Bob Eisenman Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 I read on the web that the Bell V 280 tilt-rotor , which beat out the Sikorsky Defiant X, uses rotatable gearboxes to move the prop's vertical angle while the engines are in a fixed-wing position. Osprey V22 rotates the entire engine and uses hydraulics to do so. Defiant X uses two contra-rotating blades because over a certain speed the trailing edge of a single-rotor helicopter blade stalls. With contra-rotating blades, the stall effect of the leading edge cancels out. A YouTube video of the V-280 Valor explains the need for two clutches to allow the tilt-rotor gearbox to move in opposite directions. I'd guess that an engineer could explain quickly why a dual-clutch (high-frequency wear and tear part) design is preferable (provides a lot of power?) to a stepper electric motor (plus gearbox?) to change the V 280's tilt-rotor gearbox angle. Maybe an electric motor (plus gearbox) is too heavy? Like... maybe you need the power equivalent of a diesel-electric train engine to meet the torque requirements. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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