This anti-torque system works by placing a multi-bladed fan within a duct in the tail of the helicopter. The Fenestron is a Trademarked Anti-Torque system used on many Eurocopter, now Airbus Helicopters. A large tail rotor could easily come into contact with brush or vegetation when used out in the field, therefore it is better to use 3/4/5 tail rotor blades of a smaller length. The larger blades could become an issue when lifting and landing the machine, especially out in the field.Īs a helicopter lifts off it generally lifts off with the tail hanging lower than the fuselage because of weight & balance. If the manufacturer of a powerful or heavy helicopter just used two blades, the blades would have to be considerably larger to produce the same amount of thrust. One of the easiest ways to get more thrust is to add more tail rotor blades. The more powerful a helicopter engine/s are, the more thrust needs to be produced by the tail rotor. Some helicopters may have more than two tail rotor blades and this is because they need to produce more thrust to counteract the torque. In a Eurocopter/Airbus helicopter, the Power Pedal is the Right Pedal.In a Bell, MD, Robinson or Leonardo helicopter the Power Pedal is the Left Pedal.Pilots call the pedal that moves the nose against the torque the ‘Power Pedal’ as it requires power from the engine to overcome the torque. Various helicopter manufacturers have the main rotor going in a clockwise rotation while others rotate it in an anti-clockwise direction. To stop the drill snapping out of your hand you overcome it by holding it tighter and bracing your arm. Imagine drilling a hole in something and the drill bit sticks, the drill then wants to snap out of your hand – This is torque. As the engine drives the main rotor in one direction, the fuselage wants to rotate in the opposite direction.įor Every Action There is an Equal and Opposite Reaction What is a Helicopter Anti-Torque System?īefore we jump into the types of tail rotor systems I wanted to quickly explain what the tail rotor system is actually for as this will help you understand each type of system better.Ī tail rotor system is designed to stop the helicopter from spinning around when it lifts off the ground. This got me thinking about all the different types of tail rotor systems and how I could easily explain the differences about each one. The most common is the multi-bladed rotor, the Fenestron from Airbus, the NOTAR from MD helicopters, then the helicopters with no tail rotor, like the chinook. There are four main types of tail rotor or anti-torque systems on today’s helicopters. After telling him about the different tail rotor systems he seemed content and went back to playing soccer. I was outside in the yard the other day when a helicopter with no tail rotor flew over and my 8-year-old son asked my why my helicopter had a propeller at the back and that one didn’t? A pretty keen eye and a good question too I thought.

Helicopter no. 9007a