I have not been posting on here very much and just saw this thread a little while ago. I read the 1st and the last board meetings. So far it appears that the board is made up of not very informed/experienced pilots.
I read this from Brian:
45 IAS 100 Knots, Altitude 100 feet
22 Collective reduced, Flare commenced with a slight right turn
14 Left turn commenced at up to 20°/sec, Altitude 70 feet, Flare increased to 20° nose up
9 TQ 30%
7 TQ 20%
3 RRPM >100% TQ 20%
2.6 Bank angle reaches a max of 43°, Rapid descent commences, TQ 10% and begins increasing rapidly
1.5 16.5° pitch nose down (from a slight nose up position)
Impact ROD 1,320 to 1,800 FPM, RRPM 75%, TQ >100%, IAS Zero to 6 Knots
I am not sure what model H60 221 was BUT if it was a “A” model and the power was applied has rapidly as suggested yes it would droop that much and that fast. The “L” model with the T701’s greatly reduced that happening. I have not flown a 60 in several years but I do have 2200 hrs in them and when in flight (Ground RPM is higher before the Gens come off line due to a squat swith on the left main mount)and RPMR is reduced to the high 80’s you lose AC generators, consequently your SAS and AFCS and Stab Auto control but that portion of the flight the gens are a moot point. Someone mentioned the Stab position in a prior post, yes the Stab control has several inputs: Collective position, indicated A/S, pitch rate etc however the stab looked down to me not up. So if it was in “auto” mode it would seem to be set for low indicated airspeed, high power setting flight.
Quote from Thomas Coupling: Capt 11 who was the co-jo on another blackhawk 800m behind stated:
(a) he didn't think a downwind component had any adverse affect on the manouevre.
(b) He also stated that 5 troops onboard weighing close to 1/2 tonne total were not a consideration either.
Get a grip lads - what sort of pilot can call himself a professional after making statements like this
I agree, capt 11 is nuts. This thinking at least in my experience with the US Army and what I saw over and over again the desert stems from people getting most of their training in advanced helos and no experience in helos that demand extreme power management skills ie B206 (OH58) UH1H and a host of others
We do not know so far what the crew was attempting at the time. All we can imagine is the pilot(s) up to the very end were exercising the culmination of 100% of their past experience and it was not quite sufficient. But we do not know because we were not actually there. And since we do not know we should quit attempting to Monday Morning quarterback. They did their best.
Jerry