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PoxyMusic t1_jb61y7j wrote

Reply to comment by Tdagarim95 in 2 helicopters collided in air by louiesoapbox

Helicopters can glide also, sort of. Autorotation is the way you can still land when you have a complete engine failure in a helicopter. You harvest the remaining energy in the rotor for one last landing.

I guess a crude analogy would be, you immediately put it into neutral, then throw it into reverse at the right moment.

In the best case scenario, it's safer to lose your engine in a helicopter than an airplane, because at least you get to choose your landing area, and you aren't landing with 60 knot forward speed.

IANAP, just an enthusiast so grain of salt.

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Tdagarim95 t1_jb62bxb wrote

Absolutely. All of that is dependent on if the tail rotor and the driveshaft is still intact though.

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itypicallyjustlurk00 t1_jb6o0oz wrote

Fun fact, no anti-torque is required during autorotation. No tail rotor required! The drive shaft is also largely unnecessary due to the sprag clutch.

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