Matt Mullins - How Does It Fly? Helicopter

Published in the United States of America by Cherry Lake Publishing Ann Arbor, Michigan www.cherrylakepublishing.com Content Adviser: Jacob Zeiger, Production Support Engineer, the Boeing Company Photo Credits: Cover and page 1, PhotoStock-Israel/Alamy; page 5, Christopher Dodge/Shutterstock, Inc.; page 7, Kayros Studio Be Happy!/Shutterstock, Inc.; page 9, AP PHOTO/Fritz Reiss; page 11, Kameel4u/Shutterstock, Inc.; page 13, iStockphoto.com/mikadx; page 15, ericlefrancais/Shutterstock, Inc.; page 17, David Hancock/Shutterstock, Inc.; page 19, Mikhail Blajenov/Dreamstime.com; page 21, Tony Hobbs/Alamy. Copyright 2012 by Cherry Lake Publishing All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means without written permission from the publisher. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA Mullins, Matt. How does it fly? Helicopter/by Matt Mullins. cm.(Community connections) Includes bibliographical references and index. cm.(Community connections) Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN-13: 978-1-61080-065-5 (library binding) ISBN-10: 1-61080-065-6 (library binding) 1. HelicoptersJuvenile literature. I. Title. II. III. Series. Series.

TL716.2.M85 2011 629.133352dc22 2010051584 Cherry Lake Publishing would like to acknowledge the work of The Partnership for 21st Century Skills. Please visit www.21stcenturyskills.org for more information. Printed in the United States of America Corporate Graphics Inc. July 2011 CLFA09

Sometimes you feel it before you see it. You hear thumping in the air. Then you see it come around the trees or tall buildings.

Its blades are whirling. It is a helicopter! A helicopter flies over the River Thames in London. Helicopters do things planes cannot. They take off and land in small places. They can move backward, forward, sideways, or even straight up. They can hover in place.

Many of them can carry heavy things, such as houses and radio towers. Helicopters can hover above someone in need of rescue. This makes it easier for rescuers to reach the person. CREATE! Make a list of things that helicopters can do. Create a list for planes, too. Think of how we save people from floods or fires.

Can planes do that? Which flying machine has the longer list?

More than 2,000 years ago, Chinese children played with toys that worked like helicopters. The toys rose into the air when spun. In 1483 Leonardo da Vinci drew a flying machine. It had a large, screw-shaped blade that would pull it into the air. Da Vincis helicopter never flew, but museums sometimes display models of the machine. In 1907, Frances Paul Cornu invented a helicopter.

It was the first one that could be controlled while flying. It had two wide blades. They swung in circles on a rotor . Cornu attached one rotor to each end of his machine. His first flight held him 12 inches (30 centimeters) in the air for 20 seconds. In 1940 Russian-American engineer Igor Sikorsky flew his own helicopter. In 1940 Russian-American engineer Igor Sikorsky flew his own helicopter.

One large rotor was located behind the pilots seat. A smaller rotor was attached to the machines tail. Sikorsky flew his machine backward, up, down, and sideways. Eventually, he was also able to fly forward! These Black Hawk helicopters were made by the company founded by Igor Sikorsky. MAKE A GUESS! A helicopters blades work like a planes wings. They are shaped so air gives the helicopter lift .

The spinning rotor also provides thrust . This moves the helicopter through the air. Can you guess how a helicopter moves in different directions?

Today, the helicopters pilot and passengers sit in the fuselage . The rotor and engine are usually behind the passenger area. A helicopters boom trails out from the fuselage like a tail. Landing skids work like feet. Landing skids work like feet.

Can you find all the parts of the helicopter? There are many kinds of helicopters. Helicopter cranes lift heavy things. These helicopters usually have long thin bodies like dragonflies. Air ambulances bring sick people to hospitals. Helicopters are used for chasing criminals, fertilizing crops, and fighting fires. Attack helicopters with big guns can even shoot missiles .

An air ambulance lifts off from the scene of a car accident. THINK! Helicopters are constantly being improved. Engineers design more powerful engines or new blades, rotors, or fuselages. What changes do you think might be made to helicopters in the future? What new uses will there be for helicopters?

Helicopter design will continue to change. More helicopters are using two sets of blades instead of one. They spin in opposite directions.

This makes a helicopter easier to control. The smaller tail rotor can then be used for thrust. This allows a helicopter to travel faster. The Kamov-52 has one set of blades located directly above the other set. Some new helicopters have wings with engines, similar to a plane. These increase speed and lift.

For decades, people have hoped that helicopters would become as common as cars. Can you imagine? Maybe someday we will park helicopters outside our houses! The Bell/Agusta 609s rotors can point up, for lift, or forward, for thrust.