Originally Posted by
Wan Wei Luke
The video I watched showed what appeared to be the entire main rotor system autorotating to the surface, complete with the top of the gearbox casing. I doubt it would have done that if there were significant out of balance forces.
Even with an extreme unbalance the “liberated”.assembly will continue to rotate around the new center of gravity with little or no perceived wobble.
Anecdote: in development of an ejection system for the crew of the AH-1G Cobra they shot a running cobra down a track on a rocket sled and initiated the ejection. During the sequence one blade was severed and then the mast with the remainder of the rotor was severed. The combined blade/hub/mast flew in a straight line down range much farther than anticipated sending observers diving for cover. As this assembly overflew the camera the distance it travelled was unclear from the film, but was considerable.