tail rotor con- an attempt to define these effects, some simple model
figuration with tlie direction of the tail rot,or rotat,ion and flight tests were conducted at Bell. To this point,
such that tlie blades moved forward at the top of tlie t,he cause-effect relationships have not been est,ablislied;
disc. l~owever, some pertinent informati011 has been ob-
With each of the aircraft, yaw control cliaracterist,ics tained and is reported.
became unsatisfactory to the pilot in low spccd, left, The testsinvolved hoverand sideward flightwith a Bell
sideward flight. Some describe tlie phenomenon as a 47-G. The tests were then repeated with the tail rotor
static instability, where the ship feels to the pilot as rotating in the opposite direction. Since this liclicoptcr
thougli the tail rotor were "falling in a hole to the left!' 1 1 s no fin in t,lie tail rotor flow field, the fill-tail rotor
Others emphasize the inability to stabilize or control interference discussed earlier is avoided. The tail rot,or
t,he heading, more like an accentuat,ion of t,he yaw trim blade surface was instrumented to mcasure local air-
difficult,^ experienced by the 3Iodcl 47. I n one case, flow velocitjr at 86% radius and 37% chord. Additional
the control difficult,^, mas rcpoitcd as follows: "At a qualitative smolte tests of the main rotor flow in t,hc
speed range between 8 and 18 knots when passing vicinity of a thrust,ing tail rotor were carried out with a
12 TIYNN, R O B I N S O T BATRA AN11 DUHOK J O U H S h I l OF THE AAIEHICAN HElrlCOFTER SOCIETY

VELOCITY 90" suggested, based on the experie~lcesdescribcd in the

prior section, that the direction of t.ail rot,or rot.ation,
blade aft at. the top of t,he disc, be uscd.

A tail rotor drive system is different from most

others becanse there is no rest,riction on the available
po\vcr or torque. It is a demand system in that whatcver
torque it requires mill be supplied by the power plant
or main rotor. As a consequence, either the system
must be designed for the maximum torque that can be
encountered, within reasonable flight restrictions, or
means must be found to limit tlie ability of the pilot or
aircraft, to enter situations wlicre excessive torque can
be obtained.
If tlie approacll is talcen to limit tlie pilot or aircra.ft,
then the design of tlie trailrotor geaxing and antifriction
bearings should be based on fatigue considerations at
the maximum steady state torque. That torque will
usually occur at the maximum sideward fight speed at
FIGURE
13. Airflow rrelocity variation over tail rotor blade the critical ambient design condit,ion. Use of tlie maxi-
mum torque is justified since structural loading cycles in
the tail rotor drive build up rapidly. With contemporary
model. Wind-tunnel tests of tlie main and tail rotor gear design and technology, this approach should result
combination are needed.t in gear tooth scuffing and st.at,ictorque limit,s of about
Figure 13 shows typical airflow velocity over the 2 or 3 times tlie fatigue design value.
blade as measured during the flight tests. During these If it is elected t,o design tlie system for the maxinrum
tests the wind velocity was measured at about 4 knots. torque that can be encountered, in addition t o the above
The data indicate that tlie local velocity is a function fat,igue crit,eria, the structural loads must
of tail rotor azimuth, main rotor height above ground, be established and the system designed statically to
and tail rotor direction of rotation. These variations of t.hat value. Yor aircraft designs using flat-rated engines,
air-flow velocity are also present, in varying degrees, the "static" design condition is the application of full
during sideward flight, botli in- and out-of-ground tail rotor pitch 011the ground or in flight at sea level.
effect. To date the effect of these local flow variations on This is justified by the recent experience with botli
tail rotor thrust lias not been show^^ conclusively. the Bell Model 47 and UH-1 helicopters. Flight mall-
Figure 14 shows a typical model smoke flow test. euver and ticdow~static evaluation of tail rotor pomer,
Notc thc position of thc main rotor tip vol%ices. Thc thrust., and blade pitch show that for all practical pur-
observed patterns of these tip vortices are given by
Fig. 15. They are shown with and without tail rotor
t,lirust and for tlie casc with a ground plane. It is seen
that the main rotor walce is drawn toward the t.lirust,ing
t.ail rotor, and as expected, the main rotor ~valceis
marlccdly altered in thc presence of a ground plane.
Because of this, ground tests are not considered 60 be
conclusive in est~ablishingthe effect of tail rotor direc-
tion of rot,ation.
From tlle work to dat,e, many I~ppot,hescsor specula-
tions can be developed to explain tlie observed effccts.
At, this point, it can only be concluded positively that
there are main rotor walce-tail rotor interactions; and,
that t,hey are a function of rotor height above t,hc
ground, t,ail rot,or position, and relative mind.
Work is bcing conti~~ued to define t,he causal re-
lationships. Until these have been cstablished, it is
- F l o m r ~14. Typical n l n i t ~rolol. make in the vicinity of the tml
t See paper by Huston and Morris in t.hisirw!of the Journal. mlor (OGE).
OCTOBER 1970 *TAIL HOTOR DESIGN~PART I: AERODYNAMICS 13

poses, near zero airspeed, maximum tail rotor torque is

defined by the maximum blade pitch.
The impact of the "static" requirement can be quite
adverse from the weight and balance standpoint, not
CONTROL
I
-ROTOR
\,
PLANE
AXIS-
BLADE SPAN

only for the drive system, but also for the tail boom.
If the pitch is available, homever, it probably mill be
used by the pilot a t some point during the life of the air-
craft. Since the consequence of not providing for this
can be static failure, the system must be designed to
withstand full pedal input, or the pedal must be re-
stricted.
Pedal rate limiting has been used but this approach
is not considered satisfactory because with it, the yam
FIGURE
16. Eff~ctof on tail mtor flapping
maneuver capability is reduced. Other approaches
should be developed. Presently, altitude-compensated
pedal stops and rate limiting are being investigated.
tional work is needed to develop an understanding and
Plapping representation of these effects.
Magnitude. The tail rotor flapping range and boom Delta Three Efects. Pitch-flap coupling, a8, is used
clearance are establislied by the detail design of the in many tail rotor designs to reduce the first harmonic
rotor and the configuration of the aircraft. Early in the flapping. First harmonic flapping is the tilt of the rotor
design, maximum flapping values should be estimated to plaue relative to the control plane.
assure that tbe flap stops \\,ill not be contacted in flight. Various analytical methods have been used in the
Excessive blade-hub structural loading has occurred due literature to account for the effects of 63 on flapping.
to bitting the stops in hover and high-speed maneuvers. These methods seem unnecessarily complex and un-
If the tail rotor is designed to the maneuver criteria wieldy when trying to visualize or calculate the result-
suggested to prevent stall during hovering turns, then ing magnitude and phase lag of forward fight or pre-
maximum flapping will most probably occur at high cessional flapping. It is believed that an easier and more
speed and thrust with a yawing rate to the left. During direct method is to considcr only the maximum equiva-
structural demonstrations, and also during normal lent cyclic feathering required, the resultant flapping
operation, rapid pedal inputs are occasionally required produced, and the phase angle between them.
at high forward flight speeds. When the helicopter is This can be visualized by considering the blades to be
turning or yawing in fornrard flight, the precessional whirling in the rotor plane ~vllilethe ends of their pitch
flapping (derived in the appendix) adds to the forward horns are whirling in the control plane (plane of no
flight flapping. feathering), With first harmonic flapping, the ends of
Normal flapping does not significantly affect the the pitch horns are moving back and foi-th relative to
pcrfolmance of a tail rotor but it can be an important the rotor plaue (see Fig. 16) thus producing an equiva-
parameter in determining structural loads. Fuselage, lent cyclic feathering of the blades. This is true witb or
fin, engine exhaust, and main rotor effects reduce the without a3. (Equivalent cyclic feathering is uscd here to
accuracy \\.it11 which flapping can be estimated. Addi- denote a cyclic change in the blade angle of attack and
not necessarily a rotation of the pitch change bearings.)
The equivalent cyclic feathering produced is maximum
when the end of the pitch born is at that azimuth posi-
VORTEX tion ~vherethe separation between the rotor plane and

< i
CORES
7 the control planc is greatest. The relative travel of the
- pitch horn end is equal to tho flap angle times the
WITHOUT T A I L , 9 arm (y). The equivalent feathering produced is equal to
this travel divided by the pitch horn arm about the
''/ ROTOR THRUST '
blade span axis (u cos a3). Letting t,he equivalent feath-
ering required equal the flap angle without 83 results in

WITH
Z//ab WITH TAIL ROTOR
the following:

T A I L ROTOR
THRUST IGE
4 THRUST OGE
Thus, the flap angle with 8a present cquals the flap angle
reauired without 8. multi~liedby cos S3.
F~ouno15. Main rotor make distortion due to thrusting tail
rotor and ground plane.
 Y
14 LYNN,ROBINSON,
BATRA AND DUAON JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN HELICOPTER SOCIETY

Since the maximum feathering occurs when the pitch For any gyroscope, the precessioiial moment equals:
horn end is at the 'zimuth positioii where the separation J!I = $01,. For a tiail rotor this becomes: = $OI,b.
between the rotor plane and cont,rol plane is greatest, As the tail mtor flaps, an equivalent cyclic feathering
it then follows that thc phasc augle between maximum is produced. This provides t,he cliange in lift from one
feathering and maximum flapping is tlie angle between side of tlie disc to the other required to precess the
t,he blade span axis and the pitch horn end, or (90 - a3) rotor.
degrecs. Letting Acl = ap,, thc aerodynamic moment. produced
The aa shown in Fig. 16 is defiued as positive (up equals:
flapping produces anose down change in angle of attack).
If negative a8 (trailing edge pitch liorns) is used, it can
be seen from the figure that the magnitude of the flap-
ping would still be reduced by cos 8%;ho~vever,the phase
angle between the maximum flapping and the maximum
feathering rvould be (90 + J3) degrees.
An interesting difference bet.n.een positive and negac The '/, in front of thc integral is because a blade is
tive 83is that with positive aa, the addit,ion of flap hinge producing moment only '/, of the t,ime as it rotates.
offset further reduces first harmoilic flapping. Con- Setting the aerodynamic momeilt equal to tlic preces-
versely, with negative & present, the addition of flap- sional moment, required gives:
lringe offset actually increases flapping.
To visualize this, consider a rotor in forward flight
where the higher relat,ive velocity of the advancing
blade produces a moment on the rotor disc, causing it to The flap a.ugle required to precess the rotor is:
tilt aft, thus producing the necessary feathering for
equilibrium. With positive a3, this tilt of the rotor plane
occurs less than 90" past the advancing side. With flap
hinge offset, the tilt of the rotor plane produces a cen- For rotors with by referring to the section on Delta
trifugal couple on the rotor hub; t,he rotor hub in turn Three Effects, t,he flap angle required for precessioii is:
prnduces an opposite reaction moment on the rotor disc.
Since the reaction moment on the disc is less than 90'
past the advancing side and is in the opposite direction,
it has a component which subtracts from the aero-
dynamic moment produced by the advancing blade aild To determine the tail rotor's susceptibility to stall
thus, reduces the flapping required. With negative as, in a hovering tunl, it is necessary to find the maximum
the phase lag is greatcr than 90"; therefore, the offset combined c,. The combined cl is the sum of t.he follonr-
hinge reaction moment increases the flapping required. ing :
This is also true for precessional flapping and for hubs AZ, for main rotor torque compensation (TQ)
with other types of hinge restraint. AZI for yaw acceleration (6)
Two-bladed tail rotors frequent.1~have their flap AZI for precession (4)
hinge axes coclced by the same angle as the as of their
pitch liorns. Tliis prevent,^ l/rev cycling of the pitch Letting the combined CI = c~,., for determining the
change bearings as the tail rotor flaps. Cocking tlie flap stall boundary and noting that:
hinge does not affect the pitch-flap coupling described
above, and the S3 angle is still the angle between the end
-
G, =
GT
andI,,6 = XT,
b~p(BR)~0~
of the pitch horn and a line normal to tlie blade span
axis. With this arrangement,, t,he angular travel about the follon~ingexpression is obtained:
the cocked hinge is increased over the t,rue flapping by
l/(cosine of cocked hinge angle). I n flight testing, flap-
ping is usually measured about the coclced hinge; there-
fore, the correction to obtain true flapping should not be
To determine and plot the stall boundaiy for a given
overlooked.
tail rotor on a graph of $ vs 6:
APPENDIX

Deriwation of Tail Rotor Thrust and Precession Capability

The aerodynamic moment required to precess a tail
rotor during a turn can be derived as follo~vs:
 7
OCTORER 1(JTO T.IIL HOTOR DESIGN PART I : AERODYNhlllCS 15

Noise Generation and Propagation, USAAVLABS Tecli-

nical Report 664, Contract DA44-177-AifC-141(T),
Sikorsky Aircraft, October 1966.
4. Nitzberg, G. E., aad Crandall, S., A Study of Flow Changes
Associated with Airfoil Section Drag at Snpercritical
Speeds, NACATN No. 1813, February 1949.
5. Gessom, A. and Rlgers, G. C., Jr., Aerodynamics of the
Helicopter, Frederick Ungar Publishing Co., New York,
Third Printing, 1967.
6. Shapiro, ,I., Principles of IIelicopler Engineering, McGra\~,-
HillBook Co., Inc., New York, 1955.
6 - YAW RATE 7. Anon., Military Standard Aircrew Station Geometry for
Fixed Il'ing, Rotary IPiny, und V / S T O L Aircraft, Pro-
T h c terms can be arranged t o solve directly for t h e posed MIL-STD-XXX, Sel~teniber1, 1967, Rev. A,
n u n i m u n ~chortl required a t a given $ and $: October 1, 1967, Rcv. 13, Fcbroary 29, 1968, Aircraft
Industries Assn. Project.346-3.
8. Anon., Helicopter EYying and Grozn~dHandling Qualities,
General Requirements for, i Spec. MILII-8501A,
September 7,1961.
REFERENCES 9. Lynn, R. R., "Nem Control Criteria for VTOL Air-
craft," Aerospace Engineering, 21 (S), (August 1962).
1. McI<ee, J. W., and Naeseth, R. L., Experimental Inuesli- 10. Castles, W., Jr., and Gray, R. B., Empirical Relation
gation oj'Me Drag of Flat Plates and Cylinders in the Slip- Between Ind~rcedVelocity, Tlbrust, and Rate qf Descent of a
stream of a Houering Rotor, NACA T N 4239, April 1958. Helicopter Rotor as Dttermined by Wind Tunnel Tests,
2. Spivey, R. F., Blade T i p Aerodynamics-Profilea~bd Plan- NACATN No. 2474, October 1951.
form Effects, presented a t the 24th Arniual National 11. Washizu, I<., Azuma, A,, Koo, J., and Ika, T., Experi-
Forum of the Arnerican Flelicopter Society, May 1968. ments on a ilfodel Hrlicopter Rotor Operating in the Vortez
3. Schlegel, R., Icing, R., and Mull, H., llelicopter Rotor Ring State, J . ofAircraJt,3 (3), (MayJune 1966).