Helicopter designs have come a long way since Igor Sikorsky developed the first helicopter. In part, this has seen a number of different types of helicopters be produced, many of which would likely blow Sikorsky’s mind!
Last year, we covered the different types of aircraft. That article mostly covered the various different types of fixed-wing aircraft, only briefly touching on rotary wing aircraft, such as helicopters.
Military
The overwhelming majority of helicopters produced in the last 80 years have been produced for the world’s militaries. As such, there are a number of different types of helicopters for various different military roles.
Stealth Helicopter
In recent years, the concept of stealth aircraft has become quite famous, or rather, infamous. Aircraft like the F-22 and F-35 have garnered a lot of media attention for their costly overruns.
However, the overwhelming majority of people have not heard of the other type of stealth aircraft: Stealth helicopters. The first stealth helicopters appeared in the 1970’s, roughly the same time as the first stealth aircraft.
For the most part, most mass-produced stealth helicopters are still in the design phase. Although a few partially stealthy helicopters, such as the Eurocopter Tiger, have been mass-produced.
Currently, a number of helicopters are being retrofitted with stealth technology. Recent reports have also hinted that China is developing a stealth helicopter that could be put in mass-production by the end of the decade!
Attack Helicopter
The overwhelming majority of stealth helicopters have also been considered to be attack helicopters too. As the name implies, attack helicopters are the workhorse of any infantry…
As a general rule, attack helicopters have extremely tough armor. This allows them to receive a large amount of rifle fire, mortar flak and sometimes even RPGs too!
On top of this tough armor, attack helicopters are also given a number of different high-powered weapons. They often have several machine guns, cannons, rockets, anti-aircraft missiles as well as anti-tank missiles.
Most commonly, attack helicopters are sued as close air support for the infantry. If they come up against an armored tank or heavily fortified position that they can’t get past, attack helicopters can be called in to clear the path quickly and efficiently.
On rare occasions, attack helicopters will also engage in aerial combat against enemy attacks helicopters too. This is often when their anti-aircraft missiles become quite useful.
Tiltrotors
Tiltrotors are by far some of the weirdest aircraft to have ever been designed. They are both helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft and neither at the same time!
Whilst on the ground, tiltrotors act like helicopters. When they go to take off, their propellers are in the upright position. This makes the tiltrotors resemble and act much like helicopters.
After taking off and during flight, the tiltrotors’ propellers are in the horizontal position. This makes the tiltrotors look and act like regular fixed-wing helicopters.
The concept of tiltrotors began in the 1960’s, alongside other V/TOL aircraft like the Harrier. As with the original Harrier, tiltrotors had huge potential, but also had a tendency to crash. This led many companies to not produce them.
Regardless, a few tiltrotors have been developed in the past few years, namely the V-22 Osprey.
Observation Helicopters
After Igor Sikorsky invented the helicopter, military generals immediately saw the potential benefits of helicopters. The first, and most obvious was as battlefield reconnaissance aircraft.
In this role, small, yet fast helicopters (usually ones with two seats, one for the pilot, and another for an observer) would fly over enemy territory. Whilst doing this, the observer would make notes on the enemy.
Specifically, the observer would note the rough number of enemy soldiers, tanks, aircraft etc. This information would later be relayed to the infantry, who would plan the best course of attack using this information.
Once the military retires them, many observation helicopters enjoy a second life as news helicopters. Alternatively, there have been civilian made variants of military observation helicopters built just for this purpose!
Transportation Helicopter
As helicopter technology improved over the course of the 1940’s and 1950’s, helicopters progressed from just being used for reconnaissance purposes. For the larger ones, they were used to transport troops.
By the early 1950’s, there were a number of helicopters with fuselages as large as small airliners. The military saw these, and saw the potential benefits of these as troop carriers.
For the military, the helicopters could be configured in several different ways. Some could be configured like passenger airliners, whilst others could be configured more like combi aircraft (half cargo, half passenger).
Whilst the former has since fallen out of fashion, the latter has become incredibly popular. Today, most transportation helicopters act more like a combi airliner does.
Cargo Helicopter
However, this isn’t always the case. When the need arises, the transport aspects of these helicopters can be folded away, or removed entirely. This allows them to simultaneously be transportation and cargo helicopters.
Due in part to their large size, they often have the ability to carry thousands of pounds/kilograms worth of cargo. This could include tanks, jeeps, and even other helicopters!
Thanks to its large size and ability to carry thousands of pounds/kilograms of cargo, cargo helicopters are often used for disaster relief, particularly during things like floods, when fixed-wing aircraft can’t land.
Naturally, there are also specifically designed cargo aircraft. As a general rule, the majority of these helicopters carry their cargo internally. A few, however, carry their cargo externally, usually slung underneath the helicopter itself.
Aerial Crane
The largest cargo helicopters can carry cargo weighing up to around 10,000 lb. (4,500 kg). This is all well and good, but some cargo weighs more than that, and as such, requires some thing more.
Enter the aerial crane. During the Korean War, the North Koreans shot down numerous US cargo helicopters. Not wanting to lose the cargo to the North Koreans, the US wanted a helicopter that could take both the wreckage and the cargo.
On the other side of the Iron Curtain, the Soviets were having the same issue. By the end of the 1950’s, both sides had their own heavy lift military aerial cranes. By the end of the 1960’s, civilian derivates had also been developed!
Today, aerial cranes are mostly a thing of the past. Most large, modern cargo helicopters are powerful enough to carry things that used to require an aerial crane. The mining industry is the only industry where aerial cranes are widely used.
Maritime Surveillance
Submarines are arguably the largest threat to any naval vessel. In particular, they often target the most powerful ships, or if available, aircraft carriers.
As these ships often cost millions, the world’s navies naturally want to protect their investment. This can done through things like underwater radar, often coupled with radar-equipped helicopters too.
Usually, when a ship detects a nearby submarine, they deploy radar-equipped maritime surveillance helicopters. These helicopters fly to the location of the submarine, and use its equipment to identify and monitor the submarine.
If it is deemed that the submarine has the intention to attack one of the nearby ships, these helicopters are also equipped with anti-submarine weapons such as depth charges., This will ensure the ship’s safety.
Search & Rescue
At certain times, people get lost, be it one the battlefield, at sea or in caves or mountains. In many of these cases, it would be ineffective for ground teams to be deployed. Instead, helicopters are often deployed.
Whilst fixed-wing aircraft can easily be (and are!) used in this role, there are particular times when these aircraft are ineffective too. They are good for located survivors, but not actually extract them.
However, helicopters have the ability to hover in one place. With the addition of some kind of winch, this makes helicopters perfect for not only searching for survivors, but also extracting them too.
As a general rule, search and rescue helicopters are used by the world’s coast guards. This means that they are most often used for air-sea rescue, but whenever it’s needed, the coats guard will lend a hand for non-sea-related missions.
Aerial Refueling
Whenever we think of an aerial refueling aircraft, we tend to think of larger fixed-wing aircraft like the 707-derived KC-135 or the A330-derived Airbus MMRT or the 767-derived KC-767. In some instances, helicopters are actually used.
Most commonly, the world’s navies use helicopters to refuel their ships. You see, sometimes, it is just impossible to refuel at a port, rough seas or storms simply prevent them from doing it safely (or even at all!)
As such, helicopters either take off from the port, or the ship itself, and get fueled up. The helicopters then fly towards the ship, and release a cable. The ship’s crew then attach the cable to the ship, and the fuel goes from the helicopter to the ship.
This then provides the ship with enough fuel to continue its mission.
In recent years, there have been a number of studies that have looked at using helicopters to potentially refuel fixed-wing aircraft or other helicopters. As of the time of writing, these are currently just studies.
Utility Helicopter
Utility helicopters are by far the most useful of all the different types of helicopters out there. This is because of the sheer amount of different roles these helicopters can perform.
Whilst they are occasionally used in the civilian world, they are most commonly used by the military. The role that utility helicopters perform is most dependent on the mission.
One day they may be a cargo helicopter, the next a troop transporter, and the next, a MEDEVAC helicopter. The overwhelming majority of helicopters ever manufactured have been utility helicopters.
In total, utility helicopters can perform any one of the following roles: air assault, ground attack, MEDEVAC, command and control, and troop transport. Some utility helicopters can be modified to be attack helicopters too.
Civil
On top of their military roles, a number of helicopters have also found civil applications too. For a few of these, they were specifically designed for this role!
General Aviation
If you are familiar with the world of fixed-wing aircraft, you’ll be familiar with the concept of general aviation aircraft. The same is also true for the helicopter world too, in the form of general aviation helicopters.
Most often, these helicopters have one or two seats and are some of the smallest helicopters in the world. As with their fixed-wing counterparts, GA helicopters are generally quite cheap to operate too!
Similarly, people who operate GA helicopters tend to be on the richer end, as they need to have the money in order to pay for fuel, maintenance etc. Alternatively they may be former military helicopter pilots too.
Whilst many of the more famous general aviation helicopters have been factory-built, the majority have not. Instead, they have been kit-built, in other words, helicopters that you build yourself.
MEDEVAC
Sometimes, people have a medical emergency and need to get to a hospital quickly. Sometimes, traffic is just so bad that an ambulance can’t get there in time, or perhaps, there area is so remote that there is no ambulance!
In either instance, a helicopter that can act as an ambulance might come in quite handy. This is because they can easily land and takeoff in built-up areas such as towns or cities.
Alternatively, helicopters can land on and takeoff from hard-to-reach places like mountains or canyons. This are places that that fixed-wing aircraft simply can’t reach.
In this role, paramedics are flown by trained pilots directly to their patients. The helicopter is equipped with all of the latest medical equipment, which the paramedics can use whilst en route to the local hospital.
Luxury Helicopter
In the 1960’s, a number of VIPs and corporations began using helicopters for their own uses. VIPs would use it was a show of power, whilst corporations found it to be an easy way to transport executives without worrying about traffic!
Originally, these were repurposed MEDEVAC or general aviation helicopters. Today, however, many helicopter manufacturers offer luxury configurations of their helicopters.
Most commonly, the helicopter manufacturer builds the helicopter as usual. Then, an external company (such as Versace, Gucci or Louis Vuitton) comes in and builds the luxury interior.
Alternatively, some still choose to buy the military, MEDEVAC or general aviation variant of the helicopter and pay an external company to redo the interior. In some instances, this way is cheaper, whilst in others, it’s more expensive.
Aerial Application Helicopter
Aerial application aircraft have been around as long as pretty much any other type of aircraft has been. Most commonly, this has been through the use of fixed-wing aircraft.
However, in particular circumstances, using fixed-wing aircraft can either be impractical or dangerous (or sometimes both!) In these circumstances, helicopters are often used.
In this configuration, the main fuselage of the aircraft is a giant container. This container is subsequently filled with some form of liquid or gas that can then be deposited when it’s needed.
You’ll often see aerial application helicopters being used to fight fires, often in areas where the local lakes have a lot of shrubbery surrounding them. Here, the fuselage is filled with water, and then deposited on the fire.
Alternatively, these helicopters are used in crop dusters and/or aerial topdressing roles.
Which different types of helicopters are your favorite? Tell me in the comments!
Featured image courtesy of Mrs Airwolfhound via Flickr.