This is really becoming quite concerning. I had seen pictures of the peeled back skin of the Aussie 22 but I had no idea there had been in flight break ups. There goes my "worst case i'll get it back on the ground with a lot of vibration in time for a change of trousers" theory...
The statement that there were "obvious areas where skin debonded from the adhesive bond joint between the skin and spar were found on 10 main rotor blades on RHC helicopters" is interesting. Define obvious. Our 44 blades went back to Robbo recently and were deemed unfit and 20,000 USD later we now have a new set. TT for those blades just over 200 hours, but no waranty ?!?!
The NTSB goes on to say "bond joints are likely to degrade with time when subjected to harsh environments, such as the high humidity and high temperatures typically found at or near the sea".. so thats us screwed then as we sit in 40 degrees next to the sea...
Surely something has to change here above and beyond the development of a new super tap test (or whatever they come up with). Our ship is hangered and well looked after. Its a syndicate machine with a good bunch of pilots so its life isn't that hard.
Some may say who knows what happens unless you fly every hour your self but if the blades can only make 200 hours, then sea and heat and occasional rough handling or not there has to an issue with the manuacturing process.
I know there have been other threads on this but it would be intersting to see how many others have had to do blade changes (a lot I suspect) and how many had to pay (also a lot I suspect).
In my humble the R44 is the best value for money out there and does much of what the kerosene burners can do for a price that privates and mere mortals can justify. But the blade issue is taking some of the shine off....