3 ms·

When you say 'gain more mass,' do you mean the inertia from the rotor speed? I would think the more rotors you have, the slower each can spin? Is it possible th

• falcolas 9y ago
  Intertia from both mass and speed (larger props tend to spin more slowly, at least in part to keep the tips sub-sonic). Traditional multi-rotors, like the one featured in this article, maneuver by quickly changing the speed of the props with respect to the other props to change the attitude of the craft. The larger the prop, and thus the greater the inertia, the harder it is to quickly change the rotational velocity of those rotors. Which is why helicopters tend to use variable pitch props, since they can alter the lift (and rotational force) generated by the prop without having to change the velocity. Well, that and variable pitch props let you create differential lift (such as tilting the helicopter into forward flight) with a single rotor as well. :)