Hi gang,
I agree with "buitenzorg"(was it...?)
It seems the whole world cracks down on Robinson when one comes down and everything points to the design.
Why do there have to be SNīs from the factory, warning people from overspeeding the rotor on take off? Well R-Drivers know the trick to get off a little easier on a hot day, just override the governor and take off with 106 - 108% rpm. Normally you are off in 5-10 sec and let go on the throttle and the governor do his work. I was surprised to read in the SN, that there are crackheads who actually pull it to 120% !!!!!
It is always the same, for some idiots there are no rules and when something happens it goes back to the factory.
By the way Lu, I believe the Robinson cone hinges are the best invention since the underslung head, they actually take any bending moment caused by coning completely out.
Arguments that the coning hinges do flap work are not valid. If you look up the maintenance manual, you will find that there are precise procedures how to adjust the frictions on the head system. if it is set up right it will work fine. If for any reason the friction values change in one hinge it becomes apparent immediately as a mainrotor vibration. At this time it has to go into the shop to adjust this. No big deal.
If you IGNORE any indications of "out of normal" on ANY HELICOPTER you are bound to get into trouble!! Not just on Robinsons, however I found that the Robinson has an extremly high tolerance on these ocasions and is comparatively inexpensive to fix (ups - repair, I mean...), resulting in little down time. I do not see that on the Bellīs of our competition!
Another feature of the Robinson Rotor is a max lifetime of 2000hrs or 10 years - whatever comes first. That is active safety! No matter how good the blades look - 2000hrs and the go!!
I have been flying Robinsons on the edge for about 4000 hrs now and never had any problems with blades. However I suggest to all Helicopter Schools to do a little sermon now and then on HOW TO NOT ABUSE helicopters!!
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