What helicopter has the most rotor blades? Announcing the arrival of Valued Associate #679: Cesar Manara Planned maintenance scheduled April 23, 2019 at 23:30 UTC (7:30pm US/Eastern)Why don't helicopters prefer shorter rotors with more blades?Why don't helicopter blades look like other propellers?How does a coaxial rotor helicopter achieve yaw?Why don't helicopters prefer shorter rotors with more blades?How is this rotor setup flying?Is it possible to fly a tandem-rotor helicopter after a single rotor failure?Is it possible to design a helicopter with fixed rotor blades only (no blade angle/flap/pitch)?Why are RC rotor blades different from helicopter blades?Why do helicopters typically have blades at the top?What are the limitations to adding wings with engines to a helicopter?Why divide the blades of a 9 blade propeller into 3 groups?

Vertical ranges of Column Plots in 12

Inverse square law not accurate for non-point masses?

calculator's angle answer for trig ratios that can work in more than 1 quadrant on the unit circle

Why did Bronn offer to be Tyrion Lannister's champion in trial by combat?

What does 丫 mean? 丫是什么意思?

Russian equivalents of おしゃれは足元から (Every good outfit starts with the shoes)

What helicopter has the most rotor blades?

How do I find my Spellcasting Ability for my D&D character?

How do Java 8 default methods hеlp with lambdas?

Is there a spell that can create a permanent fire?

Is a copyright notice with a non-existent name be invalid?

How can I list files in reverse time order by a command and pass them as arguments to another command?

Where and when has Thucydides been studied?

Why is there so little support for joining EFTA in the British parliament?

What is "Lambda" in Heston's original paper on stochastic volatility models?

Does a random sequence of vectors span a Hilbert space?

Any stored/leased 737s that could substitute for grounded MAXs?

Does the universe have a fixed centre of mass?

Did any compiler fully use 80-bit floating point?

Improvising over quartal voicings

Are there any irrational/transcendental numbers for which the distribution of decimal digits is not uniform?

Found this skink in my tomato plant bucket. Is he trapped? Or could he leave if he wanted?

Do i imagine the linear (straight line) homotopy in a correct way?

Sally's older brother



What helicopter has the most rotor blades?



Announcing the arrival of Valued Associate #679: Cesar Manara
Planned maintenance scheduled April 23, 2019 at 23:30 UTC (7:30pm US/Eastern)Why don't helicopters prefer shorter rotors with more blades?Why don't helicopter blades look like other propellers?How does a coaxial rotor helicopter achieve yaw?Why don't helicopters prefer shorter rotors with more blades?How is this rotor setup flying?Is it possible to fly a tandem-rotor helicopter after a single rotor failure?Is it possible to design a helicopter with fixed rotor blades only (no blade angle/flap/pitch)?Why are RC rotor blades different from helicopter blades?Why do helicopters typically have blades at the top?What are the limitations to adding wings with engines to a helicopter?Why divide the blades of a 9 blade propeller into 3 groups?










1












$begingroup$


I have seen 2 rotor blades up to many and wonder when does having more rotor blades become less efficient? What helicopter has the most rotor blades?



enter image description here



Related: Why don't helicopters prefer shorter rotors with more blades?










share|improve this question









New contributor




Muze is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.







$endgroup$







  • 3




    $begingroup$
    If the blades are longer it has to spin slower to keep the tips from going supersonic. They are also heavier and harder to control
    $endgroup$
    – Ron Beyer
    3 hours ago






  • 1




    $begingroup$
    @RonBeyer do you think redundancy of having more blades could allow the helicopter to fly with damaged blades?
    $endgroup$
    – Muze
    2 hours ago







  • 3




    $begingroup$
    Unlikely. Chipped/mildly damaged blades can still fly, but once they fail structurally the entire rotor is unbalanced an no amount of extra blades is going to make it stabilize. It will shake itself apart as soon as it becomes unbalanced enough.
    $endgroup$
    – Ron Beyer
    2 hours ago















1












$begingroup$


I have seen 2 rotor blades up to many and wonder when does having more rotor blades become less efficient? What helicopter has the most rotor blades?



enter image description here



Related: Why don't helicopters prefer shorter rotors with more blades?










share|improve this question









New contributor




Muze is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.







$endgroup$







  • 3




    $begingroup$
    If the blades are longer it has to spin slower to keep the tips from going supersonic. They are also heavier and harder to control
    $endgroup$
    – Ron Beyer
    3 hours ago






  • 1




    $begingroup$
    @RonBeyer do you think redundancy of having more blades could allow the helicopter to fly with damaged blades?
    $endgroup$
    – Muze
    2 hours ago







  • 3




    $begingroup$
    Unlikely. Chipped/mildly damaged blades can still fly, but once they fail structurally the entire rotor is unbalanced an no amount of extra blades is going to make it stabilize. It will shake itself apart as soon as it becomes unbalanced enough.
    $endgroup$
    – Ron Beyer
    2 hours ago













1












1








1





$begingroup$


I have seen 2 rotor blades up to many and wonder when does having more rotor blades become less efficient? What helicopter has the most rotor blades?



enter image description here



Related: Why don't helicopters prefer shorter rotors with more blades?










share|improve this question









New contributor




Muze is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.







$endgroup$




I have seen 2 rotor blades up to many and wonder when does having more rotor blades become less efficient? What helicopter has the most rotor blades?



enter image description here



Related: Why don't helicopters prefer shorter rotors with more blades?







aircraft-design aerodynamics helicopter propeller






share|improve this question









New contributor




Muze is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.











share|improve this question









New contributor




Muze is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.









share|improve this question




share|improve this question








edited 2 hours ago







Muze













New contributor




Muze is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.









asked 3 hours ago









MuzeMuze

1085




1085




New contributor




Muze is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.





New contributor





Muze is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.






Muze is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.







  • 3




    $begingroup$
    If the blades are longer it has to spin slower to keep the tips from going supersonic. They are also heavier and harder to control
    $endgroup$
    – Ron Beyer
    3 hours ago






  • 1




    $begingroup$
    @RonBeyer do you think redundancy of having more blades could allow the helicopter to fly with damaged blades?
    $endgroup$
    – Muze
    2 hours ago







  • 3




    $begingroup$
    Unlikely. Chipped/mildly damaged blades can still fly, but once they fail structurally the entire rotor is unbalanced an no amount of extra blades is going to make it stabilize. It will shake itself apart as soon as it becomes unbalanced enough.
    $endgroup$
    – Ron Beyer
    2 hours ago












  • 3




    $begingroup$
    If the blades are longer it has to spin slower to keep the tips from going supersonic. They are also heavier and harder to control
    $endgroup$
    – Ron Beyer
    3 hours ago






  • 1




    $begingroup$
    @RonBeyer do you think redundancy of having more blades could allow the helicopter to fly with damaged blades?
    $endgroup$
    – Muze
    2 hours ago







  • 3




    $begingroup$
    Unlikely. Chipped/mildly damaged blades can still fly, but once they fail structurally the entire rotor is unbalanced an no amount of extra blades is going to make it stabilize. It will shake itself apart as soon as it becomes unbalanced enough.
    $endgroup$
    – Ron Beyer
    2 hours ago







3




3




$begingroup$
If the blades are longer it has to spin slower to keep the tips from going supersonic. They are also heavier and harder to control
$endgroup$
– Ron Beyer
3 hours ago




$begingroup$
If the blades are longer it has to spin slower to keep the tips from going supersonic. They are also heavier and harder to control
$endgroup$
– Ron Beyer
3 hours ago




1




1




$begingroup$
@RonBeyer do you think redundancy of having more blades could allow the helicopter to fly with damaged blades?
$endgroup$
– Muze
2 hours ago





$begingroup$
@RonBeyer do you think redundancy of having more blades could allow the helicopter to fly with damaged blades?
$endgroup$
– Muze
2 hours ago





3




3




$begingroup$
Unlikely. Chipped/mildly damaged blades can still fly, but once they fail structurally the entire rotor is unbalanced an no amount of extra blades is going to make it stabilize. It will shake itself apart as soon as it becomes unbalanced enough.
$endgroup$
– Ron Beyer
2 hours ago




$begingroup$
Unlikely. Chipped/mildly damaged blades can still fly, but once they fail structurally the entire rotor is unbalanced an no amount of extra blades is going to make it stabilize. It will shake itself apart as soon as it becomes unbalanced enough.
$endgroup$
– Ron Beyer
2 hours ago










1 Answer
1






active

oldest

votes


















2












$begingroup$

The most I've seen are 8 Mi-26. But the highest theoretical lifting efficiency is achieved with the fewest blades and experiments have been done with single blade rotors (with a counterweight - there were vibration problems that couldn't be resolved).



So in practical terms, the most lift for the least power is achieved with a 2 blade rotor, but the need to absorb more power with a limited desirable disc diameter forces you to add more blades (or you may want a smaller rotor with lots of blades for maneuverability or other reasons, but it's sub-optimal from a horsepower efficiency standpoint).



Put another way, a helicopter like the Mi-26 could probably achieve a fair bit more lifting power for its installed horsepower with a 2 blade rotor, but each blade would seemingly extend off into the next township.






share|improve this answer









$endgroup$













    Your Answer








    StackExchange.ready(function()
    var channelOptions =
    tags: "".split(" "),
    id: "528"
    ;
    initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);

    StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function()
    // Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
    if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled)
    StackExchange.using("snippets", function()
    createEditor();
    );

    else
    createEditor();

    );

    function createEditor()
    StackExchange.prepareEditor(
    heartbeatType: 'answer',
    autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
    convertImagesToLinks: false,
    noModals: true,
    showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
    reputationToPostImages: null,
    bindNavPrevention: true,
    postfix: "",
    imageUploader:
    brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
    contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
    allowUrls: true
    ,
    noCode: true, onDemand: true,
    discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
    ,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
    );



    );






    Muze is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.









    draft saved

    draft discarded


















    StackExchange.ready(
    function ()
    StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2faviation.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f62588%2fwhat-helicopter-has-the-most-rotor-blades%23new-answer', 'question_page');

    );

    Post as a guest















    Required, but never shown

























    1 Answer
    1






    active

    oldest

    votes








    1 Answer
    1






    active

    oldest

    votes









    active

    oldest

    votes






    active

    oldest

    votes









    2












    $begingroup$

    The most I've seen are 8 Mi-26. But the highest theoretical lifting efficiency is achieved with the fewest blades and experiments have been done with single blade rotors (with a counterweight - there were vibration problems that couldn't be resolved).



    So in practical terms, the most lift for the least power is achieved with a 2 blade rotor, but the need to absorb more power with a limited desirable disc diameter forces you to add more blades (or you may want a smaller rotor with lots of blades for maneuverability or other reasons, but it's sub-optimal from a horsepower efficiency standpoint).



    Put another way, a helicopter like the Mi-26 could probably achieve a fair bit more lifting power for its installed horsepower with a 2 blade rotor, but each blade would seemingly extend off into the next township.






    share|improve this answer









    $endgroup$

















      2












      $begingroup$

      The most I've seen are 8 Mi-26. But the highest theoretical lifting efficiency is achieved with the fewest blades and experiments have been done with single blade rotors (with a counterweight - there were vibration problems that couldn't be resolved).



      So in practical terms, the most lift for the least power is achieved with a 2 blade rotor, but the need to absorb more power with a limited desirable disc diameter forces you to add more blades (or you may want a smaller rotor with lots of blades for maneuverability or other reasons, but it's sub-optimal from a horsepower efficiency standpoint).



      Put another way, a helicopter like the Mi-26 could probably achieve a fair bit more lifting power for its installed horsepower with a 2 blade rotor, but each blade would seemingly extend off into the next township.






      share|improve this answer









      $endgroup$















        2












        2








        2





        $begingroup$

        The most I've seen are 8 Mi-26. But the highest theoretical lifting efficiency is achieved with the fewest blades and experiments have been done with single blade rotors (with a counterweight - there were vibration problems that couldn't be resolved).



        So in practical terms, the most lift for the least power is achieved with a 2 blade rotor, but the need to absorb more power with a limited desirable disc diameter forces you to add more blades (or you may want a smaller rotor with lots of blades for maneuverability or other reasons, but it's sub-optimal from a horsepower efficiency standpoint).



        Put another way, a helicopter like the Mi-26 could probably achieve a fair bit more lifting power for its installed horsepower with a 2 blade rotor, but each blade would seemingly extend off into the next township.






        share|improve this answer









        $endgroup$



        The most I've seen are 8 Mi-26. But the highest theoretical lifting efficiency is achieved with the fewest blades and experiments have been done with single blade rotors (with a counterweight - there were vibration problems that couldn't be resolved).



        So in practical terms, the most lift for the least power is achieved with a 2 blade rotor, but the need to absorb more power with a limited desirable disc diameter forces you to add more blades (or you may want a smaller rotor with lots of blades for maneuverability or other reasons, but it's sub-optimal from a horsepower efficiency standpoint).



        Put another way, a helicopter like the Mi-26 could probably achieve a fair bit more lifting power for its installed horsepower with a 2 blade rotor, but each blade would seemingly extend off into the next township.







        share|improve this answer












        share|improve this answer



        share|improve this answer










        answered 1 hour ago









        John KJohn K

        26k13880




        26k13880




















            Muze is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.









            draft saved

            draft discarded


















            Muze is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.












            Muze is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.











            Muze is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.














            Thanks for contributing an answer to Aviation Stack Exchange!


            • Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!

            But avoid


            • Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.

            • Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.

            Use MathJax to format equations. MathJax reference.


            To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.




            draft saved


            draft discarded














            StackExchange.ready(
            function ()
            StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2faviation.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f62588%2fwhat-helicopter-has-the-most-rotor-blades%23new-answer', 'question_page');

            );

            Post as a guest















            Required, but never shown





















































            Required, but never shown














            Required, but never shown












            Required, but never shown







            Required, but never shown

































            Required, but never shown














            Required, but never shown












            Required, but never shown







            Required, but never shown







            Popular posts from this blog

            Are there any AGPL-style licences that require source code modifications to be public? Planned maintenance scheduled April 23, 2019 at 23:30 UTC (7:30pm US/Eastern) Announcing the arrival of Valued Associate #679: Cesar Manara Unicorn Meta Zoo #1: Why another podcast?Force derivative works to be publicAre there any GPL like licenses for Apple App Store?Do you violate the GPL if you provide source code that cannot be compiled?GPL - is it distribution to use libraries in an appliance loaned to customers?Distributing App for free which uses GPL'ed codeModifications of server software under GPL, with web/CLI interfaceDoes using an AGPLv3-licensed library prevent me from dual-licensing my own source code?Can I publish only select code under GPLv3 from a private project?Is there published precedent regarding the scope of covered work that uses AGPL software?If MIT licensed code links to GPL licensed code what should be the license of the resulting binary program?If I use a public API endpoint that has its source code licensed under AGPL in my app, do I need to disclose my source?

            2013 GY136 Descoberta | Órbita | Referências Menu de navegação«List Of Centaurs and Scattered-Disk Objects»«List of Known Trans-Neptunian Objects»

            Button changing it's text & action. Good or terrible? The 2019 Stack Overflow Developer Survey Results Are Inchanging text on user mouseoverShould certain functions be “hard to find” for powerusers to discover?Custom liking function - do I need user login?Using different checkbox style for different checkbox behaviorBest Practices: Save and Exit in Software UIInteraction with remote validated formMore efficient UI to progress the user through a complicated process?Designing a popup notice for a gameShould bulk-editing functions be hidden until a table row is selected, or is there a better solution?Is it bad practice to disable (replace) the context menu?