Originally Posted by
valve guide
Thanks for the clarification, is this the same for the R44 then?
Seriously? You couldn't go to the Robinson web site and look at the R44 maintenance manual yourself?
<sigh>
The answer is: it is not the same.
Section 3.002 states "An hourmeter activated by engine oil pressure is standard equipment on earlier R44 helicopters. Later helicopters are equipped with an hourmeter activated by a combination of oil pressure and up collective; the hourmeter will record time only when engine oil pressure exists and the collective is raised. Either hourmeter is an acceptable means of recording time in service (refer to Section 1.006)."
Section 1.006 states: "time in service means the time from the moment an aircraft leaves the surface of the earth until it touches it at the next point of landing."
Obviously, if you have a collective-activated Hobbs in your R44, then you really can't ask for a more economical method of calculating time in service. I can see how it would be tempting to want to apply some corrective factor to an oil pressure activated Hobbs in order to obtain a similar level of economy. I'm not an A&P or a lawyer
, but even though 3.002 doesn't explicitly exclude alternative methods of calculating time in service, I would be hesitant to use any method other than the two types of Hobbs meters specified, particularly if some maintenance related incident should wind up with legal ramifications.
If you are looking for economy of maintenance, my recommendation is to simply install a collective activated Hobbs meter, rather than try to "game" the issue.
Based on the definition in 1.006, you could save precious seconds by installing a squat switch activated Hobbs
