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PaperclipPerfector  9mo ago (text post)   2472 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for August 13, 2023

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

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I just learned that ride-on power trowels exist. What a phenomenal piece of incredible technology. It leaves me with a question. Turning left/right seems obvious. But how about forward/backward motion? In videos that I've watched of them operating, I can't detect something like the machine bringing the rotors to a stop and changing their direction of rotation in order to change from the vehicle moving forward to moving backward. So, what is the mechanism by which it's able to change from forward to backward translation? I'm familiar with helicopter controls, and I can't imagine it's anything nearly that complicated.

I think the levers just change the forward/backward tilt of the blades slightly?

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