These Jets Can Hover Like Helicopters, Here’s How They Work

I think we can all agree that fighter jets are pretty sweet.
But sweet as they are, almost all of them still lack one amazing feature of their whirlygig
helicopter cousins; the ability to hover.
Come on, it’s 2017 people, where are the hovering jets?
The problem is a fundamental one.
You can think of the rotors of a helicopter as wings.
They’re constantly moving through the air, generating lift, even when the chopper is
hovering in place.
But jets, with their airfoils fixed in place, need to keep moving forward.
If they don’t go fast enough their wings don’t generate enough lift, and the jet
is essentially a very expensive rock.
But there is a way around this.
Why bother using the wings at all?
Heck you’ve got a mighty jet engine underneath you, just point it at the ground and blast
off!
Over the years engineers have tried a few different approaches, but the most successful
idea was to use thrust vectoring, like on the Boeing AV-8B Harrier II.
The Harrier’s engine has four nozzles that can swivel.
They can be pointed downward for vertical takeoff, landing, and hovering.
Or they can be pointed backwards, and the Harrier flies like any other jet.
That doesn’t mean all the problems are solved.
Unlike a helicopter, whose spinning blades act like a gyroscope and stabilize it, a hovering
Harrier has to be balanced on its thrust, which is no easy feat.
Worse, since there’s no air passing over the wings, the normal control surfaces are
useless.
Cleverly, the Harrier sends compressed air from its engine out of the nose, tail, and
wingtips so the pilot can still control the aircraft while in a hover.
The next generation of fighter, the F-35B, will also have the ability to hover using
its thrust-vectored jet engine and a giant fan tucked behind the pilot.
But because of the engineering challenge and the skill needed to fly them, it’s no surprise
that hovering jets are the exception, not the norm.
For more epic stories of innovation that shaped our future, check out TheAgeOfAerospace.com
If you liked this video, subscribe to the channel, there's always more videos.
Like on helicopters! If you're more curious about that, Amy's got a video right here.
So important question: Which is cooler, jets or helicopters?
Tell us down below and thanks for watching Seeker.
How does an engine work Shuttle Carrier Aircraft - Space Shuttle Endeavour Landing at LAX - worth seeing Genuine Homemade Helicopter ! Amazing Skill & Engineering ! Must watch F-35 Joint Strike Fighter • One Cool Jet Plane Shuttle Carrier Aircraft - Enterprise First Test Flight - worth seeing This plane could cross the Atlantic in 3.5 hours. Why did it fail? Compressors - Turbine Engines: A Closer Look Flying with Jetman 5 AMAZING FUTURISTIC AIRCRAFT - FUTURE FLYING VEHICLES #1 HOW IT WORKS: Car Transmission (720p)

These Jets Can Hover Like Helicopters, Here’s How They Work

Latest Posts