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Old October 9th 06, 11:47 PM posted to rec.aviation.rotorcraft
JohnO
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Posts: 120
Default tail rotor rotation direction


Stuart & Kathryn Fields wrote:
Just attended a fly-in at Westport OK. There were some 27 helicopters
there. Attending were Rotorways, a Brantly, some R-22s, a R-44,
Schweitzers, a Hiller and a Safari. Only one of these ships had the tail
rotor turning in the "right" direction. It as the Safari. It seems that
Bell, Lockheed and Westland to name a few have discovered that the "proper"
direction of rotation for the tail rotor is to have the blade that is moving
to the rear to be on top. The change from the "Old" direction to the new
"proper" direction has eliminated some tail rotor control issues in more
than one helicopter. Ray Prouty and Shawn Coyle both mention this issue in
their excellent books published by Helobooks.

--
Kathryn Fields
Experimental Helo magazine
P. O. Box 1585
Inyokern, CA 93527
(760) 377-4478 ph
(760) 408-9747 publication cell


Interesting. Why does it matter which way it rotates? Which way do the
eurocopters go?