mcmurphy
Active Member
My brother and I were at Oshkosh this year and spent a lot of time at our favorite place, the Ultralight runway. Besides small airplanes they also fly smaller helicopters there - Safari, Mosquito, etc. My brother commented on the high rpm of the tail rotor and wondered why they were spun so fast. He thought that since their basic function is to provide anti-torgue control they ought to be able to do it at a lower rpm, saving wear and tear on the driveline. So what is the story? Is there more thrust need than meets the eye? Us fixed-wing pilots want to know.