Specifications

weathervaining is determined by the aerodynamic properties of the helicopter, primarily the

size of the vertical stabilizer.

Wag

A rhythmic back-and-forth tail movement that will not stop. This may occur with heading

hold gyros when the setup is not correct. In this case, the gyro overshoots the correct tail

position, so it constantly keeps moving the tail.

Woodies

Wooden main rotor blades

Yaw-Rate Gyro

A type of gyro which dampens but not eliminates unwanted yaw rotation. If a gust of wind

blows the tail of a helicopter with a yaw-rate gyro, the gyro will make the tail rotor 'push

back' against the wind to reduce the amount of unwanted tail movement, but since it does

not accumulate of total tail movement, it cannot return the tail back to its original position.