PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - TV News Helicopter Crash in Brazil with Video
Old 16th Feb 2010, 03:48
  #76 (permalink)  
SASless
 
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Downeast
Age: 75
Posts: 18,302
Received 524 Likes on 219 Posts
It would appear to this old git.....there has been a drift towards some manufactuers teaching a high speed run on landing for certain tail rotor failures. (BK-117's springs to mind) and a certain operator I worked for adopted that mind set as etched in stone. Their position was the builder knows more than the operator....and thus we must comply with their dictates.

Now visualize this situation....night, on NVG's, no pedal control, landing on a very long and reasonably wide kinda smooth runway....maybe with a bit of cross wind. As in simulations (TC blocking pedals in the factory recommended position) touch down speed about 90 knots trying to keep the wee bird on the runway.

When I opined how incredibly stupid this was....I incurred the wrath of the unclean speaking heresy. I suggestedI I did not care to waste valuable training time on this method but instead why not just go do some autorotations instead. When asked about that ....I said because if we ever have that kind of failure....I was sure gonna shut off both engines and hold the fecking power levers in the shut off position....and we would be autorotating to the ground.

I submit arriving at the ground in autorotation, engines shut off, fuell shut off, with zero or near zero ground speed...even if you cock it up and roll the machine over...at least the rotors will stop in a hurry and not be driven by the engines.

Compare that to running off the runway at full chat at some airplane like groundspeed......huh uh...not me!
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