03. Fixed Wing vs. Rotary Wing Aircraft

Fixed Wing vs. Rotary Wing Aircraft Summary

Rotary wing aircraft (like quadrotors) and Fixed wing aircraft (like airplanes) both have wings which generate lift. On a fixed wing aircraft, the wings are attached to the body of the vehicle. On a rotary wing aircraft, the "wings" are actually the propellers.

These vehicle designs each have advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages of Rotorcraft

1. Easy to control - the dynamics model is often very simple.
2. They can hover - this means there are many more feasible plans that a rotorcraft can execute.
3. Vertical Take Off and Landing (VTOL) - they don't need a runway!

Disadvantages of Rotorcraft

1. Energy inefficient - this limits their range and payload.
2. Slow - compared to fixed wing vehicles, rotorcraft are generally slow.
3. Loud - rotorcraft are often noisy.
4. Useless without power - if the propellers stop turning, a rotorcraft will fall out of the sky.

Fixed Wing Aircraft

A fixed wing aircraft has (surprise surprise) wings attached to it. These wings need to be moving through the air to generate lift. Most of the strengths and weaknesses of fixed wing flight stem from this fact.

Tradeoffs

1. Efficiency - A fixed wing vehicle can glide through the air without using power! Since lift comes from the motion of the vehicle through the air, a fixed wing vehicle isn't constantly fighting gravity in the same way that a rotorcraft does.
2. Safety - This ability to glide means that when the motors fail it's still possible to control the aircraft. That's good! But there's a caveat, since a fixed wing vehicle can't hover (that's bad).
3. Speed and Payload - A fixed wing vehicle can spend more of its thrust on its forward velocity. This generally means greater speed and larger payloads.