Originally Posted by
tcamiga
"The Bell 47 was an example of a manufacturer dealing with this issue.
They were modified by the addition of a controllable elevator coupled to the fore and aft cyclic.
I seem to recollect that post mod there was an increase in max forward speed in the order of 5-10 mph?"
It also made a difference to cabin load increaseespecially in the 3B1 etc. A Nobar 3B1 then also became a lot of fun on feral animal ops.
A problem these days is that there is an STC for a fixed elevator on the 47G and the angle of incidence has to be manually changed for external loads such as cargo rack and hook - and some pilots don't remember to read their POH as well as they should!
FlingW47 - If I recall - Far 27 certified machines such as the Robinson 22/44/66 etc VNE is a speed determined by a cyclic stick plot which allows enough cyclic to bring the nose back to level flight at most rear C of G should the machine encounter a wind gust of 15 kts or so (not sure of the actual figure) at the established VNE.
It also provided the CAA with an exam question for the engineers..
Describe the operation of a controllable elevator on a helicopter you have worked on.
Answer could well have been "I have never worked on a helicopter with a controllable elevator".
Probably a need for testicular fortitude to go down that route.