Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Helicopter |
HelicopterNoun1. An aircraft without wings that obtains its lift from the rotation of overhead blades. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "helicopter" was first used: 1887. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Transportation | A heavier-than-air aircraft supported in flight by the reactions of the air on one or more power-driven rotors on substantially vertical axes. Source: European Union. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
A helicopter is an aircraft which is lifted and propelled by one or two large horizontal rotors (propellers). Helicopters are classified as rotary-wing aircraft to distinguish them from conventional fixed-wing aircraft. The word helicopter is derived from the Greek words helix (spiral) and pteron (wing).
Robinson Helicopter Company (USA) R44, a four seat development of the R22.
Larger version
The idea of the helicopter was first conceived by Leonardo da Vinci in the 15th century, but it was not until after the invention of the powered aeroplane in the 20th century that actual models were produced. Developers such as Louis Breguet, Juan de la Cierva, Emile Berliner, and Igor Sikorsky pioneered this type of aircraft. A flight of the first fully controllable helicopter Focke-Wulf Fw 61 was demonstrated by Hanna Reitsch 1936 in Berlin, Germany.
Helicopters have many uses, both military and civil, including troop transportation, infantry support, firefighting, business transportation, casualty evacuation (including MEDEVAC, and air/sea/mountain rescue), police and civilian surveillance, carrying goods (some helicopters can carry a slung load, which allows them to carry extremely awkward loads), or as a mount for still, film or television cameras.
Compared to conventional fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters are much more complex, more expensive to buy and operate, relatively slow, have poor range and restricted payload. The compensating advantage is maneuverability: helicopters can hover in place, reverse, and above all take off and land vertically. Subject only to refueling facilities, a helicopter can travel to any location, and land anywhere with a clearing a rotor disk and a half in diameter.
Generating lift
A conventional aircraft is able to fly because its forward motion forces air to pass rapidly above and below the wings, which are shaped and angled in such a way that an area of lower air pressure is created above the wing, and this "sucks" the aircraft up: it generates lift. A helicopter uses exactly the same method, except that instead of moving the entire aircraft, only the wings themselves are moved. The helicopter's rotor can simply be regarded as rotating wings.
The eight-bladed fenestron of the EC120B Eurocopter. For a picture of the complete helicopter click here
Larger version
Turning the rotor generates lift but it also applies a reverse force to the vehicle, that would spin the helicopter in the opposite direction to the rotor. The most common way to counteract this torque is to have a smaller vertical propeller mounted at the rear of the aircraft called a tail rotor. If the rotor is shrouded (i.e., a fan embedded in the vertical tail) it is called a fenestron. Other helicopters use a "Notar" design: they blow air through a nozzle to counter the torque. Notar is an acronym meaning No TAil Rotor.
Another alternative, which saves the weight of a tail boom and rotor but adds its own complexities, is to use two large horizontal rotors which turn in opposite directions. An example is the Boeing CH-47 Chinook or the Kamov Ka-50.
Controlling flight
Useful flight requires that an aircraft be controlled in all three dimensions. In a fixed-wing aircraft, this is easy: small movable surfaces are adjusted to change the aircraft's shape so that the air rushing past pushes it in the desired direction. In a helicopter, however, there often isn't enough airspeed for this method to be practical.
For left-right horizontal direction (yaw) the antitorque system is used. Varying the pitch of the tail rotor alters the sideways thrust produced. Dual-rotor helicopters have a differential between the two rotor transmissions that can be adjusted by an electric or hydraulic motor to transmit differential torque and thus turn the helicopter. Yaw controls are usually operated with anti-torque pedals, on the floor in the same place as a fixed-wing aircraft's rudder pedals.
For pitch (tilting forward and back) or roll (tilting sideways) the angle of the main rotor is altered.
Enstrom (USA) 280FX Shark, an aerodynamically restyled F28 for the corporate market.
Data: max speed 189 km/h (117 mph), three-blade main rotor of diameter 9.8 metres (32 feet), one Textron Lycoming supercharged piston engine, first flight (as the F28A) in 1962.
Larger version
Helicopters maneuver with three flight controls besides the pedals. The collective pitch control lever controls the collective pitch, or angle-of-attack, of the helicopter blades together, that is, equally throughout the 360 degree plane-of-rotation of the main rotor system. When the angle-of-attack is increased, the blade produces more lift. The collective control is usually a lever at the pilot's left side, near his leg. Increasing the collective and adding power with throttle causes a helicopter to rise.
The throttle controls the absolute power produced by the engine that is connected to the rotor by a transmission. In piston-powered helicopters it is usually a twist grip on the collective. The pilot manipulates the throttle to maintain rotor RPM and therefore regulates the effect of drag on the rotor system. Turbine engined helicopters use servo-feedback loop in their engine controls to maintain rotor RPM and relieves the pilot of routine responsibility for that task.
The cyclic changes the pitch of the blades cyclically, causing the lift to vary across the plane of the rotor disk. This is how the pilot causes the rotor system to tilt, and the helicopter to move. The cyclic is usually controlled by the stick in front of the pilot.
As a helicopter moves forward, the rotor blades on one side move at rotor tip speed plus the aircraft speed and is called the advancing blade. As the blade swings to the other side of the helicopter, it moves at rotor tip speed minus aircraft speed and is called the retreating blade. To compensate for the added lift on the advancing blade and the decreased lift on the retreating blade - lift being a function of an airfoils angle-of-attack and its relative airspeed - the angle-of-attack of the blades is regulated by the geometry of the rotor blade control system and mechanisms that allow the blades to flap up and down. This fact of advancing and retreating blades defines the speed limitations of the helicopter.
If the angle-of-attack of any wing, including rotor blades, is too high, the airflow above the wing separates causing instant loss of lift and increase in drag. This condition is called aerodynamic stall. On a helicopter, this can happen in any of three ways. 1. As helicopter speed increases, the advancing blades approach the speed of sound and generate shock waves that disrupt the airflow over the blade causing loss of lift. 2. As helicopter speeds increase, the retreating blade experiences lower relative airspeeds and the controls compensate with higher angle-of-attack. With a low enough relative airspeed and a high enough angle-of-attack, aerodynamic stall is inevitable. This is called retreating blade stall. 3. Any low rotor RPM flight condition accompanied by increasing collective pitch application will cause aerodynamic stall.
Helicopters are powered aircraft, but they can still fly without power by using the momentum in the rotors and using downward motion to force air through the rotors. The rotors act like a "windmill" and turn. This technique is known as autorotation, and will give the helicopter a few precious seconds to quickly find a landing spot if its engine fails.
Ex-military Westland Scout AH.1 (XV134), now on the UK Civil Register
Larger version
Helicopters are always designed so that even if the engines fail, autorotation will power the tail rotor or torque differential. Helicopters retain all flight controls when unpowered.
A very peculiar feature of the cyclic is that the lift is made to occur 90 degrees of rotation before the direction of tilt. This is because when one tries to tilt a spinning object (like a rotor), it moves at right angles to the direction of the force. This is called "gyroscopic precession." So control forces on the rotor are rotated 90 degrees before the desired motion. For example, forward motion requires less lift at the front of the disk and more lift at the rear of the disk, so the pilot pushes the cyclic forward. The helicopter's control linkages rotate the pitching forces 90 degrees backwards against the rotor spin, to push on the sides of the rotor rather than its front and back.
It took inventors many years to recognize precession, and to learn how to arrange the cyclic's control system to overcome it.
Limitations of rotary-wing flight
The single most obvious limitation of the helicopter is its slow speed. There are several reasons why a helicopter cannot fly as fast as a fixed wing aircraft.
During the closing years of the 20th century helicopter designers began working on noise reduction. Urban communities have often expressed great dislike of noisy aircraft, and police and passenger helicopters can be unpopular. The redesigns followed the closure of some city heliports and government action to constrain flight paths in national parks and other places of natural beauty.
- When the helicopter is at rest, the outer tips of the rotor travel at a speed determined by the length of the blade and the RPM. In a moving helicopter, however, the speed of the blades relative to the air depends on the speed of the helicopter, as well as on their rotational velocity. The airspeed of the forward-going rotor is much higher than that the helicopter itself. It is possible for this blade to exceed the speed of sound, and thus produce vastly increased drag and vibration. It is theoretically possible to have spiraling rotors, similar in principle to variable-pitch swept wings, which could exceed the speed of sound, but no presently known materials are light enough, strong enough, and flexible enough to construct them.
- Rotors are not entirely rigid. Because the advancing blade has higher airspeed than the retreating blade, a fully rigid blade would generate more lift on that side and tip the aircraft over. In consequence, rotor blades are designed to "flap" - lift and twist in such a way that the advancing blade flaps up and develops a smaller angle of attack, thus producing less lift than a rigid blade would. Conversely, the retreating blade flaps down, develops a higher angle of attack, and generates more lift. At high speeds, the force on the rotors is such that they "flap" excessively and the retreating blade can reach too high an angle and it stalls.
- Side note - Fully rigid blades do exist and create a very responsive helicopter. The blades are made from very expensive composites which can bend immensly without breaking.
- Rotorhead design is a limiting factor on many helicopters. Low-G situations encountered in a semi-rigid system will result in mast bumping followed by rotor seperation...making you a very sophisticated rock
Helicopters vibrate. An unadjusted helicopter can easily vibrate so much that it will shake itself apart. To reduce vibration, all helicopters have rotor adjustments for height and pitch. Most also have vibration dampers for height and pitch. Some also use mechanical feedback systems to sense and counter vibration. Usually the feedback system uses a mass as a "stable reference" and a linkage from the mass operates a flap to adjust the rotor's angle of attack to counter the vibration. Adjustment is difficult in part because measurement of the vibration is hard. The most common adjustment measurement system is to use a stroboscopic flash lamp, and observe painted markings or colored reflectors on the underside of the rotor blades. The traditional low-tech system is to mount colored chalk on the rotor tips, and see how they mark a linen sheet.
Helicopter Models and Identification
In identifying conventional helicopters during flight it is helpful to realise that when viewed from below the rotor of a French, Russian, Soviet or Ukrainian designed helicopter rotates anti-clockwise, whilst a helicopter completed in Italy, the UK or USA rotates clockwise.
Some companies, notably Schweizer in the USA, are developing remotely-controlled variants of light helicopters for use in future battlefields.
Popular civil helicopters include the:
US Army helicopters:
- Bell model 47 (made famous in the 1950s television programme "Whirlybirds")
- Bell 206 Jet Ranger and Long Ranger
- Enstrom 28, 280 and 480 models
- Eurocopter Ecureuil/Squirrel or Twin Star (north American marketing name)
- Hiller 12
- Robinson 22 and 44 series (the latter pictured above)
large gatherings of small US Army helicopters have been nicknamed "chocolate mice".
- AH-1 Cobra
- AH-64 Apache
- CH-47 Chinook (nicknamed the "Wokka Wokka")
- OH-58 Kiowa
- UH-1 Iroquois (nicknamed the "Huey")
- UH-60 Blackhawk
Other military helicopters include:
Hybrid types that combine features of helicopters and fixed wing designs include the experimental Fairey Rotordyne of the 1950s and the Bell Boeing Osprey, which is on order by the US Marine Corps and is the first mass produced tilt-rotor to enter service.
- Aerospatiale Puma developed as the Cougar
- Kamov Ka-25 developed into the Ka-27
- Kamov Ka-50
- Kaman SH-2 Seasprite
- Mil-24 Hind
- Sikorsky HH-53 (nicknamed the "Jolly Green Giant")
- Westland Lynx
- Westland Sea King a derivative of the Sikorsky H-3 made famous during the recovery of early US spacecraft from the ocean.
See also autogyro, a historical predecessor of the helicopter, which gains lift from an unpowered rotor.
External Links
- Helicopter development in the early 20th century
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Helicopter."
| The following table is compiled from various sources, across various languages. When English abbreviations or acronyms come from a non-English source, this is noted. | |||
| Entry | Source | Expression | Field |
| HEL | English | Helicopter | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |||
Synonyms: HelicopterSynonyms: chopper (n), eggbeater (n), whirlybird (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Combatant | Man-of-war; destroyer; submarine; minesweeper; torpedo-boat, torpedo-destroyer; patrol torpedo boat, PT boat; torpedo-catcher, war castle, H.M.S.; battleship, battle wagon, dreadnought, line of battle ship, ship of the line; aircraft carrier, carrier. flattop; helicopter carrier; missile platform, missile boat; ironclad, turret ship, ram, monitor, floating battery; first-rate, frigate, sloop of war, corvette, gunboat, bomb vessel; flagship, guard ship, cruiser; armored cruiser, protected cruiser; privateer. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | He'll be the one wearing the helicopter. (Cliffhanger; writing credit: Michael France) Joined the army 8-6-64. Accepted special forces, specialization: light weapon, medic, helicopter and language qualified, 59 confirmed kills, two Silver Stars, four Browns, four Purple Hearts, Distinguished Service Cross and Medal of Honor (Rambo: First Blood Part II; writing credit: Kevin Jarre; Sylvester Stallone) Do you see a little Asian child with a blank expression on his face sitting outside on a mechanical helicopter that shakes when you put quarters in it (Unbreakable; writing credit: M. Night Shyamalan) When I say I'm poor, I mean we may have to share a helicopter with another family (Two Weeks Notice; writing credit: Marc Lawrence) If you look out the left side of the plane, you'll see a military helicopter. Do not be alarmed (Final Descent; writing credit: Robert P. Davis; Roger Young) | |
Lyrics | No helicopter looking for a murder (It Was a Good Day; performing artist: Ice Cube) Running under cover of a helicopter blade (RHYTHM OF MY HEART; performing artist: Rod Stewart) | |
Clever | If something hasn't broken on your helicopter, it's about to. (references; author: unknown) | |
Movie/TV Titles | The Helicopter Spies (1968) Helicopter Canada (1966) The Helicopter (1961) Helicopter String Quartet (1995) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
References | |||
Books | |||
Periodicals | |||
Theater & Movies | |||
Music |
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High Tech |
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Consumer Goods | |||
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | MD-900 Helicopter. Credit: NASA. |  | Conrad in Recovery Helicopter. Credit: NASA. |
 | Cooper and Conrad Await Recovery Helicopter. Credit: NASA. |  | Helicopter pilot Budd Christman assisting with tagging of spotted seal pup. Credit: NOAA's Ark (Animals). |
 | Polar bear - Ursus maritimus - appears to be stalking walrus - in fact was running from helicopter noise. Credit: NOAA's Ark (Animals). |  | Bob Pryce - self portrait while in a helicopter Mr. Pryce served for over thirty years on geodetic field parties. Credit: Coast & Geodetic Survey Historical Image Collection. |
 | Camp being unloaded from helicopter. Credit: Coast & Geodetic Survey Historical Image Collection. |  | Giant sandwaves as seen from NOAA helicopter during SHOALS Lidar. Credit: America's Coastlines. |
 | Icy Bay, Yahtse Glacier - current meter by helicopter. Credit: America's Coastlines. |  | Cape Clear with helicopter landing pad in the foreground. Credit: Paths Less Taken - NOAA at the Ends of the Earth. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
 |  |
| "Helicopter" by Neil Smith Commentary: "Taken whilst at an RAF Base." | "Load Practice" by Jelle W Commentary: "This is a slowakian loadmaster attaching a load for a Hippo helicopter. Org. size is 1280x960." |
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers. | |
| Play | Caption | Play | Caption |
 | Helicopter landing and shutting down. | | A synthesized helicopter sound. |
| Helicopter flying by. | | Helicopter blades whirling. |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Business | During the clash, the police called in a state police helicopter for support. (references) | |
This helicopter, used for reconnaissance and for evacuating wounded, was not armed. (references) | ||
AIDC also signed a contract with Sikorsky for the supply of passenger and crew doors for the S-76 helicopter. (references) | ||
Civil Liberties | Tanzania | There were reports that a police helicopter circled around Zanzibar; there were unconfirmed reports that police shot at persons from the helicopter. (references) |
Russia | She stated that the death threats were associated with her September 20 article alleging that a government helicopter downed on September 17 in Groznyy had been shot down by federal forces, not rebels as alleged by authorities. (references) | |
Dominican Republic | Although citizens of all political persuasions generally exercise unhindered freedom of speech, on occasion police took action to restrict it. For example, in July police flew a helicopter to Barahona to pick up an outspoken critic of a government aqueduct project. (references) | |
Economic History | Mauritius | A 100-member police helicopter squadron assists in search-and-rescue operations. (references) |
Singapore | Current manufacturing activities range from engine components, landing gears, mechanical components to helicopter transparencies. (references) | |
Nigeria | The Nigerian air force (9,000) flies transport, trainer, helicopter, and fighter aircraft, but most are currently not operational. (references) | |
Human Rights | Sierra Leone | On January 26, a Guinean helicopter gunship attacked the town of Kamakwie, reportedly killing 12 civilians. (references) |
Liberia | In April in Lofa County, armed dissidents killed Youth and Sports Minister Francois Massaquoi when they shot at his helicopter. (references) | |
Guatemala | On June 14, and again on September 18, a military helicopter circled over the house of Judge Yassmin Barrios at a very low altitude. (references) | |
Political Economy | Sudan | In 2000 Talisman officials had acknowledged that the Government launched helicopter gunship attacks on civilian settlements in the oil company's operational area. (references) |
Travel | Nepal | Illnesses and injuries suffered while on trek in remote areas often require rescue by helicopter. (references) |
Maldives | Some resorts operate speedboats for their guests, and several local companies provide air taxi service by seaplane and helicopter to outlying islands. (references) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| Speaker | Phrase(s) |
Heather Mercer and Dayna Curry | Well, as I think the story has been told, that special forces from the U.S. military came in with a helicopter, and did a phenomenal job. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Speaker | Term | Phrase(s) |
Ronald Reagan | 1981-1989 | We saw the heroism of one of our young government employees, Lenny Skutnik, who, when he saw a woman lose her grip on the helicopter line, dived into the water and dragged her to safety. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| "Helicopter" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 99.81% of the time. "Helicopter" is used about 1,080 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 99.81% | 1,078 | 6,975 |
| Noun (proper) | 0.19% | 2 | 245,945 |
| Total | 100.00% | 1,080 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| Country | Name | Country | Name |
| Canada | CHC Helicopter Corpn | Norway | Helicopter Services Group ASA |
| (more examples...) |
Source: compiled by the editor from Icon Group International, Inc.
Expressions using "helicopter": antiarmour helicopter ♦ antitank helicopter ♦ armed helicopter ♦ attack helicopter ♦ cargo helicopter ♦ compound helicopter ♦ helicopter approach route ♦ helicopter assault force ♦ helicopter direction center ♦ helicopter gunship ♦ helicopter landing site ♦ helicopter lane ♦ helicopter lift ♦ helicopter retirement route ♦ helicopter support team ♦ helicopter wave ♦ high altitude helicopter ♦ light observation helicopter ♦ observation helicopter ♦ shuttle helicopter ♦ utility helicopter. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "helicopter": helicopter-autogyro, helicopter-borne, helicopter-carrier, helicopter-like, helicopter-maker. | |
Ending with "helicopter": egg-cum-helicopter. | |
Containing "helicopter": commando-helicopter-carriers. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day | Expression | Frequency per Day |
helicopter | 6,621 | blackhawk helicopter | 143 |
helicopter game | 1,158 | helicopter school | 142 |
model helicopter | 1,088 | comanche helicopter | 138 |
rc helicopter | 866 | attack helicopter | 136 |
bell helicopter | 515 | helicopter tour | 124 |
helicopter sale | 497 | huey helicopter | 117 |
remote control helicopter | 437 | crash hawaii helicopter | 113 |
apache helicopter | 296 | ultralight helicopter | 110 |
military helicopter | 293 | grand canyon helicopter | 109 |
helicopter training | 199 | helicopter job | 101 |
helicopter picture | 198 | army helicopter | 98 |
helicopter transport | 194 | helicopter part | 97 |
toy helicopter | 174 | helicopter pilot | 97 |
grand canyon helicopter tour | 173 | helicopter ride | 95 |
helicopter kit | 169 | sikorsky helicopter | 94 |
r c helicopter | 167 | helicopter charter | 90 |
radio control helicopter | 156 | chinook helicopter | 89 |
robinson helicopter | 154 | homebuilt helicopter | 86 |
helicopter crash | 152 | electric helicopter | 84 |
radio controlled helicopter | 144 | helicopter sales | 84 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Translations for "helicopter"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | helikopter (copter, egg beater, whirly bird, windmill), udhëtoj me helikopter. (various references) | |
Arabic | هليكوبتر (chopper), طائرة عامودية. (various references) | |
Bulgarian | хеликоптер (chopper, gyroplane, hoverplane, rotors-plane, whirlybird, windmill), въртолет. (various references) | |
Chinese | 直升机. (various references) | |
Czech | helikoptéra, vrtulník (chopper). (various references) | |
Danish | helikopter. (various references) | |
Dutch | helicopter, hefschroefvliegtuig. (various references) | |
Farsi | هلیکوپتر. (various references) | |
Finnish | helikopteri. (various references) | |
French | hélicoptère (helicopters). (various references) | |
German | hubschrauber (chopper, gyroplane, gyroplanes, helicopters), helikopter. (various references) | |
Greek | ελικόπτερο (chopper). (various references) | |
Hebrew | מסוק (chopper, whirly bird), הליקופטר. (various references) | |
Hungarian | helikopter (chopper, gyroplane, whirlybird, windmill, windmill-plane). (various references) | |
Indonesian | helikopter. (various references) | |
Italian | elicottero (helicopters). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | ヘブライ語 (health, health center, health check, health club, health food, health meter, healthy, heart, heaven, Hebrew, Helios, helioscope, heliotrope, heliport, helium, helix, hell, Hellenism, hellfire, helm, helmet, Helmholtz, help, helper, Helsinki, hem, hemline, hemoglobin, hemstitch, hen party, Henckels, henna, Hepburn, Herakles, herald, Hercules, Hermes, hernia, heroin, herpangina, herringbone, Herzogovina, Hz, Mr, Switzerland, type of massage parlor). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | ヘリコプター , ヘリ . (various references) | |
Korean | 헬기. (various references) | |
Manx | etlan cassee, coptyr, bennaltagh (winnower). (various references) | |
Pig Latin | elicopterhay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | helicptero, helicóptero. (various references) | |
Romanian | elicopter (gyroplane, hoverplane, whirlybird). (various references) | |
Russian | вертолет (chopper, rotor plane, rotors-plane, whirly bird, whirlybird). (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | helikopter (chopper, whirly bird). (various references) | |
Spanish | helicóptero (chopper, whirly bird). (various references) | |
Swedish | helikopter (chopper, rotor plane, whirlybird, windmill). (various references) | |
Thai | เฮลิคอปเตอร์. (various references) | |
Turkish | helikopter ile uçmak, helikopter (aerocab, chopper, copter, eggbeater, whirlybird). (various references) | |
Turkmen | wertolяot (r). (various references) | |
Ukrainian | гелікоптер, вертоліт (autogiro, autogyro, whirlybird). (various references) | |
Vietnamese | máy bay lên thẳng. (various references) | |
Welsh | awyren hofran. (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "helicopter": helicoptered, helicoptering, helicopters. (additional references) | |
| |
"Helicopter" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: helecopter, Helicoper, helicoptre, heliocopter, helipcoter, heliroute, helocopter, Holincote, Hulcote. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "helicopter" (pronounced he"likÄ'pter) |
| 3 | -p t er | adapter, adaptor, apter, captor, chapter, interceptor, lithotripter, raptor, receptor, sceptre, sculptor, subchapter, sumpter, velociraptor. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "c-e-e-h-i-l-o-p-r-t" | |
-1 letter: plethoric. | |
-2 letters: chlorite, clothier, helicopt, heliport, herpetic, hotelier, leprotic, petrolic, reclothe. | |
-3 letters: cheerio, chortle, coterie, elector, electro, erethic, etheric, heretic, hoplite, peloric, perlite, petiole, philter, philtre, picotee, pitcher, poitrel, politer, potiche, prelect, prithee, receipt, reptile, reticle, techier, telpher, tiercel, trochee, trochil, trophic. | |
-4 letters: ceiler, ceriph, cerite, cheero, choler, cipher, cither, citole, clothe, coheir, cohere. | |
| Words containing the letters "c-e-e-h-i-l-o-p-r-t" | |
+1 letter: helicopters. | |
+2 letters: electrophile, electrophori, helicoptered. | |
+3 letters: cephalometric, electrophiles, electrophilic, helicoptering, hypervelocity, nephelometric, petrochemical, photoelectric. | |
+4 letters: cephalometries, herpetological, hypermetabolic, petrochemicals, pyelonephritic, pyrheliometric. | |
+5 letters: electrophoresis, electrophoretic, hypervelocities, phenylketonuric, photoelectronic. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Images: Photo Album 8. Images: Digital Art | 9. Sounds 10. Quotations: Non-fiction 11. Quotations: Spoken 12. Quotations: Speeches | 13. Usage Frequency 14. Names: Company Usage 15. Expressions 16. Expressions: Internet | 17. Translations: Modern 18. Abbreviations 19. Acronyms 20. Derivations | 21. Rhymes 22. Anagrams 23. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
