Helicopter Dubai family ride

Tidal creek in Dubai, United Arab Emirates

 

Dubai Creek خُوْر دُبَيّ
Abras on the creek
Details
Location	Dubai,  United Arab Emirates
Coordinates	25°15′21″N 55°19′0″E / 25.25583°N 55.31667°E / 25.25583; 55.31667
Length	Total 24 kilometres (15 mi) of which natural length is 14 kilometres (8.7 mi)
North end	Al Shindagha
South end	Beach of Jumeirah

Dubai Creek (Arabic: خُوْر دُبَيّ, romanized: Khūr Dubayy) is a natural saltwater creek in Dubai. It extends about 9 miles (14 km) inwards and forms a natural port that has traditionally been used for trade and transport.^[1] The creek ranges from 200 to 1,200 metres (660 to 3,940 ft) in width while the average depth is about 6.5 to 7 metres (21 to 23 ft). Previously, it extended to Ras Al Khor Wildlife Sanctuary but as part of the new Business Bay Canal and Dubai Canal, it extends a further 13 km (8.1 mi)^[2] to the Persian Gulf.^[3]

In the 1950s, extensive development of the creek began, including dredging and construction of breakwaters. A number of bridges allow movement of vehicles across the creek while abras are used as taxis. The banks and route alongside the creek houses notable government, business and residential areas. A number of tourist locations and hotels are situated along the creek. The Dubai Creek, a vital waterway in the heart of the city, plays a significant role in Dubai's growth by handling the passage of more than 13,000 ships annually. As a major artery for maritime trade, it supports the city's commercial operations. Enhancements to the Creek's infrastructure are being made through a project aimed at improving safety and security measures for maritime traffic and commercial activities. These improvements are expected to strengthen the city's role as a regional hub for trade and ensure smoother, more secure operations for the numerous ships passing through each year.^[4]

History

[edit]

See also: History of Dubai and History of the United Arab Emirates

The creek in 1964

The creek in 2007

Historically, the creek divided the city into two main sections – Deira and Bur Dubai. It was along the Bur Dubai creek area that members of the Bani Yas tribe first settled in the 19th century, establishing the Al Maktoum dynasty in the city.^[5] In the early 20th century, the creek, though incapable then of supporting large scale transportation, served as a minor port for dhows coming from as far away as India or East Africa. Although it impeded the entry of ships due to current flow, the creek remained an important element in establishing the commercial position of Dubai, being the only port or harbour in the city.^[6] Dubai's pearling industry, which formed the main sector of the city's economy, was based primarily on expeditions in the creek, prior to the invention of cultured pearls in the 1930s. Fishing, also an important industry at the time, was also based along the creek, whose warm and shallow waters supported a wide variety of marine life. Dhows used for purposes of fishing were also built on the foreshore of the creek.^[7]

The importance of the creek as a site of commercial activity was a justification to introduce improvements to allow larger vessels to transit, as well as to facilitate loading and unloading activities. This led, in 1955, to a plan to develop the creek, which involved dredging shallow areas, building of breakwaters, and developing its beach to become a quay suitable for loading and unloading of cargo.^[8] The creek was first dredged in 1961 to permit 7-foot (2.1 m) draft vessels to cross through the creek at all times.^[9] The creek was dredged again in the 1960s and 1970s so that it could offer anchorage for local and coastal shipping of up to about 500 tons.^[10] The dredging opened up the creek to much more continuous traffic of merchandise, including the development of re-export, and gave Dubai an advantage over Sharjah, the other dominant trading centre in the region at the time.^[10]

Al Maktoum Bridge, the first bridge connecting Bur Dubai and Deira was constructed in 1963. Although the importance of the creek as a port has diminished with the development of the Jebel Ali Port, smaller facilities, such as Port Saeed, continue to exist along the creek, providing porting to traders from the region and the subcontinent.

2000s

[edit]

In September 2007, a Dhs. 484 million (US$ 132 million) extension of the creek was finished, which now ends just south of the Metropolitan Hotel and projects on Shaikh Zayed Road. A final 2.2-kilometre extension, called the Dubai Water Canal was inaugurated 9 November 2016, crossing Shaikh Zayed Road in a northerly route, passing through Safa Park and then through Jumeirah 2. The channel is expected to continue through Jumeirah Beach Park where it will reach the shores of the Persian Gulf.^[11] The extension is part of the Dubai's Business Bay development. Additionally, a new project consisting of seven islands known as Dubai Creek Harbour was proposed to be built on Dubai Creek. The centerpiece of this project would be the Dubai Creek Tower, which is set to become the tallest building in the world. Three additional bridges are being planned for Dubai Creek, which are the Seventh Crossing, the Al Shindagha Bridge, and the Fifth Bridge.^[12][13]

The Dubai Festival City Mall on Dubai Creek opened in 2007. Mohammed Bin Rashid Library is being built in the Al Jaddaf area on the Creek. Dhows are constructed in this area too on the bankside. The Green Line of the Dubai Metro terminates at the Dubai Creek metro station. Close to this metro station is the Al Jaddaf Marine Station, operating ferries on the Creek, including across the Creek to the Dubai Festival City Mall.

The Dubai Creek Harbour development is set to launch in 2025, home to Dubai Creek Tower, with residential units and parks constructed.^[14]

Route

[edit]

Original

[edit]

The creek's initial inlet into mainland Dubai is along the areas of Deira Corniche and Al Ras in eastern Dubai and along the area of Al Shindagha in western Dubai. It then progresses south-eastward through the mainland, passing through Port Saeed and Dubai Creek Park. The creek's natural ending is at the Ras Al Khor Wildlife Sanctuary, 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) from its origin at the Persian Gulf. The traditional form of transport between the eastern and western sections of Dubai via the creek was through abras, which continue to operate in Dubai. In addition, the eastern and western sections are linked via four bridges (Al Maktoum Bridge, Al Garhoud Bridge, Business Bay Crossing, and Floating Bridge) and one tunnel (Al Shindagha Tunnel).

• 
  Original route of Dubai Creek is highlighted in blue. The new extension is highlighted in red.
• 
  Coast of Dubai from the International Space Station. Dubai Creek is visible.
• 
  Dubai International Airport and Dubai Creek figure prominently in this photograph from the International Space Station.

Extensions

[edit]

25°16′02″N 55°18′24″E / 25.267236°N 55.306675°E / 25.267236; 55.306675)

The creek has been extended by 13 km (8.1 mi) through Business Bay, Dubai Canal and through Jumeirah into the Arabian Gulf.

Buildings and structures along Dubai creek. Hover and click on the map and then on the points for details.

Including the most remarkable buildings alongside the Deira side of the Creek are the Deira Twin Towers, the old Dubai Creek Tower, Sheraton Dubai Creek, National Bank of Dubai, and Chamber of Commerce.^[15] On the other side of Al Maktoum Bridge along Dubai Creek is Dubai Creek Park, one of the largest parks in Dubai.^[16]

The creek is also home to the Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club, comprising an 18-hole tournament golf course, clubhouses, residential development, and the Park Hyatt hotel.

Present crossings, in order from northwest to southeast

• Al Shindagha Tunnel
• Al Maktoum Bridge
• Floating Bridge (temporary; to be replaced by the "Dubai Smile" in the future)
• Al Garhoud Bridge
• Business Bay Crossing
• Infinity Bridge

Future/planned crossings

• Dubai Smile (to replace the Floating Bridge)
• Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Crossing (to link Al Jaddaf and Bur Dubai)

Port Saeed

Abra station in Deira

• Port Saeed
• Dubai Creek Harbour
• Al Jaddaf Marine Station
• Business Bay Marina

Bibliography

• Hammad, Ahmed (June 2019). "Business Bay – Dubai Creek Extension -Construction Management, Challenges and Results. Part II – Project Details" (PDF). Journal of Engineering and Architecture. 7 (1): 100–109. doi:10.15640/jea.v7n1a11 (inactive 12 July 2025). eISSN 2334-2994. ISSN 2334-2986. S2CID 191180349. Archived from the original on 6 March 2020.cite journal: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of July 2025 (link)
• Gupte, Pranay (2011). Dubai: The Making of a Megapolis. Viking. Penguin Books India. ISBN 9780670085170.

• Ahmad Makia (April 2015) "Dubai Creek as an Island City-State: Free Zones, Canals, and City Doppelgängers." Avery Review:7

Dubai Creek Harbour== External links ==

Emirates

An Emirates Airbus A380
IATA ICAO Call sign EK UAE EMIRATES
Founded	15 March 1985; 40 years ago (1985-03-15)
Commenced operations	October 25, 1985; 40 years ago (1985-10-25)
Hubs	Dubai International Airport
Frequent-flyer program	Emirates Skywards
Subsidiaries	Arabian Adventures Congress Solutions International Emirates Holidays Emirates Tours
Fleet size	260
Destinations	148
Parent company	The Emirates Group
Headquarters	Garhoud, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Key people	Tim Clark (President) Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum (Chairman & CEO)
Founder	Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum
Revenue	US$ 34.83 billion (2024-25)[1]
Net income	US$ 5.19 billion (2024-25)[1]
Employees	69,465 (2024-25)[1]
Website	emirates.com

Emirates^[a] is one of the two flag carriers^[2] of the United Arab Emirates (the other being Etihad Airways). Based in Garhoud, Dubai, the airline is a subsidiary of The Emirates Group, which is owned by the government of Dubai's Investment Corporation of Dubai.^[3] It is the world's largest long haul airline^[4] as well as the largest airline in the Middle East,^[5] operating more than 3,600 flights per week from its hub at Terminal 3 of Dubai International Airport. It operates in more than 150 cities in 80 countries across six continents on its fleet of over 250 aircraft.^[6] Cargo operations are undertaken by Emirates SkyCargo.^[7]

Emirates is the world's third-largest airline by scheduled revenue passenger-kilometers flown.^[8] It is also the second-largest in terms of freight tonne-kilometers flown.

During the mid 1980s, Gulf Air began to cut back its services to Dubai. As a result, Emirates was founded on 15 March 1985, with backing from Dubai's royal family and its first two aircraft provided by Pakistan International Airlines. With $10 million in start-up capital, it was required to operate independently of government subsidies. Pakistan International Airlines also provided free training facilities to Emirates cabin crew at Karachi Airport. The airline was founded by Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, the airline's present chairman. In the years following its founding, the airline rapidly expanded both its fleet and its destinations. In October 2008, Emirates moved all of its operations at Dubai International Airport to Terminal 3.^[9]

Emirates operates a mixed fleet of Airbus and Boeing wide-body aircraft and is one of the few airlines to operate an all-wide-body aircraft fleet (excluding Emirates Executive).^[10] As of January 2026^[update], Emirates is the world's largest Airbus A380 operator with 116 aircraft in service.^[11] Since its introduction, the Airbus A380 has become an integral part of the Emirates fleet, especially on long-haul, high-density routes. Emirates is also the world's largest Boeing 777 operator with 133 aircraft in service.^[12]

Emirates was founded in March 1985 with backing from Dubai's ruler, Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

On 25 October 1985, Emirates operated its first flight from Dubai International Airport to Jinnah International Airport in Karachi, Pakistan using an Airbus A300B4-200, registered AP-BBM. Later a second flight departed Dubai for Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai, India, using a Boeing 737-300, registered AP-BCD, both wet-leased from Pakistan International Airlines. In 1986, Emirates added Ratmalana Airport, Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, Queen Alia International Airport and Cairo International Airport to its route network.

On 3 July 1987, A6-EKA flew from Toulouse–Blagnac Airport to Dubai as Emirates took delivery of its first owned aircraft, an Airbus A310-304. Flights to Frankfurt Airport commenced via Atatürk Airport, London Gatwick and Male International Airport. This was followed by Changi Airport, Bangkok airport and Hong Kong International Airport.

During its early years, Emirates experienced strong growth, averaging 30% annually.^[13] The Gulf War helped boost business for the airline as it was the only airline to continue flying in the last ten days of the war. In June 1991 shortly after the end of the hostilities caused by the Gulf War, Emirates finally managed to acquire slots at London Heathrow. In 1996, Emirates took delivery of its baseline Boeing 777-200, followed by the extended-range version in 1997 and in 1999 the Airbus A330-200 and Boeing 777-300. In 2000, the airline placed an order for a large number of aircraft, including the Boeing 777-300ER and the Airbus A380, and also launched its frequent flyer program, Skywards.^[14]

Since then, the airline has continued to expand its fleet and network, with a focus on operating flights to anywhere in the world via Dubai and competing with other major airlines on international routes. Its growth has attracted criticism from other carriers, who claim that the airline has unfair advantages and have called for an end to open-skies policies with the UAE as a result.^[15][16] In 2017, Emirates "renewed its aircraft buying spree" and agreed to buy a number of Boeing's 787 Dreamliners for $15.1 billion. The Wall Street Journal described the deal as a "painful loss" for Airbus.^[17] In 2023, Emirates ordered $50 billion of Boeing jets with their sister airline, flyDubai at the Dubai Airshow.^[18] Emirates ordered 90 aircraft, including both versions of the new long-haul jet.^[18]

In April 2024, Emirates announced its plan to relocate its hub to Al Maktoum Airport (DWC) when the new airport is fully completed.^[19]

The airline is a subsidiary of The Emirates Group, which is a subsidiary of the Dubai government's investment company, Investment Corporation of Dubai.^[20][21][22] The airline has recorded a profit every year, except its second year, and the growth has never fallen below 20% a year. In its first 11 years, it doubled in size every 3.5 years and has every four years since.^[23]

In 2015, Emirates paid dividends worth AED 2.6 billion (US$708 million), compared to AED 1 billion (US$272 million) in 2014.^[24] The government has received AED 14.6 billion from Emirates since dividends started being paid in 1999 for having provided an initial start-up capital of US$10 million and an additional investment of about US$80 million at the time of the airline's inception.^[25] The Dubai government is the sole owner of the company, but it does not invest any new money into it or interfere with the airline's operations.^[23]

Emirates has diversified into related industries and sectors, including airport services, engineering, catering, and tour operator operations. Emirates has seven subsidiaries and its parent company has more than 50.^[26][27] At the end of the fiscal year on 31 March 2020, the company employed a total of 59,519 staff, of which 21,789 were cabin crew, 4,313 were flight deck crew, 3,316 were in engineering, 12,627 were listed as other, 5,376 employees were at overseas stations, and 12,098 were at subsidiary companies.^[1]: 72 The Emirates Group employed a total of 105,730 employees.^[1]: 184

Emirates provides its employees with benefits such as comprehensive health plans and paid maternity and sick leave. Another strategy employed by Emirates is to use profit sharing and merit pay as part of its competency-based approach to performance management.^[28] In 2023 and 2024, the group awarded its employees hefty bonuses as their share of the company's profits earned in those years. In 2023, employees got 24 weeks of pay^[29] as their bonus, and in 2024, they received 20 weeks of pay.^[30] In 2025, Emirates Group awarded its employees a 22-week bonus following a record-breaking profit of AED 22.7 billion—an 18% increase over the prior year.

The airline claims to have lower emissions than other airlines because its fleet has an average fuel burn of fewer than 4 liters for every 100 passenger–kilometers.^[31] In 2023, the airline announced it would invest $200 million over three years to fund research and development regarding the reduction of fossil fuels in commercial aviation, including investing in the development of alternative fuel and energy solutions.^[32]

The key trends for Emirates are (as of the financial year ending 31 March):^[33]

In the 1990s, Emirates launched its first set of commercials all with the slogan "So be good to yourself, Fly Emirates". In 1999, it launched a rare A330-200 commercial with different pictures showing the aircraft painted in the original livery and the livery used from 1999 until 2023, which was launched a few months prior.

Commercials reappeared beginning in 2002 and the airline adopted the slogan "Fly Emirates. Keep Discovering" in 2004. In the 2010s, Emirates utilized multiple slogans in its advertising including "Fly Emirates. Keep Discovering", "Fly Emirates To over Six Continents", and "Hello Tomorrow".^[41] Emirates currently uses the slogan "Fly Better".

Emirates introduced a new uniform design in August 2008 for its 16,000 staff, designed by Simon Jersey. The offboard uniform includes the Emirates hat, red kick-pleats in the skirts, more fitted blouses, and the return of red leather shoes and handbags. For the onboard uniform, male and female cabin crew wear service waistcoats in place of the previously worn service jackets and tabards. The male flight attendants wear a chocolate brown suit, featuring pinstripes, with a cream shirt and caramel, honey, and red tie. Both male and female pursers wear this chocolate brown color but with no red featured.^[42]

Since its formation in 1985, Emirates aircraft have carried a section of the United Arab Emirates flag on the tail fins, a calligraphy version of the logo in Arabic on the engines, and the "Emirates" logo on the fuselage both in Arabic and English. The color scheme used since 1985 was changed in November 1999, with the first Boeing 777-300.^[43] This change included the modification of the logotype, the enlargement and movement of the English logo (the Arabic remaining smaller) towards the front of the aircraft, and a different, flowing flag on the tailfin.^[44]

In 2022, Emirates launched two commercials featuring a flight attendant standing on the spire of the Burj Khalifa. The first commercial was about the UAE moving to the UK's Amber list in the wake of the COVID-19 travel restrictions. The second commercial was to promote the Expo 2020 event with an Airbus A380, painted in a special livery, circling the woman. The woman in the videos was a qualified stuntwoman dressed as an Emirates flight attendant.^[45]

From 2011 until 2022, Emirates sponsored the Emirates Air Line cable car over the River Thames in East London.^[46]

Since 2015, Emirates has sponsored the England-based Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth on the south coast.^[47] The airline had £3.5 million worth of plans to paint the landmark red, but after discussion with the residents of Portsmouth and Southsea, Emirates agreed the tower was to be colored blue and gold, with red lettering of the Emirates sponsor,^[48] for the reason that Portsmouth F.C. (the local football team) is colored blue and rival football team Southampton F.C. is colored red. It is now named "Emirates Spinnaker Tower".

Emirates sponsors Cricket Australia,^[49] Lord's Taverners,^[50] and Pro Arch Tournament.^[51] Its branding also features on international cricket umpires' shirts.^[52] Emirates was also an official partner of the International Cricket Council. The deal gives Emirates association with all major ICC tournaments, including the 2011, 2015, and 2019 ICC Cricket World Cups, the Women's Cricket World Cups, ICC Champions Trophy, and ICC World Twenty20.^[53]

Emirates is the Twenty20 shirt sponsor of Durham County Cricket Club and holds the naming rights to the Riverside Ground, now known as Emirates Riverside, as well as the naming rights to the Emirates Old Trafford Cricket Ground, and is the shirt sponsor of Lancashire County Cricket Club. Emirates was also the major sponsor of the Kings XI Punjab (seasons two-four) and Deccan Chargers (season five), teams of the Indian Premier League, the largest domestic cricket tournament in the world.

Emirates was a sponsor of FIFA and the FIFA World Cup, but stopped its sponsorship in early 2015 because of allegations of corruption and bribery within FIFA, as well as FIFA's controversial decision to award the 2022 FIFA World Cup to Qatar.^[54]

Emirates was the primary shirt sponsor of Chelsea from August 2001 until May 2005.^[55] Since the 2006–07 season, it has been the primary shirt sponsor of Arsenal (2006 to 2028, including Arsenal's home ground Emirates Stadium),^[56] AC Milan since the 2010–11 season, Real Madrid since the 2013–14 season, Benfica since the 2015–16 season,^[57] Olympique Lyonnais since the 2020–21 season,^[58] and Étoile du Sahel since the 2023–24 season.^[59] It was also the primary shirt sponsor of the New York Cosmos. Emirates is also the title sponsor of the FA Cup and Emirates Cup. It was also the primary shirt sponsor of Paris Saint-Germain (until May 2019), and Hamburger SV until June 2020.

In August 2009, the Scottish Junior Football Association announced that Emirates would sponsor its Scottish Cup competition.^[60] Emirates is the sponsor of Asian Football Confederation travel and play, in the AFC Champions League and AFF Suzuki Cup. It also sponsors FC Dallas in Major League Soccer.

Football clubs currently sponsored by Emirates

• Arsenal
• Arsenal WFC
• Lyon
• AC Milan
• AC Milan WFC
• Real Madrid
• Real Madrid B
• Real Madrid W
• Benfica
• Benfica B
• Benfica under-19
• Étoile du Sahel
• FC Dallas

Emirates has sponsored the Super League Rugby League team, the Warrington Wolves between 2013 and 2017. The multi-year sponsorship cost has been touted as around £300,000 annually.^[61]

It is also the main sponsor of USA Rugby^[62] and the World Rugby panel of international referees.^[62] Since 2015, Emirates has sponsored the South African Super Rugby team, the Lions and has the naming rights of the team and the Ellis Park rugby stadium.

It also sponsors the Rugby World Cup since 2007 and the Women's Rugby World Cup starting in 2025.

On 23 September 2019, Emirates partnered with Beirut Basketball Club to sponsor their 2019–2020 season; the deal included branding opportunities during televised matches, social media activation rights, and game ticket allocations.^[63] The season was later canceled amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Emirates later signed a multi-year sponsorship with the club in September 2023, becoming its official airline and jersey sponsor for the next three seasons.^[64]

On 8 February 2024, Emirates signed a multi-year partnership with the National Basketball Association (NBA) to become the official airline of the league. This deal also included getting the naming rights for the NBA Cup, becoming the Emirates NBA Cup starting in the 2024 season. Additionally, an Emirates patch would be added to NBA referee jerseys.^[65]

• Horse racing - Emirates sponsors the Dubai International Racing Carnival. It sponsored the Australian Turf Club's Autumn and Spring Carnival until 2011, and the Melbourne Cup Carnival from 2003 until 2017.^[66][67] It is also a regular sponsor of another equestrian sport, showjumping, notably at events in Dubai with the CSI5* Emirates Airline Dubai Grand Prix, and with the Longines Masters series, which currently runs CSI5* competitions in Hong Kong, Paris, and New York (formerly held in Los Angeles).
• Tennis - It sponsors all four major tennis tournaments: the Australian, French and US Opens, and Wimbledon (since 2024). Since the 2012 season, Emirates also sponsored the US Open Series, a six-week summer tennis season leading up to the US Open. Its sponsorship was to run until 2019.^[68]
• Formula One (F1) - It was the sponsor of the British F1 team McLaren in the 2006 season. It was also the official airline sponsor of Formula One from the 2013 season until the 2022 season. It was outbid by rival Qatar Airways for the 2023 season.^[69]
• Australian football - Emirates sponsors Collingwood Football Club in the Australian Football League.
• Baseball - Since the 2016 season, Emirates is the official airline of the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball.
• Cycling - Since 2017, Emirates has been the sponsor of the UAE Team Emirates (former Team Lampre-Mérida), which is a UCI World Tour Cycling Team. Being a World Tour, the team obtains automatic entry to the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia, and Vuelta a Espana, as well as all the major one-day races.
• Sailing - Emirates is the primary sponsor of the Emirates Team New Zealand, winners of the 35th America's Cup in sailing.

In 2015, Jennifer Aniston starred in two commercials for the airline.^[70][71] Since 2023, Penélope Cruz has been the brand ambassador for Emirates.^[72]

Emirates became one of the official premier partners of the Expo 2020 event hosted by Dubai. To commemorate the event, Emirates unveiled a special livery in three colors (orange, green, and blue) to represent the three themes of the event, namely, Opportunity, Sustainability, and Mobility. One of its A380s was painted in a blue, nose-to-tail livery that said, "Join The Making of a New World". The sponsorship lasted from 1 October 2021 till the event's closure on 31 March 2022.

As of August 2024, Emirates operates over 3,000 flights every week across its network of 137 destinations in 77 countries across six continents from its hub in Dubai.^[73] On 21 November 2024, Emirates added a 5th weekly flight to its Dubai-Antananarivo route, commencing on 13 December 2024 for a duration of 4 weeks, to cater for the surge in holidaymakers during the year-end festive season. The move saw an increase in capacity for the number of seats to Seychelles and Madagascar.^[74]

On 10 October 2024, it was reported that Emirates had relaunched direct flights to Adelaide Airport beginning 28 October 2024. The flight resumption to Adelaide was a fourth option for travelers to the United Kingdom or Europe after Malaysia Airlines, Singapore Airlines and Qatar Airways.^[75]

In March 2025, Emirates announced plans to expand its Asian network by introducing flights to three new destinations: Shenzhen in China, Da Nang in Vietnam, and Siem Reap in Cambodia. This expansion marks Emirates' fourth gateway into the Chinese mainland and its third into Vietnam. With these additions, the Dubai-based airline will now serve 49 destinations across Asia and the Pacific. This move aims to enhance connectivity and cater to the growing demand for travel in these regions.^[76][77]

Emirates has partnerships with other airlines, but is not a member of any of the three global airline alliances – Oneworld, SkyTeam, or Star Alliance. In 2000, the airline briefly considered joining Star Alliance, but opted to remain independent.^[78] The reasoning for this was later revealed by the senior vice president of the airline's commercial operations worldwide: "Your ability to react in the marketplace is hindered because you need a consensus from your alliance partners".^[79]

Emirates codeshares with the following airlines:^[80]

Emirates have Interline agreements with the following airlines:

Emirates Executive was launched in 2013 for corporate and private charters. It operates a single Airbus ACJ319 business jet,^[124] accommodating 19 people.^[125] It features a mix of private suites and seating, a lounge, a dining area, and bathrooms with full-height showers.^[126]

Emirates SkyCargo is the cargo division of Emirates. It began operations in October 1985, the same year Emirates was formed, and launched its aircraft services in 2001 with a Boeing 747 Freighter. It serves 10 exclusive cargo destinations, besides others in common with the Emirates passenger network.^[127] During the 2020 pandemic, SkyCargo also began to operate 777-300ER and A380 passenger aircraft as preighters to expand their total cargo capacity.^[128] In 2022, Emirates ordered 5 more Boeing 777 freighters, up from their 11 at the time.^[129]

As of January 2026, Emirates operates a fleet of 260 passenger aircraft and 11 cargo aircraft operated by Emirates SkyCargo.^[1] Emirates currently has 116 Airbus A380s and 129 Boeing 777s, including 10 777-200LRs and 119 777-300ERs, making them the largest operator of both types.^[130] The airline also has 16 Airbus A350-900s, and one Airbus A319 as an executive jet (this is painted in a plain white livery). Emirates has had no narrow-body aircraft in its mainline fleet since 1995.

In July 2014, Emirates finalized an order for 150 Boeing 777X aircraft, consisting of 35 777-8s and 115 777-9s,^[131] and was expected to become the launch operator for the 777X in mid 2020.^[132] In November 2017, it signed a commitment for 40 787-10s,^[133] but by early 2019, it was considering cancelling this order because engine margins were insufficient for the hot Dubai weather, in favour of the Airbus A350.^[134]

In February 2019, Emirates signed a memorandum of understanding with Airbus for 40 A330-900s and 30 A350-900s, while reducing its total A350 order to eight^[135] (with the last one to be delivered in 2022)^[136] after which Airbus planned to permanently cease production of the A380. Emirates received the final A380 (registration A6-EVS) built by Airbus on 16 December 2021. It was the 123rd A380 to join the fleet. The delivery officially marked the end of the Airbus A380 production 14 years after the first delivery to Singapore Airlines in 2007.^[137]

In November 2019, Emirates announced an order of 50 A350-900s worth US$16 billion that superseded the February memorandum of understanding.^[138] Also in November 2019, Emirates placed an order for 30 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners for a value of US$8.8 billion, while reducing its order of 777Xs from 150 to 126.^[139]

In December 2019, Emirates clarified that 11 of its 777X orders were subject to reconfirmation, but the overall number of orders had not been reduced.^[140] Being the largest operator of the A380, Emirates maintains its fleet via the MRO subsidiary of Safran, OEMServices.^[141]

On 13 November 2023, at the Dubai Airshow, Emirates finalized an order of 90 777X aircraft worth US$52 Billion, including 50 Boeing 777-9 aircraft and 35 Boeing 777-8 aircraft. This brings the total Boeing 777X backlog to 205 aircraft. Another 5 Boeing 787 Dreamliners were ordered, growing Emirates' 787 backlog to 35 – while converting 30 787-9s to 20 787-8 and 10 787-10 aircraft.^[142]

On 16 November 2023, also at the Dubai Airshow, Emirates ordered an additional 15 Airbus A350-900s worth US$6 billion, bringing the total of A350-900s ordered by Emirates to 65.^[143] The first A350-900 was delivered on November 25, 2024.^[144] A350 services began on 4 January 2025, with an inaugural flight to Edinburgh.

On 18 April 2025, it was announced that Emirates would be receiving Airbus A350-900 outfitted with seating for ultra long haul flights, capable of flying over 15 hours non-stop with a range of over 14,000 km (8,699 mi; 7,559 nmi). Adelaide will be the first city served, replacing the current Boeing 777-200LR aircraft serving the city.^[145]

On 19 November 2025, at the Dubai Airshow 2025, Emirates announced a top-up order for 8 additional A350-900 aircraft worth US$3.4 billion, bringing the total Emirates A350-900 order to 73 with 13 already delivered at the time.^[3]

The first livery of Emirates, created by Negus & Negus, was similar to the second livery, except that the company name "Emirates" was written in a different font; it was relatively smaller, located on the top of the windows; and it was followed by the company name in Arabic. All aircraft wearing the first-generation livery were either repainted or retired. This livery was retired by 2005 as the last aircraft with the first generation livery (an Airbus A310-300) was repainted to the second generation livery.

The second Emirates livery, which featured a UAE flag on the vertical stabilizer and a white fuselage, with the golden word "Emirates" painted on the upper fuselage, was introduced in November 1999 on the Boeing 777-300 and the Airbus A330-200, as well as all other aircraft that were delivered from November 1999 onward. The livery rolled out shortly after in 2000 on the rest of the Emirates fleet, and Emirates repainted all aircraft to this livery by 2005. The second Emirates livery also kept the Arabic company name, but the font size was smaller than the one from the first Emirates livery. The Emirates logo in Arabic is painted gold on all engines. The livery was updated in 2005 when the red word "Emirates" was introduced and painted on the belly of the fuselage.

On 16 March 2023, Emirates revealed its new livery. The livery features a more dynamic, flowing design of the UAE flag on the tailfin with a 3D effect. The wingtips are now painted red, displaying the Emirates logo in white Arabic calligraphy. Passengers with window seats can see the UAE flag colors painted on the inside of the wingtips, facing the fuselage.^[146]

The airline's Airbus A350s will also include the updated UAE flag on the inner side of the winglets.

First class

The two types of first class seating are the fully enclosed suite with a floor-to-ceiling door and a private suite with doors that close but do not extend to the ceiling. Both suites come complete with closing doors to ensure privacy, a minibar, a coat rack, and storage. They also feature the ICE in-flight entertainment system on a 23-inch-wide (58 cm) LCD screen in the private suites and a 32-inch-wide (81 cm) on the fully enclosed suite. The seat converts into a 2-metre-long (79 in) fully flat bed. Private suites are available on three-class and four-class Airbus A380-800 and three-class Boeing 777-300ER aircraft.^[147] The fully enclosed suites are available only on newly delivered Boeing 777-300ER aircraft.^[148]

On its newly delivered Airbus A380-800, first class features private suites,^[149] two shower-equipped lavatories and a spa,^[150] and access to the first/business class bar area and lounge.^[151] Premium class seating is located on the entire upper deck of the aircraft.

Emirates introduced a new first-class cabin for its Boeing 777-300ER fleet on 12 November 2017^[152] and first flights to Brussels and Geneva on 1 December 2017. The new first-class cabin is configured with six suites on a 1-1-1 layout. Both of the middle suites are equipped with three virtual windows, which are high-definition LCD screens that relay real-time images using HD cameras on either side of the aircraft. Amenities include two minibars placed on either side of the entertainment screen, a 13-inch tablet with a front camera to communicate with the cabin crew and to order room service, and a panel to control the lighting and temperature inside the suite. Emirates has also introduced a new seat in collaboration with Mercedes-Benz, which features a new zero-gravity position.^[153][154] The suites are expected to resemble "a private bedroom on a luxury yacht".^[155]

Business class

Business class on Boeing 777-200LRs and Boeing 777-300ERs feature seats with a 1.5-metre-long (60 in) pitch that reclines to 2-metre-long (79 in), angled lie-flat beds.^[156] Amenities include a massage function, privacy partition, winged headrest with six-way movement, two individual reading lights, and an overhead light per seat; in-seat power supply, USB ports, and an RCA socket for laptop connection; and over 600 channels of entertainment on the ICE system, shown on a 23 in-wide (58 cm) HD TV screen.^[157]

On Airbus A380-800 aircraft,^[158] the seats recline to form a fully flat bed and are equipped with personal minibars. The unique staggered layout makes half of the business-class seats on Emirates A380^[159] 23 cm (9 in) shorter than the others, at only 1.8 m (70 in) long.^[160] Business class passengers also have access to an on-board bar at the rear of the aircraft.^[156][161]

Premium economy class

In December 2020, it was announced that Emirates' new Premium economy cabin would be equipped with Recaro PL3530 seats which were designed exclusively for the airline.^[162]

The seats offer a pitch of up to 40 in (101 cm), a recline of 8 in (20 cm) and measure 19.5 in (49 cm) wide. All seats are equipped with a 13.3 in (33 cm) entertainment screen using the Emirates ICE system.^[163]

Currently, 22 Airbus A380 aircraft in the Emirates fleet have the new premium economy class cabin. These seats are also set to be retrofitted on the airline's older Boeing 777-300ERs and Airbus A380s as part of a retrofit program of US$2 billion that began at the end of 2022; by the end of the program, 67 Airbus A380s and 53 Boeing 777s will be fitted with premium economy.^[164][165]

Economy class

Emirates economy class offers a 79–81-centimetre-long (31–32 in) seat pitch on Airbus aircraft and 86 cm (34 in) on Boeing aircraft, with standard seat width (except on the Boeing 777 fleet). Emirates has 10 seats per row on its Boeing 777 fleet. The seat features adjustable headrests, a 3000-channel ICE system, and in-seat laptop power outlets on newer aircraft and laptop recharging facilities in galleys in older aircraft. Additional recline is available on A380 economy-class seats.^{[166][167][168]}

Catering on Emirates flights from Dubai International is provided by Emirates Flight Catering, which operates one of the largest airline catering facilities in the world.^[169] Emirates also offers special meal options, in all classes, based on age, dietary restrictions and preference, and religious observance. Special meals must be ordered in advance at least 24 hours before the flight departure time. All meals are prepared according to Halal dietary guidelines.^[170] In June 2018, Emirates signed a $40 million joint venture with Oakland-based Crop One Holdings, to build and maintain the world's largest hydroponic growing facility. It would provide daily yields of roughly 3 tons of leafy greens per day to all flights, with a near 150,000-square-foot (14,000 m²) indoor, vertical farm.^[171]

Emirates became one of the first airlines in the world to introduce a personal entertainment system on commercial aircraft in 1992, with Virgin Atlantic introducing a similar system throughout all cabins of its aircraft.^[172] All three classes feature a personal IFE system in the Emirates aircraft. There are two types of entertainment systems in Emirates: ICE and ICE Digital Widescreen.

In 2012, Emirates introduced larger high-definition IFE screens in all classes. The new IFE is the first to be fully high definition, and in economy, the screens are the largest offered by any airline. The new IFE will only be installed on the Airbus A380 fleet and the newly delivered Boeing 777s.^[173]

ICE (information, communication, entertainment) is the in-flight entertainment system operated by Emirates.

Introduced in 2003, ICE is available on all new aircraft and now features 4,000 channels (on most flights) for all passengers.^[174] ICE is found on the airline's Airbus A350-900, Airbus A380-800, Boeing 777-200LR, and Boeing 777-300ER.^[175]

In July 2007, Emirates introduced ICE Digital Widescreen, an updated version of ICE. It offered over 1200 channels of selected entertainment to all passengers. ICE Digital Widescreen is available on all Emirates aircraft.^[176]

In 2015, Emirates upgraded ICE to the new eX3 version, which included new upgrades that improved the passenger experience, such as a handset with more controls, larger screens, new sockets, some 3,500 channels of movies, TV shows, music, and games on-demand and in multiple languages, new ICE features, such as a Voyager app, Bluetooth audio, and personal video playback. This is fitted on all B777 and A380 aircraft delivered after 2009.^[177][178] The redesigned version, based on Thales's AVANT Up, was introduced in 2025 with its first A350 delivery.^[179]

According to Emirates, ICE has received more awards than any other airline in the world for inflight entertainment.^[180]

Information

The system is based on the 3000i system from Panasonic Avionics Corporation. ICE provides passengers with a direct data link to BBC News. ICE is the first IFE system to be connected directly to automatic news updates. This is complemented by ICE's Airshow moving-map software from Rockwell Collins. Exterior cameras located on the aircraft can be viewed by any passenger through the IFE system during takeoff, cruise, and landing. Emirates was also one of the first airlines to introduce a high-speed, in-flight internet service along with Singapore Airlines, by installing the Inmarsat's satellite system and became the second airline in the world to offer live international television broadcasts using the same system.^[181]

Communication

ICE has a link to an in-flight email server, which allows passengers to access, send, or receive emails for US$1 per message.^[182] ICE also supports a seat-to-seat chat service. In November 2006, the airline signed a deal with mobile communications firm AeroMobile to allow in-flight use of mobile phones to call or text people on the ground. The service was first introduced in March 2008.^[183]

Entertainment

The ICE system includes movies, music, and video games. ICE offers over 600 on-demand movie titles, over 2000 video on demand and prerecorded television channels, over 1000 hours of music, and over 100 video game titles. ICE can be accessed in more than 40 languages, including English, French, German, Russian, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Urdu, Persian, Korean, Tamil, Thai, Dutch, Swedish, Italian, and Japanese.^[184] Since 2003, all entertainment options are available on demand to all classes with options to pause, forward, and rewind them.

Emirates began to offer docking capability for Apple Inc.'s iPod portable music and video player in mid 2007. This enabled the device's battery to be charged and integrated with ICE, which could then play music, television shows, or movies stored on the iPod and function as a control system. This feature was removed from Emirates aircraft starting in the late 2010s due to the iPod being discontinued.^[185]

Established network carriers in Europe and Australia, such as Air France-KLM, British Airways, Lufthansa, and Qantas, see Emirates' strategic decision to reposition itself as a global carrier as a major threat because it enables travelers to bypass traditional airline hubs such as London-Heathrow, Paris-CDG, and Frankfurt on their way between Europe/North America and Asia/Australia by changing flights in Dubai instead. These carriers also find it difficult to deal with the growing competitive threat Emirates poses to their business because of their much higher cost base.^[186][187] Some of these carriers, notably Air France and Qantas, have accused Emirates of receiving hidden state subsidies and maintaining too close of a relationship with Dubai's airport authority and its aviation authority, both of which are also wholly state-owned entities that share the same government owner with the airline. Qantas' chairman claimed that Emirates can reduce its borrowing costs below market rates by taking advantage of its government shareholders' sovereign borrower status.^[23] Emirates' president disagrees and has also referred to United States airlines bankruptcy protection as being a tangible form of state assistance. The airline makes regular profits.^[188] In 2016, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines made similar claims, as well as stating that Emirates violates Open Skies, but these conflicts were resolved in May 2018.^[189][190]

In May 2010, Emirates executives denied claims that the carrier does not pay taxes and receives substantial financial assistance from the Dubai government. They claimed that the airline received $80m in cash in the 25 years since the airline was established and this was substantially lower than what other national carriers had received. Maurice Flanagan also claimed that Emirates incurred social costs of around $600m in 2009, and this included municipal taxes to the city of Dubai. The airline also paid a dividend of AED 956m (US$260m) in 2010, compared to AED2.9bn ($793m) in 2009, and each year the Government has received at least $100m in dividends.^[191] Emirates also faces competition from other Middle Eastern airlines, mainly Qatar Airways and Abu Dhabi–based Etihad Airways.^[192]

In its efforts to reduce carbon emissions, the Emirates started exploring the use of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) for its fleet since 2017. The airline has partnered with the world's leading biodiesel producers such as Neste, a Finnish producer of sustainable aviation fuel, as well as Shell Aviation. In January 2023, the airline conducted a successful demonstration flight of a Boeing 777-300ER using 100 percent SAF in one of its two engines. In November of the same year, Emirates conducted another demonstration flight of an Airbus A380 using 100 percent SAF in one of the airplane's four engines.^[193][194] Following successful tests, Emirates operated its first commercial flight using SAF blend on October 24, 2023, on Emirates flight EK 412 from Dubai to Sydney, Australia using an Airbus A380.^[195]

Currently, the airline has suppliers set up to supply its flights with SAF in several airports around the world including Paris, Lyon, Oslo, Amsterdam, London, Singapore and its home base in Dubai.^{[196][197][198][199][200][201][202][203][204]}

Emirates has experienced several aircraft incidents (none with passenger or crew fatalities).

• On 9 April 2004, Emirates Flight 764, an Airbus A340-300 operating from Johannesburg to Dubai, sustained serious damage during takeoff when it overran runway 03L, striking runway 21R approach lights, causing four tires to burst, which threw debris into various parts of the aircraft, ultimately damaging the flap drive mechanism. This rendered the flaps immovable in the takeoff position. The aircraft returned for an emergency landing during which the normal braking system failed as a result of the damage. The aircraft was brought to a stop only 250 m (820 ft) from the end of the 3,400-metre (11,200 ft) runway using reverse thrust and the alternative braking system.^[205][206] In their report, South African investigators found that the captain had used a wrong take-off technique, and criticized Emirates' training and rostering practices.^[207]
• On 20 March 2009, Emirates Flight 407, an Airbus A340-500 registered A6-ERG en route from Melbourne to Dubai, failed to take off properly at Melbourne Airport, hitting several structures at the end of the runway before eventually climbing enough to return to the airport for a safe landing. There were no injuries, but the incident was severe enough to be classified as an accident by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau.^[208]
• On 3 August 2016, Emirates Flight 521, a Boeing 777-300 registered A6-EMW and arriving from Trivandrum International Airport crash-landed and caught fire at Dubai International Airport at 12:44 pm local time. All 282 passengers and 18 crew on board survived the impact with 32 injuries (4 seriously) reported. However, an airport firefighter died fighting the blaze. The aircraft was destroyed by the fire.^[209] Flight 521 was the first hull loss in the history of Emirates.
• On 14 April 2020, an Emirates Boeing 777-300ER registered A6-EBR was struck by a British Airways Airbus A350-1000 (G-XWBA) on the ground while the A350 was pushing back from the gate for departure. No casualties were reported, however, the horizontal stabilizers on both aircraft were damaged as a result of the collision.
• On 20 December 2021, Emirates Flight 231, a Boeing 777-300ER registered as A6-EQI, departing Dubai International Airport towards Washington Dulles, nearly overran the runway during takeoff, flying at only 75 ft (23 m) over houses located near the airport.^{[citation needed][210][211]} The aircraft was not damaged and there were no injuries.^[212] The incident remains under investigation.^[213][214]
• On 1 July 2022, Emirates Flight 430, an Airbus A380-842 registered as A6-EVK departed Dubai International Airport towards Brisbane Airport. During the cruise, one of the aircraft's 22 tires experienced a rupture, which caused damage to a portion of the aerodynamic fairing. The plane landed safely in Brisbane and there were no fatalities.^[215]
• On 27 March 2024, an Airbus A380 suffered serious damage after it was hit by an emergency vehicle on the tarmac of Moscow Domodedovo International Airport.^[216]
• On 28 March 2024, an Emirates Boeing 777 narrowly avoided a collision with an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 MAX over Somaliland.^[217]
• On 20 May 2024, Emirates Flight 508, a Boeing 777-300ER, suffered a bird strike before landing at Mumbai.^[218] While there were no injuries among passengers and crew, the plane suffered substantial damage and at least 36 flamingos were killed in the strike while the plane was flying over the Ghatkopar suburban region of Mumbai. An alternative aircraft was arranged for the return flight, and the plane was later repaired and put back into service.^[219]
• On 15 June 2024, Emirates Flight 262, an Airbus A380-861 registered as A6-EUL aborted the takeoff from runway 09L at São Paulo/Guarulhos International Airport, SP (GRU) after an engine on the left side surged while the flight crew applied takeoff thrust.^[220]
• On 25 September 2024, Emirates Flight 547, a Boeing 777-300ER operating from Chennai International Airport to Dubai International Airport, began to emanate smoke when the refueling process was underway. Fire trucks were quickly rushed to the aircraft to extinguish the smoke. All passengers who were boarding were made to disembark the aircraft. The Dubai-bound flight was eventually delayed to 12:15 AM the next day.^[221]
• On October 20, 2025, Emirates SkyCargo Flight 9788 operated by Air ACT suffered a runway excursion at Hong Kong International Airport, which then led to a collision with a ground vehicle. All 4 onboard the plane survived. 2 people on the ground were killed.

Emirates has received criticism for their treatment of staff, which Emirates has disputed and is declining year over year.^[222] On September 23, 2016, an Italian man sued the airline after being squashed by an obese man for 9 hours.^[223] In 2019, an Australian woman filed an unsuccessful lawsuit against Emirates for not providing her water, leading her to collapse during a long-haul flight.^[224]

In August 2022, Emirates suspended its flights to Nigeria^[225] after it got into a dispute with the government of Nigeria over the repatriation of an undisclosed amount of money from the country. The dispute has since been resolved and in June 2024, the airline resumed its regular flights to the West African nation.^[226] Emirates has been sued twice in 2023 for deceptive advertising, once by a New Zealand male passenger and again two months later by a British energy trader.^[227][228] The New Zealand case was awarded in favor of the passenger, and the British case is ongoing.^{[229][228][227]}

In August 2023, a Pakistani man sued Emirates for PKR 5,000,000 claiming that the airline's service was extremely poor and below international standards.^[230] On June 13, 2024, the United States government fined Emirates for $1.8 million for operating flights carrying JetBlue Airways' designator code below 32,000 feet (9,800 m) over prohibited airspace in Iraq.^[231] On November 25, 2024, a Ghanaian businessman, Djanie Kotey filed a lawsuit against Emirates, but was dismissed.^[232] On December 6, 2024, Emirates was sued by TAF Africas CEO Jake Epelle for NGN 150 million over human rights violations.^[233]

Emirates is one of the few foreign airlines still serving Russia after major carriers pulled out of the country amid sweeping sanctions over the Ukraine war, leading to criticism as a result.^[234][235]

• Etihad Airways
• Dubai International Airport
• Emirates Flight Training Academy
• List of airlines of the United Arab Emirates
• List of airports in the United Arab Emirates

• ^A Emirates moved its operations to its dedicated Terminal 3 at Dubai International Airport on 14 October 2008.
• ^B The number of destinations does not include cargo-only destinations.
• ^C The Emirates Group does not publish figures separately for Emirates SkyCargo or Emirates, both companies' financial results are aggregated.

• The Economist, 2005/6. London, UK: The Economist Newspaper Ltd. (The Economist online)
• Financial Times, 29 October 2005. London, UK: UK Edition. (Financial Times online)
• Financial Times, 19 July 2006. London, UK: UK Edition. (Financial Times online)
• The Sunday Times, 23 July 2006. London, UK. (The Sunday Times online)
• Flight International, 25–31 July 2006. Sutton, UK: Reed Business Information Ltd. (Flight International online)

• "Emirates – 25 Years of Excellence: Building a global network". Airliner World. Stamford, UK: Key Publishing: 28–37. October 2010. ISSN 1465-6337. (Airliner World online)

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Emirates (airline).

• Official website

Type of rotorcraft

For other uses, see Helicopter (disambiguation).

 

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Helicopter" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (August 2025) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally.^[1] These attributes allow helicopters to be used in congested or isolated areas where fixed-wing aircraft and many forms of short take-off and landing (STOL) or short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) aircraft cannot perform without a runway.

The Focke-Wulf Fw 61 was the first successful, practical, and fully controllable helicopter in 1936, while in 1942, the Sikorsky R-4 became the first helicopter to reach full-scale production. Starting in 1939 and through 1943, Igor Sikorsky worked on the development of the VS-300, which over four iterations, became the basis for modern helicopters with a single main rotor and a single tail rotor.

Although most earlier designs used more than one main rotor, the configuration of a single main rotor accompanied by a vertical anti-torque tail rotor (i.e. unicopter, not to be confused with the single-blade monocopter) has become the most common helicopter configuration. However, twin-rotor helicopters (bicopters), in either tandem or transverse rotors configurations, are sometimes in use due to their greater payload capacity than the monorotor design, and coaxial-rotor, tiltrotor and compound helicopters are also all flying today. Four-rotor helicopters (quadcopters) were pioneered as early as 1907 in France, and along with other types of multicopters, have been developed mainly for specialized applications such as commercial unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) due to the rapid expansion of drone racing and aerial photography markets in the early 21st century, as well as recently weaponized utilities such as artillery spotting, aerial bombing and suicide attacks.

Etymology

[edit]

The English word helicopter is adapted from the French word hélicoptère, coined by Gustave Ponton d'Amécourt in 1861, which originates from the Greek helix (ἕλιξ), genitive helikos (ἕλῐκος), "helix, spiral, whirl, convolution"^[2] and pteron (πτερόν) "wing".^[3][4] In a process of rebracketing, the word is often (erroneously, from an etymological point of view) perceived by English speakers as consisting of heli- and -copter, leading to words like helipad and quadcopter.^[5][6] English language nicknames for "helicopter" include "chopper", "copter", "heli", and "whirlybird". In the United States military, the common slang is "helo" pronounced /ˈhiː.loʊ/.

Design

[edit]

A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more horizontally-spinning rotors.^[7] By contrast the autogyro (or gyroplane) and gyrodyne have a free-spinning rotor for all or part of the flight envelope, relying on a separate thrust system to propel the craft forwards, so that the airflow sets the rotor spinning to provide lift. The compound helicopter also has a separate thrust system, but continues to supply power to the rotor throughout normal flight.^{[citation needed]} U.S. federal regulations state that "helicopter" means a rotorcraft that, for its horizontal motion, depends principally on its engine-driven rotors.^[8]

Rotor system

[edit]

The rotor system, or more simply rotor, is the rotating part of a helicopter that generates lift. A rotor system may be mounted horizontally, as main rotors are, providing lift vertically, or it may be mounted vertically, such as a tail rotor, to provide horizontal thrust to counteract torque from the main rotors. The rotor consists of a mast, hub and rotor blades.^{[citation needed]}

The mast is a cylindrical metal shaft that extends upwards from the transmission. At the top of the mast is the attachment point for the rotor blades called the hub. Main rotor systems are classified according to how the rotor blades are attached and move relative to the hub. There are three basic types: hingeless, fully articulated, and teetering; although some modern rotor systems use a combination of these.^{[citation needed]}

Most helicopters have a single main rotor, but torque created by its aerodynamic drag must be countered by an opposed torque. The design that Igor Sikorsky settled on for his VS-300 was a smaller tail rotor. The tail rotor pushes or pulls against the tail to counter the torque effect, and this has become the most common configuration for helicopter design, usually at the end of a tail boom.^{[citation needed]}

Some helicopters use other anti-torque controls instead of the tail rotor, such as the ducted fan (called Fenestron or FANTAIL) and NOTAR. NOTAR provides anti-torque similar to the way a wing develops lift through the use of the Coandă effect on the tail boom.^[9]

The use of two or more horizontal rotors turning in opposite directions is another configuration used to counteract the effects of torque on the aircraft without relying on an anti-torque tail rotor. This allows the power normally required to be diverted for the tail rotor to be applied fully to the main rotors, increasing the aircraft's power efficiency and lifting capacity. There are several common configurations that use the counter-rotating effect to benefit the rotorcraft:

• Tandem rotors are two counter-rotating rotors with one mounted behind the other.^[10]
• Transverse rotors are pair of counter-rotating rotors transversely mounted at the ends of fixed wings or outrigger structures. Now used on tiltrotors, some early model helicopters had used them.
• Coaxial rotors are two counter-rotating rotors mounted one above the other with the same axis.
• Intermeshing rotors are two counter-rotating rotors mounted close to each other at a sufficient angle to let the rotors intermesh over the top of the aircraft without colliding. An aircraft utilizing this is known as a synchropter.
• Multirotors make use of three or more rotors. Specific terms are also used depending on the exact amount of rotors, such as tricopter, quadcopter, hexacopter and octocopter for three rotors, four rotors, six rotors and eight rotors respectively, of which quadcopter is the most common. Multirotors are primarily used on drones and use on aircraft with a human pilot is rare.^{[citation needed]}

Tip jet designs let the rotor push itself through the air and avoid generating torque.^[11]

The number, size and type of engine(s) used on a helicopter determines the size, function and capability of that helicopter design. The earliest helicopter engines were simple mechanical devices, such as rubber bands or spindles, which relegated the size of helicopters to toys and small models. For a half century before the first airplane flight, steam engines were used to forward the development of the understanding of helicopter aerodynamics, but the limited power did not allow for manned flight. The introduction of the internal combustion engine at the end of the 19th century became the watershed for helicopter development as engines began to be developed and produced that were powerful enough to allow for helicopters able to lift humans.^{[citation needed]}

Early helicopter designs utilized custom-built engines or rotary engines designed for airplanes, but these were soon replaced by more powerful automobile engines and radial engines. The single, most-limiting factor of helicopter development during the first half of the 20th century was that the amount of power produced by an engine was not able to overcome the engine's weight in vertical flight. This was overcome in early successful helicopters by using the smallest engines available. When the compact, flat engine was developed, the helicopter industry found a lighter-weight powerplant easily adapted to small helicopters, although radial engines continued to be used for larger helicopters.^{[citation needed]}

Turbine engines revolutionized the aviation industry; and the turboshaft engine for helicopter use, pioneered in December 1951 by the aforementioned Kaman K-225, finally gave helicopters an engine with a large amount of power and a low weight penalty. Turboshafts are also more reliable than piston engines, especially when producing the sustained high levels of power required by a helicopter. The turboshaft engine was able to be scaled to the size of the helicopter being designed, so that all but the lightest of helicopter models are powered by turbine engines today.^{[citation needed]}

Special jet engines developed to drive the rotor from the rotor tips are referred to as tip jets. Tip jets powered by a remote compressor are referred to as cold tip jets, while those powered by combustion exhaust are referred to as hot tip jets. An example of a cold jet helicopter is the Sud-Ouest Djinn, and an example of the hot tip jet helicopter is the YH-32 Hornet.^{[citation needed]}

Some radio-controlled helicopters and smaller, helicopter-type unmanned aerial vehicles, use electric motors or motorcycle engines.^[12] Radio-controlled helicopters may also have piston engines that use fuels other than gasoline, such as nitromethane. Some turbine engines commonly used in helicopters can also use biodiesel instead of jet fuel.^[13][14]

There are also human-powered helicopters.

The transmission is a mechanical system that transmits power from the engine(s) to the rotors. The transmission is a system of gears, bearings, clutches and shafts that performs several functions (1) Translates the alignment of the drive shaft to match the alignment of the rotor shafts; (2) Reduces the RPM of the drive shaft to the lower RPMs of the rotors; and (3) Enables the engine to engage or disengage from the rotors. For helicopters with tail rotors, the transmission drivetrain forks into two paths: one leading to the main rotor, and one leading to the tail rotor.^{[15]: 4-10 to 4-13 [16][17]}

The drive shafts of helicopter engines are typically not aligned with the rotor shafts, so the transmission must translate the alignment of the drive shaft to match the shafts of the rotors. Many engine drive shafts are aligned horizontally, yet the main rotor shaft ("mast") is usually vertical, and the tail rotor shaft is often perpendicular to the engine's drive shaft. The transmission contains a series of gears, usually bevel gears, that translate the alignment of the drive shaft to the alignment of the rotor shafts.^{[15]: 4–12 [18]}

The transmission also reduces the RPMs of the engine to the lower RPMs required by the rotors. The output drive shaft of the engine, before any gearing is applied, is typically between 3,000 and 50,000 RPM (turbine engines typically have higher RPM than piston engines). The main rotor typically rotates between 300 and 600 RPM. The tail rotor, if present, usually rotates between 1,000 and 5,000 RPM. (The RPMs of a given model of helicopter are usually fixed — the RPM ranges listed above represent a variety of helicopter models).^[19] The transmission contains a series of reduction gears to reduce the engine RPM to the rotor RPMs. Several types of reduction gears may be used, including bevel gears, planetary gears, helical gears, and spur gears. Most transmissions contain several reduction gears: the engine itself may contain reduction gears (often spur gears) between the engine's internal shaft and the output drive shaft; the main rotor may have a reduction gear at its base (typically a planetary gear); and there may be reduction gears at the tail rotor, and on the shaft leading to the tail rotor.^{[15]: 4–11}

The transmission often includes one or more clutches, which permit the rotors to engage or disengage from the engine. A clutch is required so the engine can start up and gain speed before taking the load of the rotors. A clutch is also required in the case of engine failure: in that situation, the rotors must disengage from the engine so that the rotors can continue spinning and perform autorotation. Helicopter clutches are usually freewheel clutches relying on centrifugal forces (sprag clutchs are commonly used), but belt drive clutches are also used.^{[15]: 4–7, 4-12 to 4-13}

A helicopter has four flight control inputs. These are the cyclic, the collective, the anti-torque foot pedals, and the throttle.

The cyclic control is usually located between the pilot's legs and is commonly called the cyclic stick or just cyclic or stick and moves forwards and backwards and side to side. On most helicopters, the cyclic is similar to a joystick. However, the Robinson R22, Robinson R44 and Robinson R66 have a unique teetering-bar cyclic control system and a few helicopters have a cyclic control that descends into the cockpit from overhead.^{[citation needed]}

The cyclic is called the cyclic because it cyclically changes the pitch of the main rotor blades. In a forward flight state, as the blades rotate, the blade rotating forward will see higher speed and a corresponding increase in lift compared to the retreating blade. As such, the angle of attack of the forward rotating blade has to be lower than the retreating blade or the helicopter will roll to the retreating blade side. This happens cyclically as the blades rotate through a complete rotation leading to the naming of this control as the cyclic. The cyclic controls this differential angle.

The cyclic controls the tilt of the rotor. In hover, the cyclic controls motion of the helicopter over the ground. In flight, the cyclic controls the pitch and roll of the helicopter.

In a hover, if the pilot pushes the cyclic forward, the rotor disk tilts forward, and the rotor produces a thrust in the forward direction. If the pilot pushes the cyclic to the side, the rotor disk tilts to that side and produces thrust in that direction, causing the helicopter to move sideways.^{[citation needed]}

Because of precession, the cyclic moves the swashplate 90 degrees before the desired main rotor tilt. This can be seen when the rotor is stopped. With the blades aligned fore/aft, moving the cyclic forward does not change the blade angle but moving the cyclic to the side will change the blade angle.

In flight, the cyclic acts like the stick in an airplane. Moving the cyclic forward pitches the nose down for more speed. Moving the cyclic aft lifts the nose to slow the aircraft. Moving the cyclic to the side rolls the helicopter in that direction which generally leads to turning in that direction, assuming coordinated flight.

The collective pitch control or collective is located on the left side of the pilot's seat with an adjustable friction control to prevent inadvertent movement freeing the pilot's left hand for other uses. The collective changes the pitch angle of all the main rotor blades collectively (i.e. all at the same time) and independently of their rotational position. Therefore, if an up collective input is made, all the blades increase angle of attack equally, and the result is additional lift (power) to the main rotor system which can increase helicopter speed or altitude.^{[citation needed]} Lowering the collective results in less lift from the main rotor system.

A swashplate controls the collective and cyclic pitch of the main blades. The swashplate moves up and down, along the main shaft, to change the pitch of the blades. The stick is connected to the swash plate through the collective and cyclic systems allowing both systems to independently control the angle of the blades.

The anti-torque pedals are located in the same position as the rudder pedals in a fixed-wing aircraft, and serve a similar purpose, namely to control the yaw or direction in which the nose of the aircraft is pointed. Application of the pedal in a given direction changes the pitch of the tail rotor blades, increasing or reducing the thrust produced by the tail rotor and causing the nose to yaw in the direction of the applied pedal. The pedals mechanically change the pitch of the tail rotor altering the amount of thrust produced.^{[citation needed]} Helicopters do not exhibit adverse yaw as seen in airplanes and the pedals are not generally required when turning in forward flight. Use of the pedals is closely related to the collective in hover. For example, increasing collective increases aerodynamic drag on the main rotor system causing a yaw of the helicopter. The pedals are used to counter that yaw.

Both the cyclic and collective can have a wide variety of toggles and switches available to the pilot to control such things as aerodynamic trim, engine speed trim, radio and intercom, hook release, water release, etc. This allows the pilot to control these functions without removing their hands from the controls.

Helicopter rotors are designed to operate in a narrow range of RPM.^{[20][21][22][23][19]} The throttle controls the power produced by the engine, which is connected to the rotor by a fixed ratio transmission. The purpose of the throttle is to maintain enough engine power to keep the rotor RPM within allowable limits so that the rotor produces enough lift for flight. The throttle control is a motorcycle-style twist grip mounted on the collective control.

A compound helicopter has an additional system for thrust and, typically, small stub fixed wings. This offloads the rotor in cruise, which allows its rotation to be slowed down, thus increasing the maximum speed of the aircraft. The Lockheed AH-56A Cheyenne diverted up to 90% of its engine power to a pusher propeller during forward flight.^[24]

There are three basic flight conditions for a helicopter: hover, forward flight and the transition between the two.

Hovering is the most challenging part of flying a helicopter. Required are constant control inputs and corrections by the pilot to keep the helicopter where it is required to be.^[25] Despite the complexity of the task, the control inputs in a hover are simple. The cyclic is used to eliminate drift in the horizontal plane, that is to control forward and back, right and left. The collective is used to maintain altitude. The pedals are used to control nose direction or heading. It is the interaction of these controls that makes hovering so difficult, since an adjustment in any one control requires an adjustment of the other two, creating a cycle of constant correction.^{[citation needed]} In addition, the center of lift of the main rotor system is significantly above the center of gravity (CG) of the helicopter. Thus, any lateral perturbation of the helicopter in a hover will tend to increase as the rotor lift will increasingly roll or pitch the helicopter in a positive-feedback rotor-lift versus helicopter CG situation. The lateral motion of the helicopter lags behind the roll induced by the rotor lift side vector which will lead an inexperienced pilot into a pilot induced oscillation (PIO) and eventual loss of control.

A hovering helicopter is surrounded by a vortex of air pushing the helicopter down. This can be a hover in ground effect or out of ground effect. Thus, when in a hover, the engine needs to provide enough power to both counter helicopter weight as well as counter this downward flow of air into the rotor system. As a helicopter moves from hover to forward flight it flies out of this downward flowing vortex and enters a state called translational lift which provides extra lift without increasing power. This state, most typically, occurs when the airspeed reaches approximately 16–24 knots (30–44 km/h; 18–28 mph), and may be necessary for a helicopter to obtain flight.^{[citation needed]} A maneuver called a running take off involves sliding the helicopter on the ground at increasing speed until sufficient lift is achieved for flight.

In forward flight a helicopter's flight controls behave more like those of a fixed-wing aircraft. Applying forward pressure on the cyclic will cause the nose to pitch down, with a resultant increase in airspeed and loss of altitude. Aft cyclic will cause the nose to pitch up, slowing the helicopter and causing it to climb. Increasing collective (power) while maintaining a constant airspeed will induce a climb while decreasing collective will cause a descent. Coordinating these two inputs, down collective plus aft cyclic or up collective plus forward cyclic, will result in airspeed changes while maintaining a constant altitude. Helicopters do not exhibit adverse yaw and the pedals are not generally needed for forward flight, even when turning.

If the engine fails or is disconnected from the rotor system, the helicopter will enter an autorotation, where the helicopter's main rotor turns due to air moving up through the rotor, instead of engine power driving the rotor.

Due to the operating characteristics of the helicopter—its ability to take off and land vertically, and to hover for extended periods of time, as well as the aircraft's handling properties under low airspeed conditions—it has proved advantageous to conduct tasks that were previously not possible with other aircraft, or were time- or work-intensive to accomplish on the ground. Today, helicopter uses include transportation of people and cargo, military uses, construction, firefighting, search and rescue, tourism, medical transport, law enforcement, agriculture, news and media, and aerial observation, among others.^[26]

A helicopter used to carry loads connected to long cables or slings is called an aerial crane. Aerial cranes are used to place heavy equipment, like radio transmission towers and large air conditioning units, on the tops of tall buildings, or when an item must be raised up in a remote area, such as a radio tower raised on the top of a hill or mountain. Helicopters are used as aerial cranes in the logging industry to lift trees out of terrain where vehicles cannot travel and where environmental concerns prohibit the building of roads.^[27] These operations are referred to as longline because of the long, single sling line used to carry the load.^[28] In military service helicopters are often useful for delivery of outsized slung loads that would not fit inside ordinary cargo aircraft: artillery pieces, large machinery (field radars, communications gear, electrical generators), or pallets of bulk cargo. In military operations these payloads are often delivered to remote locations made inaccessible by mountainous or riverine terrain, or naval vessels at sea.^{[citation needed]}

In electronic news gathering, helicopters have provided aerial views of some major news stories, and have been doing so, from the late 1960s. Helicopters have also been used in films, both in front and behind the camera.^[29]

The largest single non-combat helicopter operation in history was the disaster management operation following the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster. Hundreds of pilots were involved in airdrop and observation missions, making dozens of sorties a day for several months.^{[citation needed]}

"Helitack" is the use of helicopters to combat wildland fires.^[30] The helicopters are used for aerial firefighting (water bombing) and may be fitted with tanks or carry helibuckets. Helibuckets, such as the Bambi bucket, are usually filled by submerging the bucket into lakes, rivers, reservoirs, or portable tanks. Tanks fitted onto helicopters are filled from a hose while the helicopter is on the ground or water is siphoned from lakes or reservoirs through a hanging snorkel as the helicopter hovers over the water source. Helitack helicopters are also used to deliver firefighters, who rappel down to inaccessible areas, and to resupply firefighters. Common firefighting helicopters include variants of the Bell 205 and the Erickson S-64 Aircrane helitanker.^{[citation needed]}

Helicopters are used as air ambulances for emergency medical assistance in situations when an ambulance cannot easily or quickly reach the scene, or cannot transport the patient to a medical facility in time. Helicopters are also used when patients need to be transported between medical facilities and air transportation is the most practical method. An air ambulance helicopter is equipped to stabilize and provide limited medical treatment to a patient while in flight. The use of helicopters as air ambulances is often referred to as "MEDEVAC", and patients are referred to as being "airlifted", or "medevaced". This use was pioneered in the Korean War, when time to reach a medical facility was reduced to three hours from the eight hours needed in World War II, and further reduced to two hours by the Vietnam War.^[31] In naval service a prime function of rescue helicopters is to promptly retrieve downed aircrew involved in crashes occurring upon launch or recovery aboard aircraft carriers. In past years this function was performed by destroyers escorting the carrier, but since then helicopters have proved vastly more effective.^{[citation needed]}

Police departments and other law enforcement agencies use helicopters to pursue suspects and patrol the skies. Since helicopters can achieve a unique aerial view, they are often used in conjunction with police on the ground to report on suspects' locations and movements. They are often mounted with lighting and heat-sensing equipment for night pursuits.

Military forces use attack helicopters to conduct aerial attacks on ground targets. Such helicopters are mounted with missile launchers and miniguns. Transport helicopters are used to ferry troops and supplies where the lack of an airstrip would make transport via fixed-wing aircraft impossible. The use of transport helicopters to deliver troops as an attack force on an objective is referred to as "air assault". Unmanned aerial systems (UAS) helicopter systems of varying sizes are developed by companies for military reconnaissance and surveillance duties. Naval forces also use helicopters equipped with dipping sonar for anti-submarine warfare, since they can operate from small ships.^{[citation needed]}

Oil companies charter helicopters to move workers and parts quickly to remote drilling sites located at sea or in remote locations. The speed advantage over boats makes the high operating cost of helicopters cost-effective in ensuring that oil platforms continue to operate. Various companies specialize in this type of operation.^{[citation needed]}

NASA developed Ingenuity, a 1.8 kg (4.0 lb) helicopter used to survey Mars (along with a rover). It began service in February 2021 and was retired due to sustained rotor blade damage in January 2024 after 73 sorties. As the Martian atmosphere is 100 times thinner than Earth's, its two blades spin at close to 3,000 revolutions a minute, approximately 10 times faster than that of a terrestrial helicopter.^[32]

In 2017, 926 civil helicopters were shipped for $3.68 billion, led by Airbus Helicopters with $1.87 billion for 369 rotorcraft, Leonardo Helicopters with $806 million for 102 (first three-quarters only), Bell Helicopter with $696 million for 132, then Robinson Helicopter with $161 million for 305.^[33]

By October 2018, the in-service and stored helicopter fleet of 38,570 with civil or government operators was led by Robinson Helicopter with 24.7% followed by Airbus Helicopters with 24.4%, then Bell with 20.5 and Leonardo with 8.4%, Russian Helicopters with 7.7%, Sikorsky Aircraft with 7.2%, MD Helicopters with 3.4% and other with 2.2%. The most widespread model is the piston Robinson R44 with 5,600, then the H125/AS350 with 3,600 units, followed by the Bell 206 with 3,400. Most were in North America with 34.3% then in Europe with 28.0% followed by Asia-Pacific with 18.6%, Latin America with 11.6%, Africa with 5.3% and Middle East with 1.7%.^[34]

The earliest references for vertical flight came from China. Since around 400 BC,^[35] Chinese children have played with bamboo flying toys (or Chinese top).^[36][37][38] This bamboo-copter is spun by rolling a stick attached to a rotor. The spinning creates lift, and the toy flies when released.^[35] The 4th-century AD Daoist book Baopuzi by Ge Hong (抱朴子 "Master who Embraces Simplicity") reportedly describes some of the ideas inherent to rotary wing aircraft.^[39]

Designs similar to the Chinese helicopter toy appeared in some Renaissance paintings and other works.^[40] In the 18th and early 19th centuries Western scientists developed flying machines based on the Chinese toy.^[41]

It was not until the early 1480s, when Italian polymath Leonardo da Vinci created a design for a machine that could be described as an "aerial screw", that any recorded advancement was made towards vertical flight. His notes suggested that he built small flying models, but there were no indications for any provision to stop the rotor from making the craft rotate.^[42][43] As scientific knowledge increased and became more accepted, people continued to pursue the idea of vertical flight.^{[citation needed]}

In July 1754, Russian Mikhail Lomonosov had developed a small coaxial modeled after the Chinese top but powered by a wound-up spring device^[41] and demonstrated it to the Russian Academy of Sciences. It was powered by a spring, and was suggested as a method to lift meteorological instruments. In 1783, Christian de Launoy, and his mechanic, Bienvenu, used a coaxial version of the Chinese top in a model consisting of contrarotating turkey flight feathers^[41] as rotor blades, and in 1784, demonstrated it to the French Academy of Sciences. Sir George Cayley, influenced by a childhood fascination with the Chinese flying top, developed a model of feathers, similar to that of Launoy and Bienvenu, but powered by rubber bands. By the end of the century, he had progressed to using sheets of tin for rotor blades and springs for power. His writings on his experiments and models would become influential on future aviation pioneers.^[42] Alphonse Pénaud would later develop coaxial rotor model helicopter toys in 1870, also powered by rubber bands. One of these toys, given as a gift by their father, would inspire the Wright brothers to pursue the dream of flight.^[44]

In 1861, the word "helicopter" was coined by Gustave de Ponton d'Amécourt, a French inventor who demonstrated a small steam-powered model. While celebrated as an innovative use of a new metal, aluminum, the model never lifted off the ground. D'Amecourt's linguistic contribution would survive to eventually describe the vertical flight he had envisioned. Steam power was popular with other inventors as well. In 1877, the Italian engineer, inventor and aeronautical pioneer Enrico Forlanini developed an unmanned helicopter powered by a steam engine. It rose to a height of 13 meters (43 feet), where it remained for 20 seconds, after a vertical take-off from a park in Milan.^[45] Milan has dedicated its city airport to Enrico Forlanini, also named Linate Airport,^[46] as well as the nearby park, the Parco Forlanini.^[47] Emmanuel Dieuaide's steam-powered design featured counter-rotating rotors powered through a hose from a boiler on the ground.^[42] In 1887 Parisian inventor, Gustave Trouvé, built and flew a tethered electric model helicopter.^{[citation needed]}

In July 1901, the maiden flight of Hermann Ganswindt's helicopter took place in Berlin-Schöneberg; this was probably the first heavier-than-air motor-driven flight carrying humans. A movie covering the event was taken by Max Skladanowsky, but it remains lost.^[48]

In 1885, Thomas Edison was given US$1,000 (equivalent to $35,000 today) by James Gordon Bennett, Jr., to conduct experiments towards developing flight. Edison built a helicopter and used the paper for a stock ticker to create guncotton, with which he attempted to power an internal combustion engine. The helicopter was damaged by explosions and one of his workers was badly burned. Edison reported that it would take a motor with a ratio of three to four pounds per horsepower produced to be successful, based on his experiments.^[49] Ján Bahýľ, a Slovak inventor, adapted the internal combustion engine to power his helicopter model that reached a height of 0.5 meters (1.6 feet) in 1901. On 5 May 1905, his helicopter reached 4 meters (13 feet) in altitude and flew for over 1,500 meters (4,900 feet).^[50] In 1908, Edison patented his own design for a helicopter powered by a gasoline engine with box kites attached to a mast by cables for a rotor,^[51] but it never flew.^[52]

In 1906, two French brothers, Jacques and Louis Breguet, began experimenting with airfoils for helicopters. In 1907, those experiments resulted in the Gyroplane No.1, possibly as the earliest known example of a quadcopter. Although there is some uncertainty about the date, sometime between 14 August and 29 September 1907, the Gyroplane No. 1 lifted its pilot into the air about 0.6 metres (2 ft) for a minute.^[53][54] The Gyroplane No. 1 proved to be extremely unsteady and required a man at each corner of the airframe to hold it steady. For this reason, the flights of the Gyroplane No. 1 are considered to be the first manned flight of a helicopter, but not a free or untethered flight.^{[citation needed]}

That same year, fellow French inventor Paul Cornu designed and built the Cornu helicopter which used two 6.1-metre (20 ft) counter-rotating rotors driven by a 24 hp (18 kW) Antoinette engine. On 13 November 1907, it lifted its inventor to 0.3 metres (1 ft) and remained aloft for 20 seconds. Even though this flight did not surpass the flight of the Gyroplane No. 1, it was reported to be the first truly free flight with a pilot.^{[n 1]} Cornu's helicopter completed a few more flights and achieved a height of nearly 2.0 metres (6.5 ft), but it proved to be unstable and was abandoned.^[53]

In 1909, J. Newton Williams of Derby, Connecticut, and Emile Berliner of Washington, D.C., flew a helicopter "on three occasions" at Berliner's lab in Washington's Brightwood neighborhood.^[55]

In 1911, Slovenian philosopher and economist Ivan Slokar patented a helicopter configuration.^[56][57][58]

The Danish inventor Jacob Ellehammer built the Ellehammer helicopter in 1912. It consisted of a frame equipped with two counter-rotating discs, each of which was fitted with six vanes around its circumference. After indoor tests, the aircraft was demonstrated outdoors and made several free take-offs. Experiments with the helicopter continued until September 1916, when it tipped over during take-off, destroying its rotors.^[59]

During World War I, Austria-Hungary developed the PKZ, an experimental helicopter prototype, with two aircraft built.^{[citation needed]}

In the early 1920s, Argentine Raúl Pateras-Pescara de Castelluccio, while working in Europe, demonstrated one of the first successful applications of cyclic pitch.^[53] Coaxial, contra-rotating, biplane rotors could be warped to cyclically increase and decrease the lift they produced. The rotor hub could also be tilted forward a few degrees, allowing the aircraft to move forward without a separate propeller to push or pull it. Pateras-Pescara was also able to demonstrate the principle of autorotation. By January 1924, Pescara's helicopter No. 1 was tested but was found to be underpowered and could not lift its own weight. His 2F fared better and set a record.^[60] The British government funded further research by Pescara which resulted in helicopter No. 3, powered by a 250-horsepower (190 kW) radial engine which could fly for up to ten minutes.^[61][62]

In March 1923 Time magazine reported Thomas Edison sent George de Bothezat a congratulations for a successful helicopter test flight. Edison wrote, "So far as I know, you have produced the first successful helicopter." The helicopter was tested at McCook's Field and remained airborne for 2 minutes and 45 seconds at a height of 15 feet.^[63]

On 14 April 1924, Frenchman Étienne Oehmichen set the first helicopter world record recognized by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI), flying his quadrotor helicopter 360 meters (1,180 ft).^[64] On 18 April 1924, Pescara beat Oemichen's record, flying for a distance of 736 meters (2,415 ft)^[60] (nearly 0.80 kilometers or .5 miles) in 4 minutes and 11 seconds (about 13 km/h or 8 mph), maintaining a height of 1.8 meters (6 feet).^[65] On 4 May, Oehmichen completed the first one-kilometer (0.62 mi) closed-circuit helicopter flight in 7 minutes 40 seconds with his No. 2 machine.^[53][66]

In the US, George de Bothezat built the quadrotor helicopter de Bothezat helicopter for the United States Army Air Service but the Army cancelled the program in 1924, and the aircraft was scrapped.^{[citation needed]}

Albert Gillis von Baumhauer, a Dutch aeronautical engineer, began studying rotorcraft design in 1923. His first prototype "flew" ("hopped" and hovered in reality) on 24 September 1925,^[67] with Dutch Army-Air arm Captain Floris Albert van Heijst at the controls. The controls that van Heijst used were von Baumhauer's inventions, the cyclic and collective.^[68][69] Patents were granted to von Baumhauer for his cyclic and collective controls by the British ministry of aviation on 31 January 1927, under patent number 265,272.^{[citation needed]}

In 1927,^[70] Engelbert Zaschka from Germany built a helicopter, equipped with two rotors, in which a gyroscope was used to increase stability and serves as an energy accumulator for a gliding flight to make a landing. Zaschka's aircraft, the first helicopter, which ever worked so successfully in miniature, not only rises and descends vertically, but is able to remain stationary at any height.^[71][72]

In 1928, Hungarian aviation engineer Oszkár Asbóth constructed a helicopter prototype that took off and landed at least 182 times, with a maximum single flight duration of 53 minutes.^[73][74]

In 1930, the Italian engineer Corradino D'Ascanio built his D'AT3, a coaxial helicopter. His relatively large machine had two, two-bladed, counter-rotating rotors. Control was achieved by using auxiliary wings or servo-tabs on the trailing edges of the blades,^[75] a concept that was later adopted by other helicopter designers, including Bleeker and Kaman. Three small propellers mounted to the airframe were used for additional pitch, roll, and yaw control. The D'AT3 held modest FAI speed and altitude records for the time, including altitude (18 m or 59 ft), duration (8 minutes 45 seconds) and distance flown (1,078 m or 3,540 ft).^[75][76]

Spanish aeronautical engineer and pilot Juan de la Cierva invented the autogyro in the early 1920s, becoming the first practical rotorcraft.^[77] In 1928, de la Cierva successfully flew an autogyro across the English Channel, from London to Paris.^[78] In 1934, an autogyro became the first rotorcraft to successfully take off and land on the deck of a ship.^[79] That same year, the autogyro was employed by the Spanish military during the Asturias revolt, becoming the first military deployment of a rotocraft. Autogyros were also employed in New Jersey and Pennsylvania for delivering mail and newspapers prior to the invention of the helicopter.^[80] Though lacking true vertical flight capability, work on the autogyro forms the basis for helicopter analysis.^[81]

In the Soviet Union, Boris N. Yuriev and Alexei M. Cheremukhin, two aeronautical engineers working at the Tsentralniy Aerogidrodinamicheskiy Institut (TsAGI or the Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute), constructed and flew the TsAGI 1-EA single lift-rotor helicopter, which used an open tubing framework, a four-blade main lift rotor, and twin sets of 1.8-meter (5.9-foot) diameter, two-bladed anti-torque rotors: one set of two at the nose and one set of two at the tail. Powered by two M-2 powerplants, up-rated copies of the Gnome Monosoupape 9 Type B-2 100 CV output rotary engine of World War I, the TsAGI 1-EA made several low altitude flights.^[82] By 14 August 1932, Cheremukhin managed to get the 1-EA up to an unofficial altitude of 605 meters (1,985 feet), shattering d'Ascanio's earlier achievement. As the Soviet Union was not yet a member of the FAI, however, Cheremukhin's record remained unrecognized.^[83]

Nicolas Florine, a Russian engineer, built the first twin tandem rotor machine to perform a free flight. It flew in Sint-Genesius-Rode, at the Laboratoire Aérotechnique de Belgique (now von Karman Institute) in April 1933, and attained an altitude of six meters (20 feet) and an endurance of eight minutes. Florine chose a co-rotating configuration because the gyroscopic stability of the rotors would not cancel. Therefore, the rotors had to be tilted slightly in opposite directions to counter torque. Using hingeless rotors and co-rotation also minimised the stress on the hull. At the time, it was one of the most stable helicopters in existence.^[84]

The Bréguet-Dorand Gyroplane Laboratoire was built in 1933. It was a coaxial helicopter, contra-rotating. After many ground tests and an accident, it first took flight on 26 June 1935. Within a short time, the aircraft was setting records with pilot Maurice Claisse at the controls. On 14 December 1935, he set a record for closed-circuit flight with a 500-meter (1,600-foot) diameter.^[85] The next year, on 26 September 1936, Claisse set a height record of 158 meters (518 feet).^[86] And, finally, on 24 November 1936, he set a flight duration record of one hour, two minutes and 50 seconds^[87] over a 44 kilometers (27 miles) closed circuit at 44.7 kilometres per hour (27.8 mph). The aircraft was destroyed in 1943 by an Allied airstrike at Villacoublay airport.^[88]

American inventor Arthur M. Young started work on model helicopters in 1928 using converted electric hover motors to drive the rotor head. Young invented the stabilizer bar and patented it shortly after. A mutual friend introduced Young to Lawrence Dale, who once seeing his work asked him to join the Bell Aircraft company. When Young arrived at Bell in 1941, he signed his patent over and began work on the helicopter. His budget was US$250,000 (equivalent to $5.3 million today) to build two working helicopters. In just six months they completed the first Bell Model 1, which spawned the Bell Model 30, later succeeded by the Bell 47.^[89]

Heinrich Focke at Focke-Wulf had purchased a license from Cierva Autogiro Company, which according to Frank Kingston Smith Sr., included "the fully controllable cyclic/collective pitch hub system". In return, Cierva Autogiro received a cross-license to build the Focke-Achgelis helicopters. Focke designed the world's first practical helicopter, the transverse twin-rotor Focke-Wulf Fw 61, which first flew in June 1936. It was demonstrated by Hanna Reitsch in February 1938 inside the Deutschlandhalle in Berlin.^[90] The Fw 61 set a number of FAI records from 1937 to 1939, including: maximum altitude of 3,427 metres (11,243 ft), maximum distance of 230 kilometres (140 mi), and maximum speed of 124 kilometres per hour (77 mph).^[91] Autogiro development was now being bypassed by a focus on helicopters.^[92]

During World War II, Nazi Germany used helicopters in small numbers for observation, transport, and medical evacuation. The Flettner Fl 282 Kolibri synchropter—using the same basic configuration as Anton Flettner's own pioneering Fl 265—was used in the Baltic, Mediterranean, and Aegean Seas.^[93] The Focke-Achgelis Fa 223 Drache, like the Fw 61, used two transverse rotors, and was the largest rotorcraft of the war.^[94] Extensive bombing by the Allied forces prevented Germany from producing helicopters in large quantities during the war.

In the United States, Russian-born engineer Igor Sikorsky and Wynn Laurence LePage competed to produce the U.S. military's first helicopter. LePage received the patent rights to develop helicopters patterned after the Fw 61, and built the XR-1^[95] in 1941. Meanwhile, Sikorsky settled on a simpler, single-rotor design, the VS-300 of 1939, which turned out to be the first practical single lifting-rotor helicopter design. After experimenting with configurations to counteract the torque produced by the single main rotor, Sikorsky settled on a single, smaller rotor mounted on the tail boom.^{[citation needed]}

Developed from the VS-300, Sikorsky's R-4 of 1942 was the first large-scale mass-produced helicopter, with a production order for 100 aircraft. The R-4 was the only Allied helicopter to serve in World War II, used primarily for search and rescue (by the USAAF 1st Air Commando Group) in the Burma campaign;^[96] in Alaska; and in other areas with harsh terrain. Total production reached 131 helicopters before the R-4 was replaced by other Sikorsky helicopters such as the R-5 and the R-6. In all, Sikorsky produced over 400 helicopters before the end of World War II.^[97]

While LePage and Sikorsky built their helicopters for the military, Bell Aircraft hired Arthur Young to help build a helicopter using Young's two-blade teetering rotor design, which used a weighted stabilizer bar placed at a 90° angle to the rotor blades. The subsequent Model 30 helicopter of 1943 showed the design's simplicity and ease of use. The Model 30 was developed into the Bell 47 of 1945, which became the first helicopter certified for civilian use in the United States (March 1946). Produced in several countries, the Bell 47 was the most popular helicopter model for nearly 30 years.^{[citation needed]}

In 1951, at the urging of his contacts at the Department of the Navy, Charles Kaman modified his K-225 synchropter—a design for a twin-rotor helicopter concept first pioneered by Anton Flettner in 1939, with the aforementioned Fl 265 piston-engined design in Germany—with a new kind of engine, the turboshaft engine. This adaptation of the turbine engine provided a large amount of power to Kaman's helicopter with a lower weight penalty than piston engines, with their heavy engine blocks and auxiliary components. On 11 December 1951, the Kaman K-225 became the first turbine-powered helicopter in the world. Two years later, on 26 March 1954, a modified Navy HTK-1, another Kaman helicopter, became the first twin-turbine helicopter to fly.^[98] However, it was the Sud Aviation Alouette II that would become the first helicopter to be produced with a turbine-engine.^[99]

Reliable helicopters capable of stable hover flight were developed decades after fixed-wing aircraft. This is largely due to higher engine power density requirements than fixed-wing aircraft. Improvements in fuels and engines during the first half of the 20th century were a critical factor in helicopter development. The availability of lightweight turboshaft engines in the second half of the 20th century led to the development of larger, faster, and higher-performance helicopters. While smaller and less expensive helicopters still use piston engines, turboshaft engines are the preferred powerplant for helicopters today.^{[citation needed]}

There are several reasons a helicopter cannot fly as fast as a fixed-wing aircraft. When the helicopter is hovering, the outer tips of the rotor travel at a speed determined by the length of the blade and the rotational speed. In a moving helicopter, however, the speed of the blades relative to the air depends on the speed of the helicopter as well as on their rotational speed. The airspeed of the advancing rotor blade is much higher than that of the helicopter itself. It is possible for this blade to exceed the speed of sound, and thus produce vastly increased drag and vibration.^{[citation needed]}

At the same time, the advancing blade creates more lift traveling forward, the retreating blade produces less lift. If the aircraft were to accelerate to the air speed that the blade tips are spinning, the retreating blade passes through air moving at the same speed of the blade and produces no lift at all, resulting in very high torque stresses on the central shaft that can tip down the retreating-blade side of the vehicle, and cause a loss of control. Dual counter-rotating blades prevent this situation due to having two advancing and two retreating blades with balanced forces.^{[citation needed]}

Because the advancing blade has higher airspeed than the retreating blade and generates a dissymmetry of lift, rotor blades are designed to "flap" – lift and twist in such a way that the advancing blade flaps up and develops a smaller angle of attack. Conversely, the retreating blade flaps down, develops a higher angle of attack, and generates more lift. At high speeds, the force on the rotors is such that they "flap" excessively, and the retreating blade can reach too high an angle and stall. For this reason, the maximum safe forward airspeed of a helicopter is given a design rating called V_NE, velocity, never exceed.^[100] In addition, it is possible for the helicopter to fly at an airspeed where an excessive amount of the retreating blade stalls, which results in high vibration, pitch-up, and roll into the retreating blade.^{[citation needed]}

At the end of the 20th century, designers began working on helicopter noise reduction. Urban communities have often expressed great dislike of noisy aviation or noisy aircraft, and police and passenger helicopters can be unpopular because of the sound. The redesigns followed the closure of some city heliports and government action to constrain flight paths in national parks and other places of natural beauty.^{[citation needed]}

To reduce vibration, all helicopters have rotor adjustments for height and weight. A maladjusted helicopter can easily vibrate so much that it will shake itself apart. Blade height is adjusted by changing the pitch of the blade. Weight is adjusted by adding or removing weights on the rotor head and/or at the blade end caps. Most also have vibration dampers for height and pitch. Some also use mechanical feedback systems to sense and counter vibration. Usually the feedback system uses a mass as a "stable reference" and a linkage from the mass operates a flap to adjust the rotor's angle of attack to counter the vibration. Adjustment can be difficult in part because measurement of the vibration is hard, usually requiring sophisticated accelerometers mounted throughout the airframe and gearboxes. The most common blade vibration adjustment measurement system is to use a stroboscopic flash lamp, and observe painted markings or coloured reflectors on the underside of the rotor blades. The traditional low-tech system is to mount coloured chalk on the rotor tips, and see how they mark a linen sheet. Health and Usage Monitoring Systems (HUMS) provide vibration monitoring and rotor track and balance solutions to limit vibration.^[101] Gearbox vibration most often requires a gearbox overhaul or replacement. Gearbox or drive train vibrations can be extremely harmful to a pilot. The most severe effects are pain, numbness, and loss of tactile discrimination or dexterity.^{[citation needed]}

For a standard helicopter with a single main rotor, the tips of the main rotor blades produce a vortex ring in the air, which is a spiraling and circularly rotating airflow. As the craft moves forward, these vortices trail off behind the craft.^{[citation needed]}

When hovering with a forward diagonal crosswind, or moving in a forward diagonal direction, the spinning vortices trailing off the main rotor blades will align with the rotation of the tail rotor and cause an instability in flight control.^[102]

When the trailing vortices colliding with the tail rotor are rotating in the same direction, this causes a loss of thrust from the tail rotor. When the trailing vortices rotate in the opposite direction of the tail rotor, thrust is increased. Use of the foot pedals is required to adjust the tail rotor's angle of attack, to compensate for these instabilities.^{[citation needed]}

These issues are due to the exposed tail rotor cutting through open air around the rear of the vehicle. This issue disappears when the tail is instead ducted, using an internal impeller enclosed in the tail and a jet of high pressure air sideways out of the tail, as the main rotor vortices can not impact the operation of an internal impeller.^{[citation needed]}

For a standard helicopter with a single main rotor, maintaining steady flight with a crosswind presents an additional flight control problem, where strong crosswinds from certain angles will increase or decrease lift from the main rotors. This effect is also triggered in a no-wind condition when moving the craft diagonally in various directions, depending on the direction of main rotor rotation.^[103]

This can lead to a loss of control and a crash or hard landing when operating at low altitudes, due to the sudden unexpected loss of lift, and insufficient time and distance available to recover.^{[citation needed]}

Conventional rotary-wing aircraft use a set of complex mechanical gearboxes to convert the high rotation speed of gas turbines into the low speed required to drive main and tail rotors. Unlike powerplants, mechanical gearboxes cannot be duplicated (for redundancy) and have always been a major weak point in helicopter reliability. In-flight catastrophic gear failures often result in gearbox jamming and subsequent fatalities, whereas loss of lubrication can trigger onboard fire.^{[citation needed]} Another weakness of mechanical gearboxes is their transient power limitation, due to structural fatigue limits. Recent EASA studies point to engines and transmissions as prime cause of crashes just after pilot errors.^[104]

By contrast, electromagnetic transmissions do not use any parts in contact; hence lubrication can be drastically simplified, or eliminated. Their inherent redundancy offers good resilience to single point of failure. The absence of gears enables high power transient without impact on service life. The concept of electric propulsion applied to helicopter and electromagnetic drive was brought to reality by Pascal Chretien who designed, built and flew world's first man-carrying, free-flying electric helicopter. The concept was taken from the conceptual computer-aided design model on 10 September 2010 to the first testing at 30% power on 1 March 2011 – less than six months. The aircraft first flew on 12 August 2011. All development was conducted in Venelles, France.^[105][106]

In addition to regulatory measures, helicopter operators are also supported by voluntary safety teams that analyze accident data and promote specific countermeasures. In the United States, for example, the U.S. Helicopter Safety Team (USHST) publishes accident reviews and safety enhancements that address issues such as loss of control in flight, inadvertent flight into instrument meteorological conditions (IIMC), and low-altitude operations, encouraging improvements in training, operational decision-making, and the use of safety-enhancing technologies.^[107][108]

As with any moving vehicle, unsafe operation could result in loss of control, structural damage, or loss of life. The following is a list of some of the potential hazards for helicopters:

• Settling with power is when the aircraft has insufficient power to arrest its descent. This hazard can develop into vortex ring state if not corrected early.^[109]
• Vortex ring state is a hazard induced by a combination of low airspeed, high power setting, and high descent rate. Rotor-tip vortices circulate from the high pressure air below the rotor disk to low pressure air above the disk, so that the helicopter settles into its own descending airflow.^[109] Adding more power increases the rate of air circulation and aggravates the situation. It is sometimes confused with settling with power, but they are aerodynamically different.
• Retreating blade stall is experienced during high speed flight and is the most common limiting factor of a helicopter's forward speed.
• Ground resonance is a self-reinforcing vibration that occurs when the lead/lag spacing of the blades of an articulated rotor system becomes irregular.
• Low-G condition is an abrupt change from a positive G-force state to a negative G-force state that results in loss of lift (unloaded disc) and subsequent roll over. If aft cyclic is applied while the disc is unloaded, the main rotor could strike the tail causing catastrophic failure.^[110]
• Dynamic rollover in which the helicopter pivots around one of the skids and 'pulls' itself onto its side (almost like a fixed-wing aircraft ground loop).
• Powertrain failures, especially those that occur within the shaded area of the height–velocity diagram.
• Tail rotor failures which occur from either a mechanical malfunction of the tail rotor control system or a loss of tail rotor thrust authority, called "loss of tail-rotor effectiveness" (LTE).
• Brownout in dusty conditions or whiteout in snowy conditions.
• Low rotor RPM, is when the engine cannot drive the blades at sufficient RPM to maintain flight.
• Rotor overspeed, which can over-stress the rotor hub pitch bearings (brinelling) and, if severe enough, cause blade separation from the aircraft.
• Wire and tree strikes due to low altitude operations and take-offs and landings in remote locations.^[111]
• Controlled flight into terrain in which the aircraft is flown into the ground unintentionally due to a lack of situational awareness.
• Mast bumping in some helicopters^[112]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Helicopters.

Look up helicopter in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• "Helicopterpage.com – How Helicopters Work" Complete site explaining different aspects of helicopters and how they work.
• "Planes That Go Straight Up". 1935 article about early development and research into helicopters.
• "Flights — of the Imagination". 1918 article on helicopter design concepts.
• "Twin Windmill Blades Fly Wingless Ship" Popular Mechanics, April 1936
• Silent (Russian-language intertitled) video about the Cheremukhin/Yuriev TsAGI 1-EA pioneer helicopter
• American Helicopter Society
• U.S. Helicopter Safety Team
• Helicopter Safety Enhancements
• Graham Warwick (17 June 2016). "How The Helicopter Has Developed". Aviation Week & Space Technology. Getting from idea to reality took far longer for the helicopter than for the fixed-wing aircraft.