The Helicopter: Everything You Need to Know 

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I'm starting to worry that Simon isn't allowed out of the studio

My dad is a helicopter pilot, first in the army, then the national guard, and then medivac for our state. I don't have a point to make or anything to add I'm just really proud of my dad ❤

Artillery would be a good one for this series, one of those things that everyone knows what it is but then when you think about it a bit more you realise how little we actually have as common knowledge

Former OH-58D pilot here- mid-1980's tech, observation and light attack helicopter, if you're not familiar. The bit about early experimentation with arming them and the pilots having to eyeball it took me back and made me chuckle. You know what our "targeting system" in the 58 was? A grease pencil mark on the windscreen hahaha

This feature-length video is a Megaproject of its own. Bravo.

Wow, in 2 days, 3 videos combines for 7 hours in the Whistlerverse.

The number of multihour vid simon has put out this week has me struggling to keep up lol

This is my new favorite segment across the whistlerverse. I know these deeper dives are a significant undertaking to make, and not always the best return on investment. However, the result is fantastic and definitely appreciated.

And you didn't show Airwolf!!! Now that's the coolest chopper ;)

1:24:08 Loved this, but how can you forget Ingenuity?!! The only helicopter to take off, fly, and land on another planet! Plus, I'm pretty sure it broke the speed record on its way to Mars, even if it wasn't under its own power😂.

This is why Arnold said “GET TO THE CHOPPER”

Helicopter ambulances are an amazingly epic invention and are saving so many lives that would have otherwise been lost. Long live the helicopter 🚁!

We are LOVING these longer form videos you guys (Simon & The People Under the Stairs)! They work so damn good for a good smoke sesh, or as background when wandering around in cyberspace... Ummmm...Wait, what were we talking about?

Wait an hour and a half of Simon? Hell yes!!! Give me more!!!

It's worth noting that the new tiltrotor, the Valor, is expected to be more reliable and safer than the Osprey. While the Osprey has it's engine rotate along with the rotor, the Valor has stationary engines, only rotating it's rotors. The helicopter's power plant not tilting greatly reduce the risk of having a fatal malfunction/failure.

the V-22 has the same failure rate if not better than the C-130 and UH-60 did when they had the same flight hours, sadly one of the most vocal online supporters of the V-22 did die in a crash in one, but the man loved the aircraft and it is just as safe as any other aircraft of such complexity with such low flight hours total

Served in the US Army with a deployment to Iraq from Oct 06 to Jan 08. I was with 1st Air Cav out of Taji. Just came to say I love the Chinook 2 were brought down during my deployment and everyone survived from those 2 instances.

Another benefit of FADEC: Auto relight. It can detect an engine failure, kick on the igniters, and adjust the fuel flow to get the fire burning again as fast as possible. The OH-58D actually had a counter built into the avionics software to let you know if this happened, because FADEC could fix an engine failure so quickly, you literally might not know it happened

I thought I knew not a lot, but at least pretty much, about helicopter history. Turns out I was wrong. Thanks for this informative video! 👍

I sometimes wonder if Simon is human, or a biomechanical hybrid that doesn’t sleep or require rest of any sort. That’s why he can put out multiple videos nearly every day on so many channels! If he is indeed human, he has a work ethic that is exceedingly rare… One can’t help but admire him and his dedication to creating content that educates the world about numerous topics. Is there a type of award for RU-vid creators similar to the Oscars? If so, he deserves a lifetime achievement award! Thanks Simon for the great work you do and for keeping me entertained and informed and teaching me about things I never would have learned otherwise

By far my favorite megaprojects! I have spent years and years working on,,with or around most of the birds used during the 70's 80's and early 90's. And this was spot on! Bravo big brain! I know your writer's put these podcast together, but your oratory abilities are spot on!👍👍

19:45 you didnt account for gyroscopic precession. fore/aft rotor pitch changes creates a side to side movement. this 90 degree offset is normally built into the swashplate. so the swashplate tilts fore/aft, but the effect is applied 90 degrees offset to the blades.

You had Da Vinci's Screw rotating the wrong way! ;p

These long-form joints are solid. Reference-level works that I hope stay evergreen. Cheers the team!

They did forget the stealth helicopters. Not much information out there, but it is a revolutionary advance in helicopters.

Great video, would love to have a mega project on the iterations of spy satellites throughout the cold war and beyond 👍

1:2:51 They don't count because of retreating blade stall. Great show as always, you guys make great content!

I see the videos themselves are megaprojects now. Megaprojects²

I'm working hard at getting my commercial helicopter license at the moment. I've always loved these machines

Simon, nobody else reads as well as you. I enjoy your voice. An hour and a half ! I hope you take breaks, then the editor performs seamless magic to put you back together without a breath. I hope. Enjoyed the helicopter history.

Fabulous. But no mention of the Fairy Rotodyne (compound), the Cessna CH1 (highest piston helicopter record) and, nNO Bell Jet Ranger!? Guess ya just can't include everything 😊

Love the heavy lift portion, I'm a former Marine Corps CH-53E mechanic and currently a CH-54/S-64E helicopter mechanic, heavy lift is in my blood!

1:28:57 I don’t care how many times I register to it - the straightfaced delivery of that line, and the unique wording makes me laugh like mad Simon, you are a blessing to the world in so many ways.

As a dual rated pilot, fixed wing and rotorcraft, I have to admit that for pure fun, you can’t beat landing next to a waterfall and fishing for native browns 45 minutes from your front yard. But if you need to go somewhere, you need 200 knots.

I am appreciating this new form of video, and hope it continues in the future. Would like to see a similar one on artillery.

Saying helicopters development has stagnated, is to ignore drones and UAV, and even RC helicopters, because there has been massive leaps in the electronic that control vertical flight. While I wasn't really expecting anything about RC helis, the development of drones over the last 20 years has been phenomenal, so much so that they are now part of everyday life.

BC & AD…… Has Simon and writers listened to us? Yippie.

I served in Vietnam in 1970 with a combat engineer outfit in the central highlands. We had helicopters assigned to us, including gun ships and medivacs. One Sunday afternoon, the Huey gunship exercised its guns into a waste area next to our base. What you hear is a loud buzz and what you see is the copter being forced back by the accumulated recoil of its miniguns. We had a company out in the far boonies constructing some fortifications for Montagnard irregulars. They were resupplied entirely by air. The huge Chinooks would hover over our pad while we hooked a cargo net full of supplies out to Bu Prang where the cargo net would be unloosed and the Chinook would go on its way without having to land at either end of the delivery. They had a tremendous prop blast, hence the hovering. I happened to be at Bu Prang during a Chinook delivery. The prop blast stirred up a tremendous cloud of red dust. (Clark Gable starred in the movie Red Dust in the early 1930s about a rubber plantation. They had that right.) BTW, Helicopters are very loud, you have to communicate through the helmet radio.

Simon really missed out when describing the future blackhawk replacement. The real point of the V22 is that it goes 100 mph faster, and goes over 100 miles more than the public figures for the blackhawk, loaded for combat. and even further when shuttling from base to base. The blackhawk will be replaced, the V22 is the future, the Raider X is not as fast and cant go as far as the V22.... Also don't forget that the V22 and the osprey both have redundant gears so that if one engine cuts out, the engine on the opposite side can turn a gear all the way through the plane and keep the other propeller spinning. While the plane will have to slow down, the v22 can still make it home on one engine on a level flight. Which reminds me, you never addressed redundancy. Things like the blackhawk have two turbines just to make sure that even if one cuts out, the other can at minimum provide a controlled landing

Great video Simon and the basement team. Am the only one who would like to see a video on the CL-84 Dynavert? I think the only thing wrong with it was like many good ideas it was too ahead of its time.

I was rescued in Dec 1989 by RNAS Culdrose in Cornwall after I fell off a 200ft shear drop off a cliff in St Just in Cornwall, 10 climbers couldn't get me out as the tide came in and I had 'bounced' into an alcove, so helicopter (the biggest they have) came to pull me out, was very dodgy apparently, I have no memory of anything that happened, woke up 4 days later in hospital in Truro, Never been on a helicopter since and I have no memory of when I was on one which is annoying BUT they saved my life, will love em forever.

Dude, I've been high this entire time watching this mega project of a Megaproject. NGL, great episode fact boi. I forgot where I was, but your voice guides me through the trip

I love the "TurboFab" engine! Nice slide @48:13

The real megaproject is having every single channel on RU-vid

I didn’t notice the mention of a helicopter’s maximum speed where the rotor breaks the sound barrier as half of it moves faster than sound as it moves forward along with the craft.

Love the long form videos.

Omg ilu Simon, I have been waiting for thisss

Only about 20 minutes in but a fun fact for everyone; David Unaipon (Aboriginal elder on the aussie $50 note) was an inventor and tried to patent a design for a helicopter similar in design to modern ones towards the beginning of WWI. While it didn't go through, a relative of his recently worked with students from a university to recreate his intention by replacing the rotors on a drone with boomerangs to study his theory for early helicopter flight.

"Jury-rigged" is actually "jerry-rigged." British soldiers admired the ingenuity of the Germans in making repairs and adapting hardware and weapons in unorthodox ways, and so the term "jerry-rigged" entered the general vocabulary: similarly, Allied soldiers began collecting German "jerry cans" wherever and whenever they could find them and eventually started manufacturing their own copies.

Their idea for the helicopter came through observing seeds. . . At least in a roundabout way.

Great video. Loved the long detailed format. A couple of observations. The FW 61 was built to be a proof of concept vehicle. The airframe, with its tractor engine, was a modification of an existing FW training airplane. Its resemblance to autogiros was only that. The "propeller" with is fixed pitch and limited diameter, was optimized for engine cooling and contributed no measurable thrust. If it did, the machine would not have been able to hover given the high power setting required to do so. One other detail, a turbo shaft engine is also considered an "internal combustion" engine. Both Reciprocating (piston) and Gas Turbine (turbo shaft/prop/fan/jet) engines are classified as "internal combustion". But I think we all knew what you meant. Anyway, nice work Simon, keep em' coming.

Helicopter! Helicopter!

Not mentioned about the Mil V12 is that it was intended to ship ICBMs around, avoiding having railway lines giving away the location of launch facilities

Love the content! I am always super excited when a new vid drops!

Superb. A really enjoyable deep dive into one of the coolest machines ever. I remember as a kid playing Top Trumps with my brothers and hoping that I had a Huey Cobra or Westland Lynx or Hind D in the hand. Fabulous memories...

LOVE you in Philadelphia. Once again, Well Done!

Absolutely love the long form videos. I pop one on when I wake up in the morning and listen along as I gently boot for the day :)

Simon is a man at the peak of his game. Well done sir!

The coolest machine? SR-71 and Apollo: Are we a joke to you?

Really enjoyed this one. Thank you!

I absolutely love these videos when the whole team can stretch their legs and really get to the meat and potatoes of the topic their covering.

Another cracking video Murray.

I've noticed none of Simon's channels do timestamps. I'm assuming it is to increase watch time, but on videos like this, I feel it is pretty necessary.

Interesting video, thank you very much. Under the attack helicopter section, you forgot about the South African Rooivalk, which started development in 1984.

Thanks for sharing 😀👍

Love the video Simon and crew thanks. Gotta get back to it. ❤

My dad was a cobra mechanic during his time in the army. Stationed in Germany in the late 70s and early 80s

My brother is a flight medic for an air rescue team in Texas. He was recently taken on as part of NASAs rescue team? Not sure what its title is but he is basically part of an medic team whenever they do crewed launches

The most cohesive and accessible explanation of the physics behind the helicopter I’m sat thinking “ohhhhh, that explains why I experienced what I did on DCS 😅 probably didn’t have the antitorque rotor running? Idk Love the work of yourself and your team! (Though while I’m here, I’ll mention the backing music of the “ the unknown “ channel could use a little variety. The memes however are top tier xoxo ) Drink whenever Simon mentions Stargate! 🤪😜

i think my only regret in life at almost 50 is never flying helicopters. and will never have the money to do it.

I could swear I saw this two days ago. Honestly 😮

Would a conventional drone be considered a helicopter? DJI type format, but there are some human-capable prototypes out there (Jetson One, HexaLift) that seem to be the next increment of heli tech

Love the long form videos!

Awesome video, Simon

last time i was this early, only birds could fly

I've only listened for a minute or two, but how did this audio get past production? It's like SImon is speaking to me from two to three feet away in every direction at once. AHHHH! He's clear, but oh my God is it maddening. ninja edit: no; I do not mean like it is center-stage where center is between speakers on my head and the sound appears from nowhere. I mean it is like a reverb or delay.

The toys came from them observing a two petal leaf with a cental stem that when falls drom the tree would spin and glide down to the ground like a helicopter propeller. You can find them in Canada as well.

Factboi : i have done timestamps for the 3h CC episode on *Bonnie & Clyde* ; the 2h WG episode on *Putin* ; the 1h30 DTU on the *Holocaust*...and now this Where are my free VESSI ??? Anyways, here's the table's 0:55 - Chapter 1 - Early attempts 4:35 - Mid roll ads ads 5:55 - Back to the video 18:50 - Chapter 2 - Inter war & WWII development 37:15 - Chapter 3 - The helicopter in WWII 45:30 - Chapter 4 - The helicopter comes of age 1:07:20 - Chapter 5 - Later innovations 1:27:55 - Chapter 6 - Records 1:31:05 - Chapter 7 - The future

I played the Boffins drinking game and can’t stand up now. Thanks Simon

Excellent stuff bro

love this guy. missed a bit in the future segment. drones and uses in planet exploring, like mars

A quick correction on how lift is generated. NASA has proven that the Bernoulli Effect doesn't create lift on airfoils. That's an old myth that just so happens to (mostly) correlate to aerodynamic designs. There's no evidence that the high/low pressure created on the airfoils is what creates the lift. Source: "Incorrect Lift Theory #1" - NASA

First Helicopter was designed by an engineer Sikorski from Russia 🇷🇺 during WW1, and he flee to the USA 🇺🇸 he was threatened by dirty red terror during 1917-1918 ... he founded infamous Sikorski company in USA...red Soviet regime committed a great crime and guilt against Russia 🇷🇺 by harassed that practice scientist ....it was informative and wonderful historical coverage video about helicopters around the world 🌎

I enjoy this long video much more than the short 15 to 20 minute videos.

Best get the popcorn in for this video! 🙂

@megaprojects In regards to the Cheyenne, the US Air Force used the Key West Agreement to kill it. Under the Key West Agreement it divided roles between the branches and with the A-10 coming out, the USAF claimed that the Cheyenne would step on their feet since they had the Close Air Support role. Also, could you guys do a video on the ACH-47, a group of CH-47s that were heavily armed for close air support in Vietnam.

I enjoyed this!

I would love to see a video on the real-life Dune Ornithopter. It was an experimental plane France was working on before WWII.

Look at that Chinook. Look at it's introduction date. It's still flying. It's also still the fastest helicopter the US Army flies.

Soooo about the ch53 you only talked about the D twin motor variant. There is E three motor and the brand new K with even bigger triple motors…those are heavy lift

If the main rotors break up in forward flight mode, They would Would sever the cockpit from the cabin.

I am a bit amazed that I watched the whole 90 minutes. Simon Whistler sure can read quickly. His diction and voice are distinctive. Overall he is one of the greats amongst many presenters of novel and fast changing technologies. He has a lot to be proud of. I'd try to see if I could VO any production anywhere near the charms of Mr. Whistler. Prodigious output from Simon is unparalleled. He must really want to work at what he does. I'd like to hang out with him and talk about all things that interest us as it is debatable now if we will make it through the bottleneck as we skim the lake of misfortune, mistake, stupidity knowing without any doubt there is no time to go off anywhere to find yourself. Youths had better forget about fun outside of work. All the fun you are to have had better be at whatever destiny you chose. Where is the next greatest threat? You can be certain it is a litany of crisis overload events from dawn to dawn dusk to dusk. It is an end to history not because there is nothing new but because there is so much happening to write it all down hoping to make enough sense of any of it to call it history is clearly impossible a task. At least that is the situation for the great majority of us. Strength, Wisdom, Beauty, Humor and Spontaneous Affection. Simon Whistler obviously maintains these values and from his vantage point not only observes and relays the great events his working writer partner and contributors he finds or find him he sits there at his spot speaking to me in my spot so fully alive the both of us and then the all of us. He out does Walter Cronkite who came to us also daily and then as the man making The Big Picture. I am the Transendian. I am the founder of Transcendia.org. I must get through to Simon Whistler to the point where he knows what I see of the past and present and future and enjoys the hold up that is just something grabbing our attention in the Spontaneous Affection Category. Something we could not plan to see, I saw yesterday a scientist say we'd know in 2025 if the new big to know asteroid was coming on the trajectory of doom. Well how about that. It is bound to happen. An asteroid hit our world and killed the Dinos and so wow we have snuck in and become aware one more. A how about that. We really want to control our own destinies and kill each other off. We cannot have this asteroid just show up and get in the way of our greatest military minds. Damn straight we will not allow this weapon of choice in the scheme of things far as universes are concerned, you know, you know what is big. Regolith is fun to say. It is just rocks instead of an asteroid with a number as a name. The great baseball player bred to stand on the Moon wearing magnetic soled. shoes. The whole of the world will watch the game the whole team will get to throw the pitch, their best pitches. The game of a long time coming. and long time. Oh dynamite. Oh DyNOMight DY- DI-No-Might. How about that? Pleasant Pleasant, comforting and some will claim there is a supreme being because the US Presidential Election will already be over. The most well equipped defensive apparatus, and a military that must have something to do to entertain the population with a great countdown Mr. Simon Whistler is nominated to tick off day after day and then hour by hour and then minute by minute. FDR's voice over as narrated by Seth Meyers back from impressions school will also get to take up. I see the both of them now laughing. What if there is a strike out? The ball of regolith not so well designed in texture doesn't even hit a glancing blow and the Countdown is prolonged.

I wish you had covered the records for loops, barrel rolls and upside-down, (even if it is for very short periods of time). 😀

Five of those V-22 crashes were during testing and it was because the pilots were approaching the ground too fast and the blades could not maintain lift in the hot desert loaded with 12 Marines when it got down to 100 ft over the ground. I may not have the spacifics right. But that's the just of it

You didn't even mention the Sky Crane (I think it was called that) that was used by power companies to install high voltage towers across hundreds of miles of forests & I believe was used by oil companies on their rigs at sea !

I'm a helicopter junkie. Love everything about them.

You forgot about Airwolf, the most iconic stealth helicopter that could go mach II, sadly it crashed doing a rescue operation

The amount of comments saying Simon is AI. On a video on helicopters. Good job

Can rockets be next? I enjoy these long episodes about specific vehicles.