Xist Publishing - Discover Helicopters: Level 4 Reader

Helicopters are different from other types of aircraft. They can take off and land vertically, hover for extended periods of time and move at low airspeeds. This makes them ideally suited for a wide range of tasks that cannot be performed by other types of aircraft. Helicopters can be used for transportation, construction, fire fighting, search and rescue and tourism. Helicopters are very useful but they are one of the most difficult types of aircraft to fly. Helicopters are used by the military.

This army helicopter has guns for going into enemy territory. Police departments and other law enforcement agencies use helicopters to pursue suspects. They often coordinate with officers on the ground to report suspects locations and movements. Rescue helicopters are used to save people in remote locations. They also transport people to hospitals. Helicopters come in a wide range of colors.

Bright colors, like red, make it easy to spot a helicopter in the sky. This attack helicopter is painted black so it can fly missions at night and not be seen. Military helicopters can be painted with camouflage to help make them more difficult to detect. The camouflage is different depending on the area where the helicopter will be flying. There are many different controls used to fly a helicopter. Helicopters can hover in the air to stay in one place for an extended period of time. Helicopters can hover in the air to stay in one place for an extended period of time.

To do this, the pilot must constantly adjust the controls to keep the helicopter aloft and hovering. Larger helicopters are designed to transport many passengers. Can you guess how many rows of passengers will fit in this helicopter? Heres a hint: count the windows. Very large helicopters need two sets of rotors. This Boeing CH-47 Chinook is the most common type of dual-rotor helicopter. This is the rotor system for a helicopter.

The rotor is made up of a mast, hub and rotor blades. The mast is the metal pole that connects to the helicopter body. The hub is where the rotor blades connect to the mast. The rotor blades spin very quickly to make the helicopter move. Even if the engine stops, the helicopters rotor will continue to spin so the helicopter can glide safely to the ground. This is the tail rotor of a helicopter.

It counteracts the main rotor on top of the helicopter to help provide lift and thrust. Thrust is the force that makes the helicopter move forward through the air. This is another kind of tail rotor. It is called a fantail and is quieter and safer than a conventional tail rotor. On the back of this helicopter, there is a steel guard to protect the tail rotor from ground strikes. Helicopters are often used to travel to places where there is nowhere to land a plane. Because they do not require a runway and can land and take off from very small spaces, helicopters make it possible for people to quickly travel to remote destinations. Helicopters can have different types of landing gear. Helicopters can have different types of landing gear.

This helicopter has skids, which look a bit like skis for landing on flat places.