
The advantages of the nonsymmetrical airfoil are increased lift-drag ratios and more desirable stall characteristics. Nonsymmetrical (cambered) airfoils may have a wide variety of upper and lower surface designs. Other benefits are lower cost and ease of construction as comparedto the nonsymmetrical airfoil. The symmetrical airfoil delivers acceptable performance under those alternating conditions. The helicopter blade (airfoil) must adapt to a wide range of airspeeds and angles of attack during each revolution of the rotor. However, the symmetrical airfoil produces less lift than a nonsymmetrical airfoil and also has relatively undesirable stall characteristics.
#CAMBERED AIRFOIL FULL#
Travel remains relatively constant under varying angles of attack, affording the best lift-drag ratios for the full range of velocities from rotor blade root to tip. They are suited to rotary-wing applications because they have almost no center of pressure travel. Symmetrical airfoils have identical upper and lower surfaces. Usually the designer must compromise to obtain an airfoil section that has the best flight characteristics for the mission the aircraft will perform.Īirfoil sections are of two basic types, symmetrical and nonsymmetrical. Helicopter blades have airfoil sections designed for a specific set of flight characteristics. Its shape produces lift when it passes through the air. The rotor blade, or airfoil, is the structure that makes flight possible. Some airfoils combine some of these functions.Ī helicopter flies for the same basic reason that any conventional aircraft flies, because aerodynamic forces necessary to keep it aloft are produced when air passes about the rotor blades. An airfoil may be no more than a flat plate (those darned engineers !) but usually it has a cross section carefully contoured in accordance with its intended application or function.Īirfoils are applied to aircraft, missles, or other aerial vehicles for:įor Control (A Flight Surface, such as a Rudder) An Airfoil is a structure, piece, or body designed to obtain a useful reaction upon itself in its motion through the air.
