NASA Logo National Aeronautics and
Space Administration
Educational Product
Students Grades K-4

ET-2001-090002-ARC
Educational Topic
NASA's Rotorcraft Research Program
In-Flight Rotorcraft Acoustics Program

Helicopters and tiltrotors can be very loud. NASA does rotorcraft research to learn new ways to make rotorcraft quieter.

 Acoustics Program Logo
Airplane flying in front of a rotorcraft

They use an airplane with microphones on it. They fly the airplane close to and in front of the rotorcraft. The microphones record the sounds made by the rotorcraft.

They also use wind tunnels to study the sounds of helicopters and tiltrotors. Because of NASA rotorcraft research, rotorcraft built in the future will be quieter.

Wind tunnel test

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