Unit 3

Helicopters and UAVs

Task 3.1 Answer the following questions:

1. What is a helicopter?
2. How does a helicopter differ from a usual plane?
3. How can a helicopter fly?
4. What speed can a helicopter fly at?
5. What maximum altitude can it reach?
6. What are military helicopters used for?
7. Are they very popular in civil aviation?

Task 3.2. Read a text.

The helicopter is a type of aircraft in which lift is obtained by means of one or more power-driven
horizontal propellers called rotors. When a rotor of a helicopter turns it produces reaction
torque which tends to make the craft spin as well. On most helicopters a small rotor near the
tail compensates for this torque. On twin-rotor craft the rotors spin in opposite directions, so
their reactions cancel each other. The helicopter is propelled in a given direction by inclining
the axis of the main rotor in that direction. The helicopter’s speed is limited by the fact that if
the blades rotate too fast, they will produce compressibility effects on the blade moving forward
and stall effects on the rearward moving blade, at the same time.
Although the helicopter was only recently fully developed, its concept can date back to the late
1400s. Since then helicopters have been put into use in many ways. One can find helicopters in
both civil and military areas. The early helicopters were mainly developed for military use, but
later became certified for civilian use. Since then helicopters have evolved greatly, specifically
with the design. Because a helicopter can perform more actions than a fixed-wing aircraft can,
it is more complicated to fly. The helicopter must compensate for variety of forces, like the
spinning force, induced by the main rotors.
The lifting force is produced by the rotors. As they spin, they cut into the air and produce lift.
Each blade produces an equal share of the lifting force.
When the rotor spins against the air, it causes lift and helicopter rises vertically and hovers.
When the spinning rotor tilts, it causes flight in the direction of a tilt. The tail rotor is very
important. If you spin a rotor using an engine, the rotor will rotate, but the engine and the
helicopter will try to rotate in opposite direction. The tail rotor is like a small propeller to pull
against the torque reaction and hold the helicopter straight.

Task 3.3. Find the words in the text that have the same meaning.

1. One of the flat parts that turn around in the engine or on a helicopter –
2. To move into the position with one side or end higher than the other –
3. At or near the back of something –
4. To stay in the air in one place –
5. To turn around quickly –
6. A twisting force that causes machinery to rotate –
7. A part of a machine that turns around a central point –
8. To cause something –
9. A situation in which an aircraft loses speed and goes steeply downwards –

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Task 3.4. Fill in the gaps with the right forms of the word from Task 3.3.

1. The plane was ……………….out of control.

2. She was sitting by a ……………..window.
3. Suddenly the plane …………….to one side.
4. A hawk ………………over the hill.
5. The plane went into a …………………… .
6. How many rotor ……………….are there on a helicopter?
7. The more ……………an engine has, the bigger the load it can pull in the same gear.
8. This drug ……………….drowsiness.

Task 3.5. Take a look at the picture and address the numbers with the structural parts.

a. 45º gearbox k. Synchronized elevator

b. 90˚ gearbox l. Swash plate
c. Cabin doors m. Stabilizer bar
d. Cowling n. Tail rotor drive shaft
e. Engine mount o. Tail fin
f. Engine p. Tail rotor
g. Fuselage q. Tail skid
h. Landing skids r. Transmission
i. Mast s. Tail boom
j. Rotor

Task 3.6. Define the following structural parts of a helicopter.

1. The part that is underneath some aircraft, may be located beside the wheels, and is
used for landing –
2. Something that an object stands on or is attached to for support –

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 3. A main spar of several making up the longitudinal framework carrying the tail of an
aeroplane when not supported by the fuselage.
4. A support for the tail of an aircraft once it is on the ground –
5. A device used in mechanical engineering to translate the motion of a rotating shaft
into reciprocating motion, or vice versa –
6. A tall metal metal tower with an aerial that sends and receives radio signals –
7. The system in the aircraft by which power is passed from the engine to the wheels –

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Task 3.7. Read the text.

An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is an unpiloted aircraft. UAVs can be remote controlled
or fly autonomously based on pre-programmed flight plans or more complex dynamic
automation systems. UAVs are currently used in a number of military roles, including
reconnaissance and attack. They are also used in small but growing number of civil
applications such as fire-fighting when a human observer would be at risk, police observation
of civil disturbances and crime scenes, and reconnaissance support in natural disasters. UAVs
are often preferred for missions that are too “dull, dirty, or dangerous” for manned aircraft.

There is a wide variety of UAV shapes, sizes, configuration and characteristics. For the purpose
to distinguish UAVs from missiles, a UAV is defined as capable of controlled, sustained, level
flight and powered by a jet or reciprocating engine. Cruise missiles are not classified as
UAVs, because, like many other guided missiles, the vehicle itself is a weapon that is not reused,
even though it is also unmanned and in some cases remotely guided. With the maturing and
miniaturization of applicable technologies as seen in the 1980s and 1990s, the interest in UAVs
grew within the higher echelons of the US military. UAVs were seen to offer the possibility of
cheaper more capable fighting machines that can be used without risk to aircrews. Initial
generations were primarily surveillance aircraft, but some were fitted with weaponry. An
armed UAV is known as unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV).

The near future will likely see unmanned aircraft employed, offensively, for bombing and
ground attacks. As a tool for search and rescue, UAVs can help find humans lost in the
wilderness, trapped in collapsed buildings, or adrift at sea. While air-to-air combat will likely
remain the least domain of the human pilot, when unmanned fighter jets do come about, they
will enjoy the advantage of almost unlimited immunity to G-force effects.

UAVs typically fall into one of six functional categories (although multi-role airframe platforms
are becoming more prevalent):

- Target and destroy – providing ground and aerial gunnery a target that simulates an
enemy aircraft or missiles;
- Reconnaissance – providing battlefield intelligence;
- Combat – providing attack capability for high-risk missions;
- Logistics – UAVs specially designed for cargo and logistics operations;
- Research and development – used to further develop UAV technologies to be integrated
into the field deployed UAV aircraft;
- Civil and Commercial UAVs – UAVs specifically designed for civil and commercial
applications;

As UAVs are not burdened with the psychological limitations of human pilots, they can be
designed for maximized on-station times. The maximum flight duration of unmanned, aerial

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vehicles varies widely. Intern-combustion-engine endurance depends strongly on the
percentage of fuel burned as a fraction of total weight, and so is largely independent of the
aircraft size. Solar-electric UAVs hold potential for unlimited flight, a concept originally
championed by the Aerovironment Helios Prototype, which unfortunately was destroyed in
crash in 2003. One of the major problems with UAVs is no capability for in-flight refueling.
Currently the US AIR FORCE is promoting research that should end in an in-flight UAV
refueling capability.

Task 3.8. Surf the I-net for further information on an in-flight UAV refueling capability
project.

Task 3.9. Answer the questions referring to the text 3.7.

1. Name at least two spheres of UAV usage in military.

2. Name at least two spheres of UAV usage in civil aviation.
3. How do UAVs differ from missiles? What are the similarities?
4. What does an abbreviation of UCAV stand for?
5. What are the 6 functional UAV categories? Give example for each of them.
6. What is the most prominent disadvantage of UAVs nowadays?

Task 3.10. Find the words in the text that have the same meaning.

1. To be carrying something heavily –

2. An arrangement of planes in which one is behind and to the side of the one in front –
3. To use something for particular purpose –
4. Secret information that is collected, for instance about a foreign country –
5. A type of engine that drives an aircraft forwards by pushing out a stream of gases –
6. A device/ machine that needs or has a person to control it –
7. The weapon that is sent through the air and that explodes when it hits the thing that it
is aimed at –
8. The activity of getting information about an area for military purposes, using solders,
planes, etc. –
9. The act of watching a person suspected of a crime or a place where a crime may be
committed –
10. A type of an engine the mechanism of which moves backwards and forwards in straight
line –

GRAMMAR NOTE

Problem words: comprise, be composed of, consist of, constitute, make up, include.

Task 3.11. Read the information and decide whether sentences 1-10 from students’ writing are
right (+) or wrong (-). Suggest a correction for wrong sentences.

Comprise We can say that something comprises

Be composed of/ consist of
particular things when we mention all of its
parts.
The book comprises eight chapters.
We can use either is composed of or
consist of to say that something is formed
from various things.
Words are composed of/ consist of individual
sounds.

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 Warning: do not use the passive form of
consist of. Some people think that using be
comprised of in the same way as be
composed of/ consists of is wrong, so it is best
to avoid it.
Constitute We use constitute in an opposite way to
comprise/ be composed of / consist of to
say that parts of something form the whole.
The factory employees constituted the whole
settlement.
Or a fraction of a whole.
Right-handed people constitute a majority of
the population.
Make up/ be made up of Make up (active) has the same meaning as
constitute.
The Bangladeshi community makes up 0.5%
of the total population in the UK.
While be made up of (passive) has the same
meaning as be composed of/ consist of.
Molecules are made up of electrons, protons
and neutrons.
Include We use include to say that a thing contains
something as a part.
Table 3.1. includes information about
occupation of participants.
Warning: do not use include when we
mention all the parts of something. Instead
use comprise.
Warning: do not use the continuous form of
any of these verbs.

1. The sample of patients was consisted of only men between the ages of 40 and 50.
2. This sample was drawn from four locations in the country and comprised 40 families.
3. The European Council of Ministers is consisting of politicians from each member state.
4. Prepositions comprise a closed class of words; that is, no new items can be added.
5. The sales of the company includes 40% domestic and 60% export sales.
6. More than half the audience constituted women.
7. Body cell mass makes up approximately 55% of total body weight.
8. A team of ten people, which consisted of the three authors of the paper, collected the
data over a six-month period in 2008.
9. Adjectives in the research articles that indicate attitude include “thoughtful”,
“significant”, and “serious”.
10. My recording equipment is comprised of three web cameras and a microphone.