Some Helicopters like Russian Mi-24, UH-60 etx have Stub Wings. What is the role of such wings?
Russian Mi-24
UH-60
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6$\begingroup$ for those two I'd guess providing hard-points for the weapons and winches attached to them. $\endgroup$– ratchet freakJun 23, 2015 at 11:36
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1$\begingroup$ Can you possibly provide attribution for the images, e.g. the source? $\endgroup$– SentryRavenJun 25, 2015 at 11:23
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$\begingroup$ Source : Google Images $\endgroup$– Damalani SinghJun 25, 2015 at 11:26
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2$\begingroup$ @DamalaniSingh generally, "Google Images" is a collection of images from all over the web. For future reference, it's nice to include the source from which GI got the image. $\endgroup$– FreeManJul 11, 2020 at 14:52
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2 Answers
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In addition to serving as support for weapons, we must have in mind that they're both quite fast for a helicopter - 335 km/h (208 mph) for Mi and 294 km/h (183 mph) for UH. At such speeds, even small wings yield considerable aerodynamic effects, just like in planes. From Wikipedia article we can learn that Mi's wings can provide up to 25% of total lift at speed and important stability to counter tendency to Dutch Roll.
Curiously, both mentioned platforms exist in wingless configuration. For UH-60 it's quite common, while Mi-24 had it's wings removed for breaking records. This hints that Mi-24 is much more dependent on it's wings than UH-60.
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3$\begingroup$ Dutch Roll, for those unfamiliar with the term, is a "stable instability" that is common in heavier high-wing aircraft, including rotary wings. By adding aerodynamic wing stubs low on the fuselage, the imbalances that cause the roll are cancelled out. $\endgroup$– KeithSJul 8, 2015 at 16:57
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$\begingroup$ What kind of records? Do you have any source? I think that for speed records the wings are quite advantageous. $\endgroup$ Nov 24, 2022 at 15:13
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1$\begingroup$ @ROIMaison Expectably, time-to-climb record. $\endgroup$– Agent_LNov 24, 2022 at 15:19
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They're used for hanging munitions, external stores, etc. on. You can see in the picture of the Mi-24 that it has several rocket pods attached. They're referred to as "hardpoints" or "pylons".
I'm guessing that the reasons the pylons hang down from horizontal wings, rather than being attached more directly to the helicopter include:
- Compatibility with existing airplane-based systems.
- Moves rocket exhaust away from the body of the helicopter.
- There's not enough room under the helicopter to hang them there.
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$\begingroup$ Plus for quite some stuff you might want a way for visual inspection from within the cockpit. $\endgroup$– PlasmaHHJun 24, 2015 at 8:59