Vertol vs Helicopter

[RogerBW]

Originally Posted by p. B214

Helicopter: Any aircraft that uses rotors for both lift and thrust.
…
Vertol: Any aircraft that flies by brute-force application of thrust rather than by using rotors or wings.

Clearly if you saw the wings off a Harrier (or you have something like the old Cyberpunk 2020 AV-4, a box bolted onto a VTOL engine) it'll come under Vertol.

What about a modern quadrotor RPV? Is it closer in skill terms to a helicopter or to that hovering Harrier? Or should it be considered its own thing with a new Piloting specialisation?

What about an Osprey or other tiltfan?

I have flown helicopters and Harriers in simulations, and quadrotors in real life, and I think the quadrotor is closer to Vertol: you have an actual throttle, not a collective.

As for the Osprey I really want to say it needs Helicopter and Heavy Airplane; from what I've heard, that's pretty much how the flight controls are set up, with two different modes so that existing helo pilots could learn easily.

But I'd like to hear other people's opinions.