PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - AS332L2 Ditching off Shetland: 23rd August 2013
Old 24th Aug 2013, 14:37
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Hummingfrog
 
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Up north
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I think that trying to turn HUMS from a monitoring system into a warning system may be too difficult. It was always designed to try and pick up trends in component's characteristics and then as experience was built up look for trigger points to replace that component.

The only time I came into close contact with HUMS was on the A365N2 which developed rotor vibe. The engineer checked the blades and head before making adjustments advised by HUMS. This lasted a few sorties but the vibe returned. He got onto our HUMS dept who interrogated our base station - we were offsore based, and advised changing the blue blade. This we did - problem solved though nobody could see any defect on the blade it was beginning to delaminate and therefore at speed was causing airflow disruption and hence vibration. I was impressed with HUMS but I doubt a warning system could be designed to trigger at that point as rotors vibrate for too many "safe" reasons.

I am not familiar with the L2 radar fit but the older N2's radar showed your track as a white line and the hard bits as a very bright red! Very difficult not to see! We had a basic moving map on the GPS display - not really used much apart from rig radar approaches.


JD
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