Aerial Forum

I enjoyed Reg Austin’s discussion in the ‘Aerial Forum’ of the Autumn issue of Helicopter Life of the rationale behind the tail rotor, but there is an equally fascinating other story behind the evolution of the tail rotor itself. As you may know, early helicopter evolution concentrated on co-axial designs, obviously to deal with rotor torque. Often the earliest cited reference to a tail rotor design is the 1874 illustration by Wilhelm Achenbach (acclaimed as the ‘first to use a tail rotor to counteract the torque from the main rotor’), but little is known of him ...