How is this helicopter flying if the blades aren't spinning?

[Marcos]

http://media.skoopy.com/misc/helicopter/

i'm lost, thats either RC or a gutted chopper with harrier-esque jets

[dave87]

I'm guessing he flew in with enough speed so that the aerofoil of the rotor blades acted with enough lift to keep him in the air.

[redsky009]

he's not flying, he's really on a treadmill.....

[IBM]

It's a jump jet disguised as a MiL Hind....

Or

It's on a string

Or

oh, somebody already did the treadmill thing

[Stoo]

Video frame rate making the rotors look stopped

[TeePee]

....And how does he make the helicopter noises?

Some issue with video framerate?

[YorkieBen]

optical illusion, the rotor is spinning

[BUFF]

frame rate of the video camera & the main rotor rpm are obviously related - it's a bit like using a strobe light on a timing belt etc.

[YorkieBen]

great minds obviously think alike (and at the same time )

[TheAnimus]

Video frame rate making the rotors look stopped

indeedily, as the blades are moving very slightly between frames.

A prize should go out too the first chopper geak who can tell us what rpm those blades normally spin at.

[Stoo]

somewhere close to 3600 perchance?

[megah0]

Its the new Hind Emohawk, powered by harvested teenage angst.

[IBM]

great minds obviously think alike (and at the same time )

I think everyone else thought of that and then discounted it, thinking that you must get at least some variation on the rate during the length of the clip, and at the various angles the helicopter goes through.

Plus, there's a couple of points where you can make out a lot of detail on a couple of blades, and they really really don't look like they're moving....

But, saying that, if they weren't moving, they'd be drooping almost to the bottom of the copter, since Mils have a 60ft rotor span, and they sag quite a bit when static.

[TheAnimus]

somewhere close to 3600 perchance?

assume NTSC framerate and the nyquest rule, its entirely possible too get a perfect sync.

[BUFF]

A prize should go out too the first chopper geak who can tell us what rpm those blades normally spin at.

an AH-64 is ~3-400rpm for the main rotor so probably not too far off that

[TeePee]

Nice edit there Stoo... And only a minute too late