Originally Posted by
madman1145
Funny you mention that. Robinson also initially asked that, which I found hilarious asking from the manufacturer, thinking its a Clipper version ..
And the answer is yes, it has flown through a few light showers in VMC conditions ..
Why? You think they used aquarell color?
Because quite some time ago, during a ferry of a freshly-factory-overhauled R22, I had occasion to fly it through drizzle for rather less than half an hour and picked up similar damage to paint of the MR blades, on the outboard 2-3 ft of the leading edges. The operator enquired and found out that freshly-applied paint, although dry, takes another ~6 months to fully “harden”. Water droplets hitting the leading edge at close to the speed of sound can crack the softer coat of paint there, and subsequent impacting droplets will get under the layer of paint and peel it back. We were pulling ~3” of manifold pressure more to hover at the end of this short flight than on initial takeoff, due to the extra drag from the layer of paint standing up from the blades’ surface. It was recommended to try and avoid flying in even light rain for the first 6 months after blades are painted.