kissmysquirrel noted:
I had throttle chop auts demo'd to me a while back. NOT NICE!!!!! Flare like f**k to regain rpm or die also whilst trying to peel yourself off right hand door!!!! this was of course in the r22. Twice I have now seen just over 75% rrpm and I don't particularly want to see it again.
Just completed the B206 rating today and have to say "engine failure?" "what engine failure?" Can someone please give me a 206 to fly full time please?
(Heyyyy, watch your goddam language, squirrel! My teenage daughter reads this board.)
Yes, the 206 is a great bird, no doubt. But many pilots are lulled into a false sense of security by the 206's seemingly benign autorotative characteristics during the practice autos they see during the checkout. This is especially true if the applicant comes from a ship with not-so-great autorotative characteristics (let's not mention any names).
The fuel control of the RR/Allison 250-C20 series engine in 206B has a decelleration schedule whereby it must take a
minimum of two seconds to go from full-throttle to idle. Many C-20 engines take even longer, and there is no maximum figure specified. I've had them take as long as six or seven seconds.
So no matter how quick you are at twisting the throttle off during a practice auto, the power is only going to come down at the scheduled decelleration rate. What happens is, the power comes off "softly" compared to the snap you feel in a recip. In 206 (or any a/c powered by the 250-C20 series), this gives you an erroneous indication of what a "for real" engine failure will feel like.
Secondly, once the auto has stabilized, if the N2 needle is still married with the NR needle (and in a C-20 it will be), the engine
is still providing power. It may not be much...only ten h.p. or so, but it is
something. And that "something" will help lengthen your glide. It is the equivalent of being 100 pounds lighter or more, according to world renowned helicopter expert, Senator Dr. Raymond Xavier Prouty III, esq. Oh, and me.
Pilots who've had real engine failures in such a/c report that the power came off rather violently and with a lot of yaw-snap (compared to what they had been used to in practice) and that the glide was a LOT steeper than they expected. Fortunately, I haven't had that happen
yet, although as I say that I am knocking on my head as you can imagine.
So be careful, all you new 206 pilots out there! Things may not be what you've been prepared for. Sure, when the inevitable happens it might seem like you'll have enough time to pull out the RFM and read up on the engine-out procedures. But I guarantee that it'll take you by surprise.
Forewarned is foreskinned.