Helicopters Quiz

Answer: Leonardo da Vinci. Leonardo da Vinci imagined a machine with a spiral linen sail that, by spinning rapidly, would 'screw' through the air to rise. The theoretical concept was sound, but human power was insufficient to get it airborne.

Answer: The Fenestron. The Fenestron (small window in Old French) protects the tail rotor from branches or cables and greatly improves ground crew safety. It also significantly reduces noise (the typical buzzing sound signature).

Answer: The Autogiro. The autogiro (or gyrocopter) has a free-spinning rotor driven solely by the aircraft's forward speed (constant autorotation). It cannot hover perfectly but offers incredible safety and ultra-short takeoff distances.

Answer: The cyclic stick. The cyclic stick changes blade pitch 'cyclically' (varying with each blade's position during rotation). Pushing it forward causes the swashplate to make blades generate more lift at the back than at the front, tilting and moving the helicopter forward.

Answer: Cabri G2. The Guimbal Cabri G2 is a modern helicopter featuring a composite structure, a semi-rigid three-blade main rotor, and a Fenestron-type tail rotor. It offers exceptional safety characteristics, especially for autorotation training.

Answer: Gazelle SA341 / SA342. The Gazelle was the world's first helicopter to be fitted with a Fenestron. Very fast and agile, it was widely used by the French and British armies for reconnaissance and anti-tank combat (with HOT missiles).

Answer: Aérospatiale AS365 Dauphin. The Dauphin is a major aesthetic and technical achievement. Known for its high cruise speed, its military version (Panther) equips several navies, and the civil version is popular for VIP transport and oil platform transfers.

Answer: The rotor hub (or rotor head). The rotor hub (like Airbus's Spheriflex hub) withstands colossal centrifugal forces. It must allow blades to rotate, flap vertically, lead-lag horizontally, and pivot on their pitch axis. It is the metallurgical jewel of the helicopter.

Answer: Paul Cornu. Paul Cornu, a Normandy bicycle maker, took off with his craft equipped with two horizontal rotors at Coquainvilliers. It is the first official free flight of a rotorcraft with a pilot on board.

Answer: The swashplate. The swashplate is the mechanical 'brain' under the rotor. It translates the pilot's inputs (cyclic stick and collective pitch) into individual blade angle changes during rotation, making the aircraft move forward, backward, or sideways.

Answer: Eurocopter X3. The X3 demonstrator reached the extraordinary speed of 472 km/h in level flight in 2013. Its successor, the 'Racer', continues to validate this high-speed hybrid helicopter concept for rescue or urgent medical transport.

Answer: Dragon. Red and yellow, each 'Dragon' often carries the number of the department where it is based, like Dragon 74 in Annecy. Gendarmerie helicopters are blue.

Answer: Relaying images from motorbikes and helicopters to the control room. Mountains and distance block signals: the high-flying plane picks up the images and sends them on to the broadcast truck. Without it, no live pictures from the passes.

Answer: T.C.. Theodore Calvin, known as T.C., a Vietnam veteran pilot like Magnum, flies an orange and yellow Hughes 500. Higgins is the majordomo, Zeus and Apollo his Dobermans.

Answer: Because dropping skiers off by helicopter is banned in France. France's 1985 Mountain Law bans dropping off passengers for leisure, to protect wildlife and the peace of the peaks. The nearby Aosta Valley has made it a speciality.