PILOTS have a tough job keeping helicopters hovering over one spot during
rescue missions at sea. Now a system being developed in Germany could make
maintaining a hovering position a matter of simply pushing a button, no matter
how bad the weather.
Even when helicopters are moving forward, they are more difficult to control
than fixed-wing aircraft. Keeping them in a steady hover while trying to pluck a
survivor from the sea is an even bigger challenge. Pilots need a fixed reference
point to lock onto, says Henrik Oertel of the Institute of Flight Mechanics at
the German Aerospace Center…
