Blackhawk Question
Hey all,
Got a question, maybe some of you familiar with the H-60 can provide some insight? I'm blazing the trail through training as a Blackhawk Crew Chief and have run into a lot of old salties that talk about the magic behind the Cambered Fairing on the tail, saying that its capable of keeping the bird straight above xx knots without the TR doing anything. I remember reading an article about the initial design of the Hawk wanting a "fly home" capability where it could pull off cruise and a running landing with the TR shot out, but when Nick Lappos and his buds decided to make the little sharks-tooth cutout to help the TR, they gave up on getting tail-rotorless flight.
Despite this info, the guys are still adamant that the camb fairing is a magical device that keeps the bird in the air, and without it, the thing will crash and burn, every time. It's even a question in our flight progression training, "above what airspeed does the camb fairing unload the TR?" I push the issue that the thing probably does no more than the angled vertical fins on other birds (407s and longrangers come to mind) as its not very large or even a very drastic airfoil, though I have nothing to back that up.
Anyone got any idea how much the thing really does?
-Mike