# Fun with shutter speeds and a helicopter **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 13, 2008, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-shutter-speeds-and-a-helicopter/476996 "2008-12-13T06:21:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-shutter-speeds-and-a-helicopter/476996/1 "2008-12-13T06:21:14Z")
[Just thought I’d share](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Isi2cwJsp4). 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-shutter-speeds-and-a-helicopter/476996/2 "2008-12-13T06:38:13Z")
Very cool! ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-shutter-speeds-and-a-helicopter/476996/3 "2008-12-13T06:50:34Z")
Lots of fun that. I tells ya and I tells ya, helicopters are magic, they make no sense. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-shutter-speeds-and-a-helicopter/476996/4 "2008-12-13T07:02:37Z")
> [@GusNSpot](#): > > Lots of fun that. I tells ya and I tells ya, helicopters are magic, they make no sense. 😉 Seriously. I flew in one for three years and I’m still not completely sure how they work. I’m going with pixie dust. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-shutter-speeds-and-a-helicopter/476996/5 "2008-12-13T10:17:35Z")
It’s a Hind. The helicopter so ugly it repels the ground. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-shutter-speeds-and-a-helicopter/476996/6 "2008-12-13T14:30:59Z")
Or the Earth repels it. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-shutter-speeds-and-a-helicopter/476996/7 "2008-12-13T14:43:54Z")
Even more fun are the comments below that video. “um that’s a Russian hind, it was made in the late 70’s, its not new with jet boosters. and its so obvious that its a toy on a string with background sounds, because if it was real, why would the Russians risk wasting a multi million dollar gunship to say “hey our helicopter can fly without rotors” who gives a fuck, then its not a helicopter. its a jumpjet” Lordy, lordylordylordylordy. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-shutter-speeds-and-a-helicopter/476996/8 "2008-12-13T15:21:36Z")
Damn, there’s just **no** variation in that rotor speed, is there? I’d’ve thought the changing load when climbing or turning would cause a _little_ drop in rpm. Must be one hell of a powerful engine on that thing. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-shutter-speeds-and-a-helicopter/476996/9 "2008-12-13T15:29:11Z")
I have to say that reading even the first page of the almost 5000 comments on that video make me really, Really, REALLY appreciate what we have here on the SDMB. ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-shutter-speeds-and-a-helicopter/476996/10 "2008-12-13T15:33:56Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > Damn, there’s just **no** variation in that rotor speed, is there? > I’d’ve thought the changing load when climbing or turning would cause a _little_ drop in rpm. Must be one hell of a powerful engine on that thing. I know it’s not dramatic, but there are little shifts in the speed–you can see at some points that the blade slowly begins to rotate backwards. Your point still stands, though. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-shutter-speeds-and-a-helicopter/476996/11 "2008-12-13T16:00:59Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I have to say that reading even the first page of the almost 5000 comments on that video make me really, Really, REALLY appreciate what we have here on the SDMB. The stupid! It burns! Actually, many comments are jokes. But what confounds me is that after several more-or-less correct explanations\* people still seem to wonder how it can fly without its rotors turning. I have to say though, that this is the first time I’ve seen ‘camera’ spelled ‘cammrer’. :dubious: \*\*\*\*\*I say ‘more or less’ because some details are wrong. For example, one guy says it’s a poor camera and the frame rate is too slow. You actually need a fast frame rate to get the effect. But the gist of the answer, that the image is the result of the speed of the shutter and the speed of the rotor, is essentially correct. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-shutter-speeds-and-a-helicopter/476996/12 "2008-12-13T16:26:14Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > The stupid! It burns! > > Actually, many comments are jokes. But what confounds me is that after several more-or-less correct explanations\* people still seem to wonder how it can fly without its rotors turning. > > I have to say though, that this is the first time I’ve seen ‘camera’ spelled ‘cammrer’. :dubious: > > \*\*\*\*\*I say ‘more or less’ because some details are wrong. For example, one guy says it’s a poor camera and the frame rate is too slow. You actually need a fast frame rate to get the effect. But the gist of the answer, that the image is the result of the speed of the shutter and the speed of the rotor, is essentially correct. I hate to be pedantic (well, actually, I don’t), but the the frame rate is actually not important other than it needs to be an integer fraction of the RPM of the rotors. The shutter speed needs to be fast to prevent blurring of the blades, but that’s a different issue. ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-shutter-speeds-and-a-helicopter/476996/13 "2008-12-13T16:27:14Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > Damn, there’s just **no** variation in that rotor speed, is there? > I’d’ve thought the changing load when climbing or turning would cause a _little_ drop in rpm. Must be one hell of a powerful engine on that thing. The chopper has a constant speed governor, if you think about it, from an efficiency point of view is desirable to maintain the speed of the rotor constant, any changes involve accelerating or slowing down the mass of the rotor. So the governor adjust the engine power and collective pitch of the blades to maintain a stable RPM rate. Less energy needed, less stress on the rotor, better all around. Still, a bloody good governor. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-shutter-speeds-and-a-helicopter/476996/14 "2008-12-13T16:36:05Z")
Witch[air]craft! ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-shutter-speeds-and-a-helicopter/476996/15 "2008-12-13T16:39:01Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > I hate to be pedantic (well, actually, I don’t), but the the frame rate is actually not important other than it needs to be an integer fraction of the RPM of the rotors. The shutter speed needs to be fast to prevent blurring of the blades, but that’s a different issue. You are correct. That’s why I used ‘shutter speed’ in the title. But I was typing (paraphrasing) what the guy wrote, and ‘frame rate’ was in my head. ---
**Author:** ![SiXSwordS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/49beb7/32.png) [@SiXSwordS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SiXSwordS)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-shutter-speeds-and-a-helicopter/476996/16 "2008-12-13T16:50:57Z")
How hard would it be to make that video? Is it just a trial-and-error exercise, making and watching videos using different shutter speeds, or is it a matter of having some knowledge of the rotor rate? My first thought is that it’s a coincidence and someone just happened to catch a quirky video. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-shutter-speeds-and-a-helicopter/476996/17 "2008-12-13T17:05:25Z")
I understand how it works, but it’s still neat. ---
**Author:** ![Eggerhaus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@Eggerhaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eggerhaus)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-shutter-speeds-and-a-helicopter/476996/18 "2008-12-13T22:59:21Z")
My son flies what he calls “fixed wing big metal”. He says that helicopters are crazy-ass to fly, and that their pilots are just as crazy-assed. He has a lot of respect for them, though. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-shutter-speeds-and-a-helicopter/476996/19 "2008-12-13T23:02:04Z")
> [@Eggerhaus](#): > > He says that helicopters are crazy-ass to fly, and that their pilots are just as crazy-assed. I resemble that remark! ---
**Author:** ![threemae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f9b8f/32.png) [@threemae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/threemae)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2008, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-shutter-speeds-and-a-helicopter/476996/20 "2008-12-14T00:08:38Z")
> [@Jenaroph](#): > > Even more fun are the comments below that video. Indeed. Every once in a while I wonder if I should waste less of my precious free time on The Dope and pursue some other equally unproductive venues on the internet. And then I come running straight back. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-shutter-speeds-and-a-helicopter/476996.md?page=2)