Kenny Keller explains rotor blade coning, the upward angle blades take during flight. Three forces shape it: weight pulls blades down when stopped, centrifugal force pushes them outward as RPM climbs, and lift from the collective pulls them up to support the helicopter.
And today I want to talk about the three elements of blade coning, rotor blade coning, which are weight, centrifugal force, and lift. I think about the helicopter when it's just sitting in a stationary position. Like right now, the blade's kind of drooping down due to the weight. Blades just kind of hang in there. As the blades start to spin, we get up to operating range. But before we pull the collective, then the blade moves directly out due to centrifugal force. Then as we apply collective and apply the lift, the blade cones up due to the weight of the aircraft being suspended by the rotor system. So you can think of it as centrifugal force and then lift and the weight of the helicopter being suspended by the rotor blade. Memorize those three, because the examiner is going to ask weight, centrifugal force, and lift. So thanks for stopping by day number 11, and we'll see you tomorrow.
