autorotate

Arguably even nicer than multitouch at this point is the new "autorotate" setting in the browser.

LXer Linux News 2009

In 1995, as Navair and the Marines were preparing to ask a high-level Pentagon committee to approve Low Rate Initial Production, the implied requirement that the Osprey be able to autorotate was watered down even more.

The Dream Machine Richard Whittle 2010

They also said its inability to autorotate to a safe landing constituted a major risk.

The Dream Machine Richard Whittle 2010

No matter what the official requirement said, Rivolo thought the Osprey needed to be able to autorotate to a landing like a helicopter, and in the late 1990s he checked with Navair to make sure autorotation landings were going to be done in flight tests.

The Dream Machine Richard Whittle 2010

Unlike a helicopter, the tiltrotor had a wing and could fly like an airplane, so in theory, if an Osprey lost both engines, it might glide to a safe landing with its rotors pointed forward rather than autorotate to the ground with the rotors pointed up.

The Dream Machine Richard Whittle 2010

Even so, recalled one former Osprey developmental test pilot, in the late 1990s there were “a number of people at Bell and Boeing who were making claims” that the Osprey could autorotate to a safe landing.

The Dream Machine Richard Whittle 2010

Like a lot of helicopter pilots, Rivolo thought the ability to autorotate was a vital safety feature for a rotorcraft going into combat.

The Dream Machine Richard Whittle 2010

The ability to autorotate had always been expected of helicopters, but from the time the Osprey was still called the JVX, whether the helicopter-airplane hybrid was required to be able to autorotate to a landing had been open to interpretation.

The Dream Machine Richard Whittle 2010

Rivolo replied that while FAA statistics attributed only 8 percent of major helicopter accidents to vortex ring state, the figure really should include mishaps resulting from failed attempts to autorotate and other hard landings.

The Dream Machine Richard Whittle 2010

Dunn was sure the pronounced twist of its rotors, their light weight, and its high disk loading meant the Osprey would never be able to “autorotate” to a safe landing if it lost power in both engines, something helicopters always had been expected to do.

The Dream Machine Richard Whittle 2010