Years ago I displayed the Puma HC1. I was encouraged from above to make it a “dynamic” one, rather than previously where displays had consisted of not much more than a series of wing overs, backwards flight and spot turns. As part of my work up I was required to fly with the previous display pilot, who had not displayed for a few years and he showed me manoeuvres that had been developed by himself and others. We subsequently began to explore the capabilities of the aircraft and got to the point where he became slightly nauseous. After that I was left to it.
Shortly afterwards I attended a very interesting brief given by Westlands, who were developing the Lynx and trying hard to impress potential buyers. With a semi rigid head it was a lot more manoeuvrable than my old Puma and it was being “officially” looped and rolled during displays, all very impressive.
However, the Westlands rep stressed that their display aircraft was being very carefully monitored and major components such as main and tail gearboxes were frequently being changed because of the extra stresses put on them. He made it quite clear that a squadron aircraft should definitely not be flown in this way. I realised right then that above all I needed to be gentle and careful with my aircraft to avoid flying it in a way that was potentially more damaging than it was designed for.
Edit: Good advice because with helicopters it’s relatively easy to get into flight regimes that haven’t been taken into account with regard to component fatigue life calculations.
Last edited by ShyTorque; 17th Jan 2022 at 08:56.