EESDL,
Originally Posted by
EESDL
This is a Rumour Network.
It is not a place for logical, knowledgeable and pragmatic reasoning!
Give a man a break, I’m new here!
Seriously though, and to others who have expressed their appreciation, thanks. I didn’t intend to speculate too much but rather just to look at officially released evidence as an engineer and ask questions that others may hold the answers to, or at least to set some minds thinking. If that comes across as promoting a particular theory then that is incidental but perhaps inevitable.
I make no comment about commercial interests, for they are what they are.
Re- the ‘sludge theory’, don’t you mean G-REDW and the vertical shaft failure? I thought G-REDL was fatigue crack propagation in a 2nd stage planet gear thought to originate from raceway spalling. The only re-design I recall after REDL was removal of the row of magnets and trimming of the oil collector plates.
Re-introduction of the EC225 fleet with daily inspections of the vertical shafts and some lube oil spray mods may not have been an ideal solution but it was pragmatic and no further failures of vertical shafts occurred before they were all replaced with the re-designed ones. Fixing the wiring on the EMLUB warning system was something that could have prevented G-CHCN having to set down on water (just a week after I flew in it, incidentally. Shame, it had nicer seats!).
I should point out that my experience is in general offshore/mechanical/structural engineering not specifically aviation though I have probably spent a couple of thousand hours in the back of the Puma family of helicopters since those wonderful days when the welcome sight of a Puma or ‘Tiger’ on the helideck meant getting home quicker than in an S-61 and ‘enjoying’ music through the ear defenders (invariably some Driller’s choice of Country &Western).
Last edited by Concentric; 12th Jun 2016 at 20:05.