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Yes, this is basically how you are supposed to crash-land a helicopter if the engine fails.


Actually in this case he’s using an airfoil spinning on a horizontal axis perpendicular to the direction of flight.

But yes, helicopters can be safely landed this way without power (not crash landed, but actually landed, though crashing is always an option lol)

Also, gyrocopters use the same principle for all phases of controlled flight, by simply using a traction engine to move the aircraft foreword, with a free spinning, unpowered, typically fixed pitch or no cyclic control rotor providing the lift.


When I was trying to get a helicopter license (pre-pandemic), I did one of these as part of training (the instructor had me actually complete the landing... he was a little crazy) and I wouldn't exactly consider it a typical landing, but the helicopter and its occupants were indeed in working order.




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