Helicopter rotor in the context of "Steering"

A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes allow helicopters to be used in congested or isolated areas where fixed-wing aircraft and many forms of short take-off and landing (STOL) or short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) aircraft cannot perform without a runway.

The Focke-Wulf Fw 61 was the first successful, practical, and fully controllable helicopter in 1936, while in 1942, the Sikorsky R-4 became the first helicopter to reach full-scale production. Starting in 1939 and through 1943, Igor Sikorsky worked on the development of the VS-300, which over four iterations, became the basis for modern helicopters with a single main rotor and a single tail rotor.

A fixed-wing aircraft is a heavier-than-air aircraft, such as an airplane, which is capable of flight using aerodynamic lift. Fixed-wing aircraft are distinct from rotary-wing aircraft (in which a rotor mounted on a spinning shaft generates lift), and ornithopters (in which the wings oscillate to generate lift). The wings of a fixed-wing aircraft are not necessarily rigid; kites, hang gliders, variable-sweep wing aircraft, and airplanes that use wing morphing are all classified as fixed wing.

Gliding fixed-wing aircraft, including free-flying gliders and tethered kites, can use moving air to gain altitude. Powered fixed-wing aircraft (airplanes) that gain forward thrust from an engine include powered paragliders, powered hang gliders and ground effect vehicles. Most fixed-wing aircraft are operated by a pilot, but some are unmanned or controlled remotely or are completely autonomous (no remote pilot).

Autorotation is a state of flight in which the main rotor system of a helicopter or other rotary-wing aircraft turns by the action of air moving up through the rotor, as with an autogyro, rather than engine power driving the rotor. The term autorotation dates to a period of early helicopter development between 1915 and 1920, and refers to the rotors turning without the engine. It is analogous to the gliding flight of a fixed-wing aircraft.

The most common use of autorotation in helicopters is to safely land the aircraft in the event of an engine failure or tail-rotor failure. It is a common emergency procedure taught to helicopter pilots as part of their training.

The Bell OH-58 Kiowa is a family of single-engine single-rotor military helicopters used for observation, utility, and direct fire support. It was produced by the American manufacturer Bell Helicopter and is closely related to the Model 206A JetRanger civilian helicopter.

The OH-58 was originally developed during the early 1960s as the D-250 for the Light Observation Helicopter (LOH). While the rival Hughes OH-6 Cayuse was picked over Bell's submission in May 1965, the company refined its design to create the Model 206A, a variant of which it successfully submitted to the reopened LOH competition two years later. The initial model, designated by the service as the OH-58A, was introduced in May 1969. Successive models followed, often with uprated engines, enhanced protection systems, and other improvements, culminating in the OH-58F. Additional improvements, such as the OH-58X, were proposed but not pursued.

A multirotor or multicopter is a rotorcraft with more than two lift-generating rotors. An advantage of multirotor aircraft is the simpler rotor mechanics required for flight control. Unlike single- and double-rotor helicopters which use complex variable pitch rotors whose pitch varies as the blade rotates for flight stability and control, multirotors often use fixed-pitch blades; control of vehicle motion is achieved by varying the relative speed of each rotor to change the thrust and torque produced by each.

Due to their ease of both construction and control, multirotor aircraft are frequently used in radio control aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) (drone) projects in which the names tricopter, quadcopter, hexacopter and octocopter are frequently used to refer to 3-, 4-, 6- and 8-rotor rotorcraft, respectively. There is also the X8 (also called octo-quad) configuration that is similar to the quadracopter design, except that it has eight rotors; the lower of which have a reversed rotation direction.

A rotary-wing aircraft, rotorwing aircraft or rotorcraft is a heavier-than-air aircraft with rotary wings that spin around a vertical mast to generate lift. The assembly of several rotor blades mounted on a single mast is referred to as a rotor.

Rotorcraft generally include aircraft where one or more rotors provide lift throughout the entire flight, such as helicopters, gyroplanes, autogyros, and gyrodynes. Compound rotorcraft augment the rotor with additional thrust engines, propellers, or static lifting surfaces. Some types, such as helicopters, are capable of vertical takeoff and landing. An aircraft which uses rotor lift for vertical flight but changes to solely fixed-wing lift in horizontal flight is not a rotorcraft but a convertiplane.