Hi Paul,
Found a website with a short description of how the kaman rotor flap servo
system works.
http://www.helis.com/howflies/servo.php
Dan
----- Original Message -----
From: "Rotary Engine"
<rotaryeng@earthlink.net>
To: "AARotary Engine"
<rotaryeng@earthlink.net>
Sent: Sunday, September 09, 2007 2:44 PM
Subject: Kaman Info
Paul,
I am a 6000 hr helicopter pilot.
I am also a K-Max and Husky pilot, and have been on the Board of
Directors at Kaman Aerospace for 14 years.
The aero flap principle of the Kaman rotor-system is brilliant and
trouble free. I would heartily endorse its incorporation. What's
more, most of the original design team is still around for
consultation, if you would like to speak to the horse, as it were.
Just say the word.
-Reeves Callaway
Reeves,
I would really like to see some pix of the Kaman SeaSprite rotor
head. I've
been digging for info about how that aero flap works and how it
performs in
service. It looks like an outstandingly elegant way to control a rotor
without hydraulics. I have read that the SeaSpite is a little tricky
about
adjusting the track of the blades, but there is little info out
there, or I
just don't know where to look.
Steve Brazil
Steve,
I am headed to Connecticut in 10 days for Kaman work.
Let me see if I can extract any relevant drawings.
I did a quick search, and can find nothing, either.
The first time Charlie Kaman showed me the system it was one of those
Doh! moments....
-Reeves
In the mid-1980s, I wanted to design a homebuilt helo which would be a
2-seat, 5/8 scale Husky (to run on the 13B engine!). I wrote to Kaman
asking for information, and got a nice letter back from Charles Kaman
himself, telling me that the patents had expired, and that he had no
personal objection to my idea. I never got past the earliest stages
(the kids were coming along fairly regularly, and they had precedence),
but never forgot that letter!
Keith Wood
Hi Paul,
Found a website with a short description of how the kaman rotor flap servo
system works.
http://www.helis.com/howflies/servo.php
Dan
"The servo flap mechanism in essence operates the flap on the trailing edge
of the rotor blade in order to change the pitch of the blade. Mechanical
linkages from the rotor head run through the blade to this small flap and
changing its pitch in much the same manner as that for conventional rotors.
Flap and lag hinges are present as in the conventional helicopter blade.
This mechanism is different in that it does not require any hydraulics
between the pilot and pitch change mechanism because the moment arm is
so large that suitable mechanisms can be designed such that pilot effort
is low. The collective and cyclic pitch system differs in manner of
operation from the conventional configuration due to the use of servo flaps."
Paul Lamar
The Rotary Engine NewsLetter. Powered by Linux.
ACRE NL web site.
http://www.rotaryeng.net
Copyright 1998-2006 All world wide rights reserved.
