I may have posted this before but just incase I have not please look at this great video that shows how rotor wash looks live in flight. The shape of a wing in forward motion is really cool.

That is either a tip jet helicopter....


or a top dresser and he forgot to put the cap on the DDT drum

That is KuuuuL.... thanks for that.... as spock would say....

This is my responce to a what does this have to do with gyros question.....



Originally Posted by Arfur Bryant View Post
Great video but what's it got to do with an autogyro?

What many people do not understand is that in forward motion at cruise speed the airfoil created by both a helicopter and a gyro are very similar. Sure the air flow is from different directions but the creation of lift and the shape and rotor wash look the same and create what i call a dynamic envelope of lift. I am sure there is a spacific term for it but if you watch the video close you will see the lift change. It is narrow when at higher speed and thins out but as it slows it thickens untill they transition into a hover. I am sure if you could observe this in a gyro you would see something sort of like this but without the transitional lift and down wash part of it. I feel lift in a gyro changes and evolves in a transitional state depending on conditions. I do not see how they have down wash on landing but can see the airfoil envelope expand to have a pressure wash of sorts from stored energy causing ground effect and rotor vorticies like what you see spinning off the edges in the video. This creates the effect that people seem to claim as down wash.
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There always has to be some knob that whinges no matter what you post.... I know it has very little to do with gyro rotors, but I sure found it interesting

I happen to also like helicopters and am very glad you posted it

I like it helps put rotors action in a little more of a perspective for me even if it's a helicopter. Thanks for posting. And yeah it is cool just to watch.

Sincerely SWilliams

Scotty, have you got any video of a gyro following in your smoke trail? That would show a gyro rotor wake?

I actually think a gyro and heli would be nothing alike in forward flight? A heli would be stopping alot of airflow going up thru the disk, compressing it under the disk.... where a gyro would have the air going up thru the disk and fluffy swirls above the back half and right side of the rotor disk?

You will have to get video'd flying thru some smoke one day Scott? Or make some smoke outlets forward and just under the rotor.... that would be KuuuuL to see