Tail Rotor - Design

Design

The tail rotor system rotates airfoils, small wings called blades, that vary in pitch in order to vary the amount of thrust they produce. The blades most often utilize a composite material construction, such as a core made of aluminum honeycomb or plasticized paper honeycomb, covered in a skin made of aluminum or carbon fiber composite. Tail rotor blades are made with both symmetrical and asymmetrical airfoil construction. The pitch change mechanism uses a cable control system or control tubes that run from the anti-torque pedals in the cockpit to a mechanism mounted on the tail rotor gearbox. In larger helicopters, the pitch change mechanism is augmented by a hydraulic power control servo. In the event of a hydraulic system failure, the mechanical system is still able to control the tail rotor pitch, though the control resistance felt by the pilot will be considerably greater.

The tail rotor is powered by the helicopter's main power plant, and rotates at a speed proportional to that of the main rotor. In both piston and turbine powered helicopters, the main rotor and the tail rotor are mechanically connected through a freewheeling clutch system, which allows the rotors to keep turning in the event of an engine failure by mechanically de-linking the engine from both the main and tail rotors. During autorotation, the momentum of the main rotor continues to power the tail rotor and allow directional control. To optimize its function for forward flight, the blades of a tail rotor have no twist to reduce the profile drag, because the tail rotor is mounted with its axis of rotation perpendicular to the direction of flight.