Model Forum / Radio Controlled / Helicopters / October 2005

quite a lot more than flying forward, as question was so ambiguous its the
best your going to get or did you want the answer in % terms?

Take a look at KC's power spreadsheet off rcgroups.com
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=232166

Sorry, have no links.

In a hover, parasitic drag is zero, but power is consumed by drag associated
with the rotor (main and tail) systems. This will depend on factors such as:

presence or absence of ground effect
the rotor speed
the aspect ratio of the blades
other design aspects of the rotor systems such washout (generally
not applicable to model helis)
the condition of the blades
the condition of the drive chain/engine, lubricants used, etc.

The engine/motor will also be less than 100% efficient (in particular,
glow motors eject much of their fuel unburned as part of their
cooling strategy.)

Empirically, I would suspect the easiest way of working this out
is to enter a steady hover and time how long a given quantity
of glow fuel holds you in the air.

That was easy! Try: Where does a (permanent) magnet get the
energy it needs to pick up a piece of iron?

Gerard

hi there,

try this for starters

http://travel.howstuffworks.com/framed.htm?parent=helicopter.htm&url=http://www.
helicopterpage.com

have fun

Spike