Originally Posted by
Uplinker
As a fixed wing pilot, can I ask; how do helicopter pilots inspect the tail rotor and its drive mechanism on the walk around? Are there inspection doors along the tail boom to enable inspection of every shaft joint? I don’t recall seeing any in the helis we used to use for TV work. (Bolkow 105, Augusta 109, Twin Squirrel).
Given that the tail rotor seems to be so critical, why is there only one?. Would it not be safer if there were two separately driven tail rotors, or would that be overkill?
Most likely dual tail rotors would result in an overall reduction in safety given that some tail rotor failures such as a departed blade can cause other damage. The complexity and added weight would also have a detrimental effect. One comparison are the chances of surviving a (single) engine failure at takeoff in single and dual engine light aircraft, I have heard they are roughly the same.
IF the cause of this accident was a servo loop failure/run to a stop it is not clear that a second tail rotor would have helped, especially given the extremely limited time to take action.
Question for those who know: Would an immediate shutdown of both engines have stopped the tail rotor or is the transmission coupling such that it would continue to spin as long as the main rotor was spinning?