Attack helicopter

Helicopters are used as ambulances to rush people to hospitals.

The armed forces use helicopters to carry soldiers and battle equipment.

U.S. Army helicopters in the Vietnam War

A helicopter is a flying machine. It is lifted into the air by spinning wings called rotors. The name helicopter comes from Greek words meaning spiral and wing.

Helicopters can fly straight up or down. They can fly forward, backward, or sideways. They can even hover, or stay in one spot in the air.

Helicopters are different from airplanes in many ways. Most airplanes need a long runway to take off. But helicopters can take off and land in small spaces. Helicopters can safely fly slower and lower than airplanes. However, they cannot fly as fast as most planes.

Helicopters are used for many purposes. They are often used to rescue people. Helicopters can hover above a burning skyscraper or a sinking ship. They can lower a rope to people below and lift them to safety. Helicopters are also used as flying ambulances. They can rush people to a hospital much faster than an ambulance on the ground can.

Police officers use helicopters to chase criminals and look for lost people. Radio and TV stations use helicopters to look for traffic jams and report them on the air. Scientists use helicopters to study large areas of wilderness. Helicopters carry people back and forth to regions that may be hard to get to with a car, train, or airplane.

Farmers sometimes use helicopters to spread seed on their farmland and fertilizers on their crops. Companies that make forest products use helicopters to carry logs out of the forest.

The armed forces also use helicopters in many ways. Helicopters serve as flying ambulances, especially for soldiers injured in battle. They also carry soldiers and battle equipment to places where they are needed. Army attack helicopters are armed with missiles, cannons, and machine guns.

Most flying machines have wings. Wings produce a force called lift. Lift makes airplanes, helicopters, and other aircraft climb into the air and stay there.

Helicopters have rotary wings. These are blades that spin very fast. As the wings spin around, air flows over them and under them. The special airflow gives the helicopter lift.

The single-rotor helicopter is the most common type of helicopter. It has one main rotor, or set of wings, mounted above its body. It also has a second, smaller rotor on its tail. Twin-rotor helicopters have two main rotors.

Pilots make the helicopter go up or down by adjusting the amount of lift. They do so with instruments in the cockpit. The cockpit is the place in the helicopter where pilots sit. The control instruments change the way the wing pushes against the flow of air.

Helicopter. (2020). In World Book Kids. Retrieved from https://www.worldbookonline.com/kids/home#article/ar830881