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Old 24th Jul 2018, 20:54
  #392 (permalink)  
JohnDixson
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Hobe Sound, Florida
Posts: 952
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The short answer here would seem to be that the Defiant pictures reflect a tail wheel, and assuming the Army crashworthy standards remain at least as rigorous as for the UTTAS design, that gear will be substantial and used for the power off landings.

A proof of the structural strength resultant from these standards occurred during development. A power off landing was added to the flight test card on the power plant/subsystem design test ship. Pilots were the Ch Pilot and a sr test pilot who had done a lot of the CH-54 work. The Ch Pilot was in the second seat. Wind was 0-15 kts and the wind died at the flare, meaning they flared at 65, not 80. Flare effectiveness on ROD was essentially zero-all they accomplished was an attitude change. Tail wheel hit the ground at 42 ft/sec. Damage was: 1) broke the tail wheel rim and cut the tire; 2) Scraped the trailing edge of the stabilator. Happened at about 3:30 PM and with a new wheel/tire and the same stabilator straightened via a pair of vice-grips, that ship flew at 0700 the next morning. There is a video of that landing floating around.

Hasten to add that I’m referring to the Defiant design in the preceding paragraph. I’m not at all certain as to the specifics of the present S-97 landing gear design loads criteria.

Last edited by JohnDixson; 25th Jul 2018 at 03:08. Reason: Add’l information
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