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Cyclic pitch refers to the alignment of the rotor blades of a rotary-winged aircraft, such as a Helicopter, Autogiro or Gyrodyne. Such aircraft steer by changing the cyclic pitch of their rotor.

[edit] History

This concept was invented by Juan de la Cierva, reputedly when he saw a large number of umbrellas in the rain. He considered the effect of tilting the umbrella, and by analogy the "rotor disc" of a rotary-wing aircraft. The outcome would be to turn the aircraft to one side, or to increase or decrease lift and drag in forward motion.

As technology developed, the technique for controlling cyclic pitch changed. Nowadays, pitch control does not involve tilting the rotor disc itself, but only changes the angle of attack of the individual rotor blades.

[edit] See also

• Collective pitch