Helicopters & Rotorcrafts

A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine driven rotors. In contrast with fixed-wing aircraft, this allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards and laterally. The first operational helicopter was the Focke-Wulf Fw 61 in 1936. Though most earlier designs used more than one main rotor, it was the single main rotor with antitorque tail rotor configuration of this design that would come to be recognized worldwide as the helicopter. Today, helicopter uses include transportation, construction, firefighting, search and rescue, and military uses.