The Bell 206 Tail Rotor
The B206 has always been less than powerful, I understand that it's certified to the minimum the FAA requires which is 17 kts. but since the engine is also not very powerful on the 206 Jet Rangers and the Long Ranger I, this has never been much of a problem.
On the L3 and L4, and especially at altitude there are many instances where you can be in a hover with only 75% of power applied and have the pedal all the way in, which means that if you apply power for take off, or the wind blows slightly from the wrong direction you are going to start spinning!
This means the TR doesn't even have enough authority to counter its own torque in certain situations.
Now Bell came up with what they call a "high altitude tail rotor kit" which consists of thicker blades and a sistem which measures density altitude and provides a sort of "fly by wire control" to the tail rotor which provides the the exact amount of blade pitch after calculating the density altitude and pilot input. The sistem works great, it seems as if you had a Mi26 tail rotor installed but it is expensive and not all 206 L3 and L4's have it.
Last edited by BlenderPilot; 31st August 2004 at 21:10.