This is in response to Both Rotorque and arm the floats:
If I understand you correctly, practical experience taught you and your fellow Robbo pilots that to combat zero G you should pull the cyclic back and then hold it in the center of its fore and aft travel. Then, you would ride out the right roll until you could gain positive control. If my assumption is correct then I will go from there. By pulling back to the neutral or centered position you would place the rotor system from a control standpoint in its’ neutral plane of rotation or as if you were in a hover.
You also stated that it was common theory at the time if you added in left cyclic you could cause mast bumping.
You have to understand how the eighteen-degree offset comes into play. Because of the 18 degree offset if you would pull straight back past the neutral position of the cyclic you would in effect put in a right roll component that would add into the right roll caused by the high mounted tail rotor.
In one of the previous posts, one individual stated that Tim Tucker, the Safety pilot that conducts the courses, told him that when you are countering a zero G condition that the pilot should pull the cyclic back while adding in a “Tad” of left cyclic. This is effect minimizes of not eliminates the right roll component introduced by the 18 degree offset.
Another point that I am not too clear on is that you stated that the cyclic was moved to the center. Now think hard about the word center. If you mean the rigged neutral center then the blades are in a hover position as described above. If you mean that the cyclic was moved to the neutral center in relation to the control stops then you are introducing a left roll input and this could exacerbate the control problem and quite possibly cause the mast bumping and resultant loss of both the helicopter and the pilot(s).
------------------
The Cat