So – clearly quadcopters are more stable (see all the drones), so why aren’t actual helicopters all quad copters?
In: 5
A single large rotor doesn’t have to spin as fast as 4 smaller ones to provide the same amount of lift. Quad copters that need to move significant mass would be extraordinarily loud even by helicopter standards
Four small rotors are also very complicated to control without computer assistance to ensure all the torques and thrust levels are balanced. On a drone with a fancy computer this is easy because the software can tweak the power to each motor thousands of times per second and you have no idea. In the late 1940s none of that existed, you needed to be able to control the aircraft with levels that pushed rods and levers which pushed through a hydraulic system to push on other rods and levers that do the controlling. Helicopters existed and were in combat service for over a decade before the first plane to use electrical (fly by wire) controls
There’s still a lot of industry and experience around building single rotor helicopters so they’re going to keep making them until someone builds the industry and experience to make powerful, cost effective, reliable, and safe quad copters of a usable size.
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