C. Venkatesan, Fundamentals of Helicopter Dynamics
Helicopters are among the most versatile and ubiquitous flying machines with numerous civilian and military uses. They are also involved dynamic systems with complexities spanning such fields as fluid dynamics, structural mechanics, control, and electronics, among others. The present volume deals with helicopter dynamics and aerodynamics at a basic level. As such it derives all equations from first principles. Some of its chapters can be used as an aid to an introductory senior level undergraduate or beginning graduate level course. In the spirit of the CRC series books it provides a concise summary of a wealth of useful results. The book has 11 chapters, briefly described as follows: Chapter 1 starts with a historical overview of helicopter development and gives the book an interesting opening. Chapter 2 introduces hovering and vertical flight theory. It develops the mathematical background of blade element theory and then proceeds with vertical flight. Autorotation in vertical descent follows and closes with ground effects. All equations in this chapter, as well as in the rest of the book, are derived using basic undergraduate mathematics. Chapter 3 deals with forward flight theory. It naturally starts with momentum in forward flight and then
J. Intell. Robotic Syst.