Extension of local momentum theory to hovering rotor with distorted wake

The local momentum theory is extended in this paper to include the effects of a rotor wake deformation in hovering flight. A comparison of this extended local momentum theory with a prescribed wake vortex theory is presented. The results indicate that the extended local momentum theory has the capability of achieving a level of accuracy similar to that of the prescribed wake vortex theory, using a much smaller amount of computer time. It is also shown that the analytical results obtained using either theory are in reasonable agreement with experimental data.