PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - Are engine failures always recoverable in helicopters?
Old 11th Sep 2009, 17:10
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Um... lifting...
 
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Well, the operative question for the OP is: "How many engines did you have when you started? 1? 2? 3?" In the latter two cases, unless the machine is old and in certain regimes, it's probably quite recoverable. Depends upon the performance characteristics of the aircraft in question. In the first case, it's not 'recoverable' if we mean continuing flight. But if we mean having the airframe be reusable, quite possibly.

Landing a helicopter out of an auto is (generally) a significantly briefer evolution and takes up a lot less real estate than landing an airplane of equivalent size. Difficulty depends a lot on what you've been trained to do. Most folks with a fair amount of Bell time can do a zero-speed auto entry from 100' and safely land the aircraft with a very low touchdown speed... in a Bell.

I'm often asked by non-pilots if it's "harder to fly a helicopter". My answer is: "not for me".

Just like airplanes, in general, the bigger the aircraft, the more challenging it is to get it all sorted out and put it on the ground without power without bending the machine or the blobs of protoplasm along for the ride. There are exceptions.

Many among us have autorotated numerous types made by numerous manufacturers to the ground. Some are easier than others. I expect most of us have preferences for aircraft we'd prefer to auto in an emergency if it came down to it.
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