Patent ID: 8684690
Filing Date: 2014-04-01
Classification: B64C,Y10T

Abstract:
1. A helicopter rotor comprising: a rotor hub; a rotor blade connected to the rotor hub, the rotor blade comprising a baseline airfoil chord length between a leading edge and a trailing edge of the rotor blade; a quasi-static chord section extensible linearly from the trailing edge of the rotor blade and selectively fixable at an adjusted chord length according to helicopter flight conditions, the adjusted airfoil chord length of the rotor blade corresponding to extension of the quasi-static chord section relative to the baseline airfoil chord length; an actuator positioned at least partially in the rotor blade; and a linkage coupled with the actuator, the rotor blade, and the quasi-static chord section, wherein the actuator is configured to extend and retract the quasi-static chord section via the linkage and the linkage is configured to provide a stiff connection between the rotor blade and the quasi-static chord section, wherein the quasi-static chord section is extensible to increase the adjusted chord length when the flight speed, altitude, gross weight, or a combination thereof are increased.