What helicopter has the most rotor blades? Announcing the arrival of Valued Associate #679: Cesar Manara Planned maintenance scheduled April 23, 2019 at 23:30 UTC (7:30pm US/Eastern)Why don't helicopters prefer shorter rotors with more blades?Why don't helicopter blades look like other propellers?How does a coaxial rotor helicopter achieve yaw?Why don't helicopters prefer shorter rotors with more blades?How is this rotor setup flying?Is it possible to fly a tandem-rotor helicopter after a single rotor failure?Is it possible to design a helicopter with fixed rotor blades only (no blade angle/flap/pitch)?Why are RC rotor blades different from helicopter blades?Why do helicopters typically have blades at the top?What are the limitations to adding wings with engines to a helicopter?Why divide the blades of a 9 blade propeller into 3 groups?
Pointing to problems without suggesting solutions
Getting representations of the Lie group out of representations of its Lie algebra
Marquee sign letters
Can two people see the same photon?
Fit odd number of triplets in a measure?
Can gravitational waves pass through a black hole?
NIntegrate on a solution of a matrix ODE
How to make an animal which can only breed for a certain number of generations?
How to resize main filesystem
How to infer difference of population proportion between two groups when proportion is small?
What does 丫 mean? 丫是什么意思?
"Destructive power" carried by a B-52?
My mentor says to set image to Fine instead of RAW — how is this different from JPG?
How can I prevent/balance waiting and turtling as a response to cooldown mechanics
The test team as an enemy of development? And how can this be avoided?
How does the body cool itself in a stillsuit?
New Order #6: Easter Egg
Can I cut the hair of a conjured korred with a blade made of precious material to harvest that material from the korred?
How to make triangles with rounded sides and corners? (squircle with 3 sides)
How many time has Arya actually used Needle?
Understanding piped commands in GNU/Linux
Why not use the yoke to control yaw, as well as pitch and roll?
Inverse square law not accurate for non-point masses?
Is the time—manner—place ordering of adverbials an oversimplification?
What helicopter has the most rotor blades?
Announcing the arrival of Valued Associate #679: Cesar Manara
Planned maintenance scheduled April 23, 2019 at 23:30 UTC (7:30pm US/Eastern)Why don't helicopters prefer shorter rotors with more blades?Why don't helicopter blades look like other propellers?How does a coaxial rotor helicopter achieve yaw?Why don't helicopters prefer shorter rotors with more blades?How is this rotor setup flying?Is it possible to fly a tandem-rotor helicopter after a single rotor failure?Is it possible to design a helicopter with fixed rotor blades only (no blade angle/flap/pitch)?Why are RC rotor blades different from helicopter blades?Why do helicopters typically have blades at the top?What are the limitations to adding wings with engines to a helicopter?Why divide the blades of a 9 blade propeller into 3 groups?
$begingroup$
I have seen 2 rotor blades up to many and wonder when does having more rotor blades become less efficient? What helicopter has the most rotor blades?
Related: Why don't helicopters prefer shorter rotors with more blades?
aircraft-design aerodynamics helicopter propeller
New contributor
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
I have seen 2 rotor blades up to many and wonder when does having more rotor blades become less efficient? What helicopter has the most rotor blades?
Related: Why don't helicopters prefer shorter rotors with more blades?
aircraft-design aerodynamics helicopter propeller
New contributor
$endgroup$
3
$begingroup$
If the blades are longer it has to spin slower to keep the tips from going supersonic. They are also heavier and harder to control
$endgroup$
– Ron Beyer
2 hours ago
1
$begingroup$
@RonBeyer do you think redundancy of having more blades could allow the helicopter to fly with damaged blades?
$endgroup$
– Muze
2 hours ago
3
$begingroup$
Unlikely. Chipped/mildly damaged blades can still fly, but once they fail structurally the entire rotor is unbalanced an no amount of extra blades is going to make it stabilize. It will shake itself apart as soon as it becomes unbalanced enough.
$endgroup$
– Ron Beyer
2 hours ago
add a comment |
$begingroup$
I have seen 2 rotor blades up to many and wonder when does having more rotor blades become less efficient? What helicopter has the most rotor blades?
Related: Why don't helicopters prefer shorter rotors with more blades?
aircraft-design aerodynamics helicopter propeller
New contributor
$endgroup$
I have seen 2 rotor blades up to many and wonder when does having more rotor blades become less efficient? What helicopter has the most rotor blades?
Related: Why don't helicopters prefer shorter rotors with more blades?
aircraft-design aerodynamics helicopter propeller
aircraft-design aerodynamics helicopter propeller
New contributor
New contributor
edited 2 hours ago
Muze
New contributor
asked 3 hours ago
MuzeMuze
1085
1085
New contributor
New contributor
3
$begingroup$
If the blades are longer it has to spin slower to keep the tips from going supersonic. They are also heavier and harder to control
$endgroup$
– Ron Beyer
2 hours ago
1
$begingroup$
@RonBeyer do you think redundancy of having more blades could allow the helicopter to fly with damaged blades?
$endgroup$
– Muze
2 hours ago
3
$begingroup$
Unlikely. Chipped/mildly damaged blades can still fly, but once they fail structurally the entire rotor is unbalanced an no amount of extra blades is going to make it stabilize. It will shake itself apart as soon as it becomes unbalanced enough.
$endgroup$
– Ron Beyer
2 hours ago
add a comment |
3
$begingroup$
If the blades are longer it has to spin slower to keep the tips from going supersonic. They are also heavier and harder to control
$endgroup$
– Ron Beyer
2 hours ago
1
$begingroup$
@RonBeyer do you think redundancy of having more blades could allow the helicopter to fly with damaged blades?
$endgroup$
– Muze
2 hours ago
3
$begingroup$
Unlikely. Chipped/mildly damaged blades can still fly, but once they fail structurally the entire rotor is unbalanced an no amount of extra blades is going to make it stabilize. It will shake itself apart as soon as it becomes unbalanced enough.
$endgroup$
– Ron Beyer
2 hours ago
3
3
$begingroup$
If the blades are longer it has to spin slower to keep the tips from going supersonic. They are also heavier and harder to control
$endgroup$
– Ron Beyer
2 hours ago
$begingroup$
If the blades are longer it has to spin slower to keep the tips from going supersonic. They are also heavier and harder to control
$endgroup$
– Ron Beyer
2 hours ago
1
1
$begingroup$
@RonBeyer do you think redundancy of having more blades could allow the helicopter to fly with damaged blades?
$endgroup$
– Muze
2 hours ago
$begingroup$
@RonBeyer do you think redundancy of having more blades could allow the helicopter to fly with damaged blades?
$endgroup$
– Muze
2 hours ago
3
3
$begingroup$
Unlikely. Chipped/mildly damaged blades can still fly, but once they fail structurally the entire rotor is unbalanced an no amount of extra blades is going to make it stabilize. It will shake itself apart as soon as it becomes unbalanced enough.
$endgroup$
– Ron Beyer
2 hours ago
$begingroup$
Unlikely. Chipped/mildly damaged blades can still fly, but once they fail structurally the entire rotor is unbalanced an no amount of extra blades is going to make it stabilize. It will shake itself apart as soon as it becomes unbalanced enough.
$endgroup$
– Ron Beyer
2 hours ago
add a comment |
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
$begingroup$
The most I've seen are 8 Mi-26. But the highest theoretical lifting efficiency is achieved with the fewest blades and experiments have been done with single blade rotors (with a counterweight - there were vibration problems that couldn't be resolved).
So in practical terms, the most lift for the least power is achieved with a 2 blade rotor, but the need to absorb more power with a limited desirable disc diameter forces you to add more blades (or you may want a smaller rotor with lots of blades for maneuverability or other reasons, but it's sub-optimal from a horsepower efficiency standpoint).
Put another way, a helicopter like the Mi-26 could probably achieve a fair bit more lifting power for its installed horsepower with a 2 blade rotor, but each blade would seemingly extend off into the next township.
$endgroup$
add a comment |
Your Answer
StackExchange.ready(function()
var channelOptions =
tags: "".split(" "),
id: "528"
;
initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);
StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function()
// Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled)
StackExchange.using("snippets", function()
createEditor();
);
else
createEditor();
);
function createEditor()
StackExchange.prepareEditor(
heartbeatType: 'answer',
autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
convertImagesToLinks: false,
noModals: true,
showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
reputationToPostImages: null,
bindNavPrevention: true,
postfix: "",
imageUploader:
brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
allowUrls: true
,
noCode: true, onDemand: true,
discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
);
);
Muze is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function ()
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2faviation.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f62588%2fwhat-helicopter-has-the-most-rotor-blades%23new-answer', 'question_page');
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
$begingroup$
The most I've seen are 8 Mi-26. But the highest theoretical lifting efficiency is achieved with the fewest blades and experiments have been done with single blade rotors (with a counterweight - there were vibration problems that couldn't be resolved).
So in practical terms, the most lift for the least power is achieved with a 2 blade rotor, but the need to absorb more power with a limited desirable disc diameter forces you to add more blades (or you may want a smaller rotor with lots of blades for maneuverability or other reasons, but it's sub-optimal from a horsepower efficiency standpoint).
Put another way, a helicopter like the Mi-26 could probably achieve a fair bit more lifting power for its installed horsepower with a 2 blade rotor, but each blade would seemingly extend off into the next township.
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
The most I've seen are 8 Mi-26. But the highest theoretical lifting efficiency is achieved with the fewest blades and experiments have been done with single blade rotors (with a counterweight - there were vibration problems that couldn't be resolved).
So in practical terms, the most lift for the least power is achieved with a 2 blade rotor, but the need to absorb more power with a limited desirable disc diameter forces you to add more blades (or you may want a smaller rotor with lots of blades for maneuverability or other reasons, but it's sub-optimal from a horsepower efficiency standpoint).
Put another way, a helicopter like the Mi-26 could probably achieve a fair bit more lifting power for its installed horsepower with a 2 blade rotor, but each blade would seemingly extend off into the next township.
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
The most I've seen are 8 Mi-26. But the highest theoretical lifting efficiency is achieved with the fewest blades and experiments have been done with single blade rotors (with a counterweight - there were vibration problems that couldn't be resolved).
So in practical terms, the most lift for the least power is achieved with a 2 blade rotor, but the need to absorb more power with a limited desirable disc diameter forces you to add more blades (or you may want a smaller rotor with lots of blades for maneuverability or other reasons, but it's sub-optimal from a horsepower efficiency standpoint).
Put another way, a helicopter like the Mi-26 could probably achieve a fair bit more lifting power for its installed horsepower with a 2 blade rotor, but each blade would seemingly extend off into the next township.
$endgroup$
The most I've seen are 8 Mi-26. But the highest theoretical lifting efficiency is achieved with the fewest blades and experiments have been done with single blade rotors (with a counterweight - there were vibration problems that couldn't be resolved).
So in practical terms, the most lift for the least power is achieved with a 2 blade rotor, but the need to absorb more power with a limited desirable disc diameter forces you to add more blades (or you may want a smaller rotor with lots of blades for maneuverability or other reasons, but it's sub-optimal from a horsepower efficiency standpoint).
Put another way, a helicopter like the Mi-26 could probably achieve a fair bit more lifting power for its installed horsepower with a 2 blade rotor, but each blade would seemingly extend off into the next township.
answered 1 hour ago
John KJohn K
26k13880
26k13880
add a comment |
add a comment |
Muze is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Muze is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Muze is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Muze is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Thanks for contributing an answer to Aviation Stack Exchange!
- Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!
But avoid …
- Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.
- Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.
Use MathJax to format equations. MathJax reference.
To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function ()
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2faviation.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f62588%2fwhat-helicopter-has-the-most-rotor-blades%23new-answer', 'question_page');
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
3
$begingroup$
If the blades are longer it has to spin slower to keep the tips from going supersonic. They are also heavier and harder to control
$endgroup$
– Ron Beyer
2 hours ago
1
$begingroup$
@RonBeyer do you think redundancy of having more blades could allow the helicopter to fly with damaged blades?
$endgroup$
– Muze
2 hours ago
3
$begingroup$
Unlikely. Chipped/mildly damaged blades can still fly, but once they fail structurally the entire rotor is unbalanced an no amount of extra blades is going to make it stabilize. It will shake itself apart as soon as it becomes unbalanced enough.
$endgroup$
– Ron Beyer
2 hours ago