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Flightline's demonstrator pictured at the World Trade Centre Helipad on the Yarra River in Melbourne, while a McDonnell Douglas Helicopter demonstrator goes through its paces. (David Neafsey & MOH)
Airtest – McDonnell Douglas Helicopters MD 520N
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McDonnell Douglas Helicopters MD 520N
Well its true; as the McDonnell Douglas Helicopter brochure states, the MD 520N Notar heralds the dawn of a new era.
This was my immediate and subsequent lasting impression of the MD 520N following my handling/demonstration flight in Canberra late last year. Unquestionably, the Notar concept represents a quantum leap in terms of helicopter technology. The demonstration aircraft, owned by Flightline Aviation, which is a New Zealand company appointed by McDonnell Douglas as its official Australian, New Zealand and Pacific Islands distributor, had its initial Australian launch at a joint HAA/ABAA seminar in Melbourne, with subsequent demonstrations in Canberra, Sydney, NÁS Nowra and finally Sea World in Queensland.
Evolution of the Notar System
The MD 520N, which is the first new helicopter in a decade to gain FAA certification, has been a long 17 years in development. The Notar concept evolved from studies undertaken by Henri Marie Coanda, a Romanian born aeronautical engineer who postulated that if air could be forced out through slots along the length of the tail boom, the rotor downwash would be made to cling to the boom on that side, generating a horizontal lift force. This force, which came to be known as the “Coanda Effect” could then be used to counter the main rotor torque, thus eliminating the need for a tail rotor.
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