Simple stability methods are used to derive an approximate, closed-form expression for the lead-lag damping of rotor blades in hover. Destabilizing terms are shown to be a result of two dynamic mechanisms. First, the destabilizing aerodynamic forces that can occur when blade lift is higher than a critical value are maximized when the blade motion is in a straight line equidistant from the blade chord and the average direction of the air flow velocity. This condition occurs when the Coriolis terms vanish and when the elastic coupling terms align the blade motion with this least stable direction. Second, the noconservative stiffness terms that result from pitch-flap or pitch-lag coupling can add or subtract energy from the system depending upon whether the motion of the blade tip is clockwise or counterclockwise.
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