Originally Posted by
Robbiee
Unless you've heard something I haven't in six trips to the Robinson Safety Course, the 22's carb heat guage is only inaccurate below 18" of MAP, and full heat seems to fix the issue,...and since there isn't an AD to "fix it", it seems the carb ice induced engine failure accident rate and the FAA agree.
"Only" below 18 inches yes. Like a fuel gauge that is "only" inaccurate below half tank, would you consider that an "accurate" fuel gauge? That's some great engineering. Just pull full heat, you may or may not foul the plugs, and you can always readjust the heater just as you pull into a hover, since you barely got anything else to do at that point, right? Oh, it's ...manageable?
yeah maybe, with sufficient training.... but is that really where the bar should be here? For a machine predominantly flown by new pilots nonetheless? A little thought experiment, what if you had to press a button every 60 seconds or the engine stops, is that acceptable? If someone failed to press it and had an accident, is that pilot error? Or should someone then step in and say you can't have a helicopter that relies on a system like that. If so, where's the line?
In my opinion, the carb heat system, the little gauge with the sticker that says to ignore it, the lack of a warning light, and the entire fact that carburetor icing is still a thing at all in 2023, is utterly ridiculous beyond all description, and nothing can excuse it in this day and age.
My 30 year old motorcycle is equipped with a fool proof automatic carb heating system, and the worst that ever happened to those (before the heaters were offered for free) if they got carb icing is that you had to pull over for 5 minutes to let the ice melt. Not autorotate into a bay.