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Q:

How does a helicopter move forward during flight?

A:

Most helicopters have a main rotor on top of the aircraft and a small rotor on the back of the aircraft. In order to control the helicopter, pilots can tilt the angle of each blade on both rotors, which is called changing the pitch of the blades. Only the main rotor is used to move the helicopter up and down, and to make the helicopter tilt forward, backward, left, or right. By tilting a blade to increase the blade’s angle of attack, the pilot can increase the force of lift that is pushing up on that blade.

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