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Helicopter concept, but... 2

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The Cartercopter is able to perform jump take-offs but the rotor is otherwise unpowered. This means the air passes up and through the rotor instead of being pushed down as with a conventional helicopter. The Rotodyne did have tip jets but these were only for take-offs and landings and the rotor otherwise operated in the same manner as the Cartercopter or other Autogyros. From everything I've seen, the X3 is a bit different in that the rotor is always powered.

The X3 can hover whereas the Cartercopter or Rotodyne could not. The Cartercopter can however "Kite" or hold position over the ground with sufficient wind (i.e. windspeed >= minimum airspeed). Helicopters used for heavy lift in hover usually don't have that far to go or at least don't have to go very fast. Big exceptions would be SAR rotorcraft or troop transports.

An aircraft of the style of the Cartercopter could have a significant advantage over an aircraft of the style of the X3 for missions where you are looking purely for VTOL with high speed transport. The Cartercopter conceptually is a simpler and potentially a lower maintenance aircraft as it does not have the main rotor gearbox.
 
SAITAETGrad.
You said;
"The X3 can hover whereas the Cartercopter or Rotodyne could not."

Wikepedia says:
""The Rotodyne performed to expectations and set a world speed record in the convertiplane category, at 190.9 mph (307.2 km/h) on 5 January 1959, over a 60 mi (100 km) closed circuit.[8] As well as being fast, the craft had a safety feature: it could hover with one engine shut down with its propeller feathered,""

B.E.

The good engineer does not need to memorize every formula; he just needs to know where he can find them when he needs them. Old professor
 
Yes, that's true. Thank you for the correction. But, do you think it would have been used for hover tasks such as firefighting, construction, or logging? Seems very unlikely due to the large wing and hstab acting against the hover forces, the fuel consumption of the tip jets, etc.

The tip jets were primarily for VTOL. Otherwise, the aircraft was designed to fly with the rotor in auto-rotation.
 
True,
The rotodynes original task was short haul, city center to city center passenger service, to avoid going to the airport, or the railway station.
There were certain factions in Great Britain that did not want to see this happen.
B.E.

The good engineer does not need to memorize every formula; he just needs to know where he can find them when he needs them. Old professor
 
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