Originally Posted by
jayteeto
gevans35, how do you know he didnt enter autorotation?
He arrived at the ground with low NR, but if he misjudged his height to flare (no radalt remember), he may have just used it all up at 1-200 feet. That would still produce the outcome we saw.
Jayteeto, We will never know for certain. However, despite desire, respect and all those things that Dave would certainly deserve, the physics would indicate another scenario.
There is little doubt that at the point of impact with the pub roof, the blades were all but stationary. The lack of leading edge or indeed any other rotational damage would support that supposition. If we accept that then we have to understand how the aircraft ended up with no Nr. The answer almost certainly lies in the deep stall of the blades, associated with zero torque driving them, a high angle of attack and a high rate of descent. Its hard to accept that such conditions could arise by a poorly judged flare height. Added to the testimony of eyewitnesses (of course cannot be relied upon) but their testimony supports a deep stall at significant height.