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How to avoid crashing your helicopter if the engine quits

submitted by calvados

1 decade 6 years 6 months 3 weeks ago

Planes have aerodynamics on their side: they can glide pretty far to a safe landing spot if the fan stops turning for some reason. Helicopters don't glide, but there's one thing they can do: something called autorotation. They dive, get the main rotor freewheeling faster and faster, and then use that kinetic energy to bite the blades into the air just before touchdown and soften the landing. Not foolproof though -- you need at least 1000' of altitude to make it happen, and if your timing is off, you'll botch the landing in a painful perishable way.