Feb 26 2010Impressive: Building A Silent Helicopter Blade
Helicopters are loud as shit and a lot of times I have to cover my ears with my hands on the helipad waiting for my pilot to bring the bird down. It gets annoying, especially when you've got two briefcases full of gold bullion handcuffed to your wrists, WHICH I ALWAYS DO.
Helicopters make a lot of noise because of a physical phenomenon called blade-vortex interaction.
The new blade shape is combined with another technology called Blue Pulse, which adds three flaps to the edge of the rotor blades. These flaps move up and down at 15 to 40 times per second, using piezoelectric motors that also help to reduce the blade-vortex interaction.
Well I think I speak for all private-helicopter owners when I say, "IT'S ABOUT DAMN TIME!" Do you know what this means? It means I'll be hovering silently outside your bedroom window in no time! Now, change into your PJ's. DOOOO IT!
Hit the jump for a video comparison of the two different blades in action.
The Blade That Would Make Helicopters Almost Silent [gizmodo]
Reader Comments
1. ballsack - February 26, 2010 10:18 PM
will be better for my stealth robot killing missions
2. Brahe - February 26, 2010 10:19 PM
)>O
3. Lady Virgen - February 26, 2010 10:27 PM
I dream of flight... and throw my clothes from above.
4. BootlegGuy - February 26, 2010 10:40 PM
noooooo now the govt is totally capable of spying on our every action without our knowledge or consent.... oh, wait what? there already doing that? DAMN you J. Edgar Hoover. Damn You ALL TO HEEEEELLLLLLLL.
5. atheistgirl - February 27, 2010 12:06 AM
Unmarked helicopters!
6. Rer - February 27, 2010 12:17 AM
Wow how pointless is this? The Trubine engines that run the helicopter are just as loud if not louder then the "Whopping" sound of the blades. So instead of the whopping sound all you hear is the insanely loud Turbine?
This is like taking the sugar out of candy and replacing it with corn syrup, same difference.
7. JJtoob - February 27, 2010 2:30 AM
Move over, Comanche (RAH-66), there's a new ninja-chopper in town, or is there?... That's right! You don't know because you can't hear it HA HA HAAAA! Wait, why am I laughing? I don't own any helicopters... Oh I liked playing the Comanche computer games. Comanche gold and 4 were the shiaaatz!
8. muhabbet - February 27, 2010 3:52 AM
Thank a lot
9. r4 sdhc - February 27, 2010 8:04 AM
Oh wow I am so impressed when I just read this title of a silent helicopter blade.I like that you have described about a new blade and why Helicopters make a lot of noise.This video about blades is also good.
10. Jaja - February 27, 2010 8:04 AM
Omg GW I fucking love your creativity...
These posts wouldn't be shit without your awesome description and notes at the bottom haha !
11. Steve - February 27, 2010 8:56 AM
The Commanche was actually cancelled you know? Is it just me, or have they already developed the same technology on truck tires which combined with a 50% of your imagination, are also now incredibly "silent"
12. cabbo - February 27, 2010 9:14 AM
Yeah, now it sounds less like a helicopter and more like a jet. But quieter.
It's OK, though, because this is good news: the robots have not got this technology yet. When Skynet breaks down, we'll be in the air, ninja-floating away, dodging nukes.
13. Seyri Film, Film izle, seyret - February 27, 2010 9:55 AM
thanks sure
I like your site and really update your article
14. Liquid Tension - February 27, 2010 10:28 AM
great, now i can spy on my girlfriend at 3 am.
15. cabbo - February 27, 2010 12:33 PM
@14 You do not own a woman.
16. electric_insect - February 27, 2010 1:52 PM
Can anyone say Blue Thunder? Hell, does anyone remember blue thunder?
17. Tin - February 27, 2010 1:54 PM
What a total ripoff, i was expecting complete silence, so when the military starts using this, it will surprise me when they're after me.
18. bR1anious - February 27, 2010 7:17 PM
Look up info on the XF84H "Tunder Screech" if you want to talk about loud aircraft
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XF-84H_Thunderscreech
19. Dorko - February 27, 2010 10:19 PM
This article is bunk. To our ears 10 dB = half the perceived volume or half as loud.
This technology only reduces the blade noise by 3-4dB's so the noise reduction is minimal.
"This maturing noise reduction technology has been validated since 2007 in Eurocopter flight trials using a five-blade Blue Edge™ main rotor on an EC155, showing a 3-4 dB noise reduction that effectively halves a helicopter’s noise profile during descent."
http://www.eurocopterusa.com/news_features/2010/02-22-10-heli-expo-2010-innovation.asp
20. Polly pureheartP - February 27, 2010 10:27 PM
The awesomeness of this made me rock hard.
www.wtcctr.com
21. Interwebz Dork - February 27, 2010 11:41 PM
FIRST!
22. Rer - February 28, 2010 5:05 AM
@19
Also the fact that the gas turbine on rotary wing aircraft are just as loud as the blades. So whats the point if you don't muffle the Turbine somehow also.
23. Lance J. M. - February 28, 2010 1:24 PM
This could make it easier for nations to get troops in enemy territory without alerting them.
24. cabbo - February 28, 2010 6:20 PM
@23 Amerifag fails at foreign policies.
25. Rer - March 1, 2010 1:51 AM
@24
We might fail at our foreign policies but the UK usually follows us around like a puppy and does what it's told.
26. James - March 1, 2010 1:59 PM
@19
Actually, no. 10dB is a 10-fold difference, 3dB is a about twofold difference. It's a base-10 logarithmic scale.
So the article is essentially correct as far as a 3-4dB reduction halving the noise profile of the blades. As other have stated, they're still ignoring the engines. While you can land a helicopter with the engine off, which might be what they're getting at with the "during decent" bit, I don't think that's normal.