PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - Why do military helicopters crash rather than autorotate?
Old 22nd Feb 2013, 11:48
  #37 (permalink)  
SASless
 
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Downeast
Age: 75
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An account I once heard sums it up.

The fellow was flying a Huey B Model Gunship in Vietnam. He got into a losing exchange with a couple of .51 Caliber Machine Guns....took several hits that resulted in the loss of hydraulics, tail rotor control and the engine. He by necessity entered autorotation and headed for the ground aiming for a rice paddy adjacent to some houses.

He said everything was going fine despite hitting some tree tops, a power line and power pole, going through the roof and end of a house, a brick wall and it was not until he hit a rice paddy dike did he lose control.

Sometimes....it just isn't doing an EOL to a cow pasture.
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