PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - Are engine failures always recoverable in helicopters?
Old 13th Sep 2009, 03:13
  #23 (permalink)  
Shawn Coyle
 
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Philadelphia PA
Age: 73
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Gomer:
With all due respect - you're setting yourself up for a very hard fall if you think you'll be able to get away injury to yourself if you have a real engine failure in a 100' hover.
Practicing is fine to develop technique and experience, but the real engine failure doesn't give you any advance warning, and the intervention time between figuring out it's an engine failure and doing the necessary thing means you will be plummeting to the ground with reducing rotor RPM and no chance to stop the rate of descent, or get any forward speed.
Try an engine failure in the hover at say 5' AGL, and do not lower the collective when you roll the throttle off. You may only raise the collective. If you're happy with that, try it at increasing heights (do this at maximum weight, by the way). If you get higher than about 8' AGL before you chicken out, I'd be surprised.
If you can show me a real engine failure (in a single engine helicopter) from such a condition where the pilot walked away and there was no damage to the aircraft, I'd a) be incredibly surprised and b) buy the pilot at least one beer/drink of choice.
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