The Development of a Composite Main Rotor Blade for the Sud-Aviation SA-330 Helicopter

This paper deals with the development of a steel spar/epoxy-glass envelope rotor blade for the Sud-Aviation SA-330 helicopter. It presents the reasons for this selection of materials instead of some of the more advanced fibers. It also points out how and why a transition into boron or carbon fibers might be made in a later version of the same blade.