Expert: Mark Janus - 2/3/2011

Question
Mark,I just want to ask that why the rotor blade planes cannot fly at high speeds specially above the speed 640km/hr.
Thank You

Answer
Vehicles with rotating components designed to provide lift or thrust are very much limited in the vehicle speed. At or near the speed of sound the drag (energy losses) increase dramatically, rotating components necessarily are moving FASTER than the craft itself and hence will reach the speed of sound BEFORE the vehicle as a whole does...  thus these vehicles incur significant losses at a much lower forward velocity than do fixed wing, aircraft...

mj