To: Joe Pilot and the others,
Joe alluded to reading the safety notices at the back of the POH. The only safety notice that deals with what we have been addressing is Safety Notice SN-11 which is titled PUSHOVERS CAN BE CATASTROPHIC. Joe also stated if I understand him correctly that there is no restriction against sideslip or flying out of trim (balance) in the POH. That information is in both POHs for the 22 and for the 44. It is the last page in section 4 of the POH. There is another safety notice SN-24 that deals with LOW RPM ROTOR STALL CAN BE FATAL. On page two of this notice it addresses retreating blade stall. I have intentionally steered away from this subject because if you think there has been a lot of argument back and forth on the subject of certification the counter postings on retreating blade stall will most likely set a record for the Pprune forum. I will only say this, the information relative to retreating blade stall in the Robinson POHs is totally wrong. Read it and we can start another string dealing with retreating blade stall.
I’ll say it one more time, flying out of trim (balance) or in a side slip will result in extremely high flapping loads that can lead to eventual failure of the rotor and blades or it can result in mast fracture. Another thing that can result with the high flapping loads is that you can suffer what is termed a blowback. One other related point is that the FAA design guidelines require the demonstration of side slip while flying at approximately .6 VNE by pushing hard first on one pedal to its’ extreme and then do it with the other pedal. The certification regs. also require demonstration of out of trim (balance) flight by +/- 10 degrees. In order to get certification the Robinson design had to demonstrate those maneuvers. That was then. This is now; the FAA has placed a restriction on the 22 and the 44 saying that they must avoid flying out of trim (balance) and flying in any type of sideslip. Again I ask the question, did the helicopter meet those requirements or did Frank Robinson as the FAA DER say that it did and signed off for the test. The reason for the restriction resulted from a detailed engineering analysis by Georgia Tech Aeronautical engineering department. This report and analysis were done at the request of the FAA.
To any and all that wishes to contribute to this thread. I would advise you to read the whole thread, as this will give you a better idea of its'evolution.
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The Cat