How can this helicopter fly?

[emshighway]

http://www.filecabi.net/video/ufochopper.html

[AirtrafficController]

maybe jet engines

[stuart schechter]

What if the rotor is spinning and the camera can't pick up those details. Just like if you look at a spoked hubcap of a car it looks liek its spinning backwards sometimes.

[lijk604]

That's damn cool!

[Corey]

Well clearly the sound is correct, but why it looks like that I have no idea.

Corey

[PhilDernerJr]

Some possibilities:

- Trick photography (but I doubt it)

- RC Helicopter

- Vertical thrust like a Harrier?

[cancidas]

i think the film in the camera is moving at the same speed as the rotor blades, causing it to appear to remain still. then again, it's been a while since i did my physics classes but it's soemthing like that... look at the tail rotor, that's spinning and the tail is usually connected by a solid driveshaft to the main rotor gearbox.

[mirrodie]

Matt, your answer seems the most likely. I've just never seen the camera's shutter speed match the rotor speed so perfectly and so in synch.

[stuart schechter]

Well if a normal camera shots 30 Frames/Sec then I think it is 1:30 chance that you will get it right. I think it was just coincidence.

[Informant]

Its a trick, and a good one too, a helicopter cannot hover without its main rotor, it would simply sink to the ground.

[hiss srq]

Thank you capt.obvious! Sitting in a room where two of five are chopper pilots neither of us could figure that out. :wink: Welcome to the forums BTW.