How are Airplanes and Helicopters similar...and different...Please Help Me Out!?

Question

How are helicopters and airplanes the same and how are they different...

Answer 1

aircraft get their lift from their wings and engines, helo's get their  

lift soly from their rotor. the engines are usually the same  except a helos  jet engine is connected to a gear box that converts the high speed low torque of the jet engine to low speed high torque for the rotor,  similar to a turboprop aircraft .

Answer 2

Both have wings.  Airplane wings are fixed; helicopter wings rotate.

Answer 3

Both are lifted by airfoils. Airplane stalls occure because airspeed is to slow for the load factor. Helicopter stalls because airspeed  is to fast for the load factor. Hehe. Figure that one out. And yes, I know any given airfoil always stall at the same AOA so don't go there.

Answer 4

same = both fly.

              both use air to get 'lift'

              both can carry passengers and loads etc.

              both use aviation fuel.

difference aircraft= cannot hover normally ( harrier jump jet can etc)

               aircraft= uses a runway for take off and landing.

                           = cannot fly backwards etc

                           =can 'float' or glide for a time when engines fail thus possible? to make a theoretical safe landing assuming a clear zone.

                           = can fly for long periods upside down.

                           =normally has a high cruising speed.

                            =normally easier to learn to fly.

                        helicopter=normally uses little forward motion when taking off and can  lift vertically or even backwards.

                                        = can fly  backwards.

                                        =cannot fly upside down.

                                        =normally has a  comparably low speed  for cruising.

                                        =difficult to learn to hover./fly

                                        =when engine(s) fail can only descend almost vertically.

I can go on but I assume you wanted a brief list and not detailed stuff as 'blades' on a helicopter provide lift using airofoil design and changing the angle of 'attack'.

Answer 5

Similarities

Four Forces of Flight

Lift, Weight, Thrust, and Drag are the four basic forces that affect both types of aircraft. Lift opposes weight and thrust opposes drag.

Lift

Both aircraft use their airfoils, or wings, to produce lift. Bernoulli's law and Newton's third law are the basic principles that make flight possible for both.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lift_%28for...

Engines

The engines in both operate on the same basic principles as well. Piston engines are typically used in smaller aircraft, and turbine or jet engines in larger aircraft. They use the same fuels too.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piston_engi...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_turbine

Differences

Performance

An airplane will carry more, fly higher, further, and faster than an equivalent helicopter. However, an airplane's wings are fixed to the fuselage so the entire aircraft must have some speed for takeoff and landing. It requires a runway or open space. A helicopter moves its wings fast enough to generate airflow over the wings for lift without moving the aircraft. Thus it is able to hover, takeoff and land vertically or near vertically, and it can reach tight, remote, or unimproved areas that an airplane cannot. So, no airplane will ever pick up crash victims on the side of a highway, and no helicopter will transport a few hundred people across an ocean in a matter of hours. Their unique performance characteristics make them suitable for their respective operations.

A helicopter has the additional capabilities of hovering, sideward, or rearward flight. This is especially helpful when a helicopter carries a load underneath and sets it in place, for example.

In the case of total engine failure, an airplane can glide much further, but it requires a larger area to land. A helicopter will not glide nearly as far, but it can land in a much smaller area. You can read more about helicopter autorotation here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autorotatio...

Flight Controls

The flight controls are different, and have different functions.

Airplanes

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flight_cont...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircraft_fl...

Helicopters

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helicopter_...

Engines

While the engines use the same fundamental principles, the difference is that a helicopter must transmit that power vertically to the rotor. There will be a shaft driven by the engine that connects to a transmission, which then connects to the rotor and tail rotor.

Jet Engine (Airplanes)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jet_engine

Turboprop (Airplanes)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turboprop

Turboshaft Engine (Helicopters)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turboshaft

For further reading:

Airplanes

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fixed-wing_...

Helicopters

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helicopter

FAA Airplane Flying Handbook (multiple sections)

http://www.faa.gov/library/manuals/aircr...

FAA Rotorcraft Flying Handbook (one large file)

http://www.faa.gov/library/manuals/aircr...