I am in pursuit of the many questions floating around at the moment and the latest contributions to the debate are:-
1-Can we also say that the reason we must(by flight manual) use 102% for Hoist & External loads ops. is related to OEI scenario and not rotor lift in hover?
The latest version of the answer to the '102%' query is that it appears that the helicopter was first certified under the 'Normal' Category and the 100% Nr became an RFM-set-in-stone feature. When the Cat A programme was under way the use of 102% was found to improve performance due to added rotor inertia. The 102% feature was then added via Supp 12. Draw your own conclusions but remember if you ding-it whilst working outside the RFM then the legal-beagles will come looking for your a**e. I remain in the hunt for the horses mouth.
2- Why don't we have an airspeed limit to arm floats in the supplement, is it tested up to VNE??
I'll chase that one
3- If you know that while in hover you are going down if engine quits, will you popout the floats before water contact? f.m. suggests to wait the water..
I guess we will have to wait for the first ditching to get some answers
4- We are happy in floating in the water(after a really good ditching), we can not leave the rotor brake in "park" position due to the weight on wheels(I'm not talking about using rotor brake to stop rotors), isn't it?
Mmmmmmmm we have said the same thing - must go find another horse!!
G
