HH-43 Huskie

[H-43]

Here is a neat picture I thought some might enjoy. For those who don't recognize it it is a Kaman HH-43B/F Huskie built for the USAF during the 50's and 60's. This one was built in 1960 and has just been rebuilt for use in logging operations.
http://home.earthlink.net/~helidrvr/286M-After.jpg

Brian

[The Nr Fairy]

So, H43, where did you come up with your PPRuNe name ?

Nice piccie - know where people can get a ride in one ?

[Vfrpilotpb]

Could only see part of the piccie, why the need for that huge exhaust stack,was it early Notar? :D

[H-43]

Nr Fairy: Currently there are only 5 Huskies flying in the US and are registered in Restricted category. So the only way to get a ride is to come up to Northern Idaho and go to work for one of the operators in the area or go to K-Max school where they use the Huskie to train pilots.

Vfrpilotpb: You might say it was an early NOTAR because like the K-Max the Huskie has two intermeshing rotors that cancel each other's torque. The huge exhaust pipe both keeps the ship clean and improves safety for people entering the helicopter from the rear.

Brian

[Vfrpilotpb]

Hi H43,
I realised that the two intermeshing rotors would possibly cancel out any torque. However this might seem a silly question but how would this craft turn in flight or spot turn or even turn around it nose, try as I might I have not been able to find anything in any books. You say the exhaust is to keep the thing clean, is that aerodynamicly or free from sooty deposits /
My Regards :confused:

[ 26 July 2001: Message edited by: Vfrpilotpb ]

[H-43]

Vfrpilot,

The huge tailpipe is to keep the exhaust off the aircraft so it stays all shiny clean :) with no black soot on the fuselage. As for turning when the pilot makes a pedal input the pitch is increased on one set of rotor blades and decreased on the other by a mechanical mixing system. The resulting higher torque from one rotor system rotates the helicopter. Also at the same time through the same mixer one rotor disk is tilted forward and the other back helping to turn the aircraft. The only bad part of this system is that at some power settings it is ineffective. This in turn can cause some interesting moments for an inexperienced pilot. I remember the first time it happened to me. As I was approaching to land the nose started wandering off to the left so I added right pedal and added and added right pedal until I hit the pedal stop and we were still turing left! About this time the other pilot flying with me told me just to add a little collective and the proble would correct itself. Sure enough it did but it was still one of the more interesting moments of my training!

Brian

[Cyclic Hotline]

Whoops, you shouldn't have mentioned those strange flying characteristics, you'll have Lu all over you now! :p

[Dave Jackson]

Vfrpilotpb:

The masts on the Huskie are at an angle of 26-degrees to each other. Their torque is operating in two planes. The torques from the two rotors cancel each other out in the horizontal yaw plane. In the pitch plane they both work in the same direction.

The engine efflux on the Kaman intermeshing helicopters is far aft and downward (stovepipe) to compensate for the longitudinal pitch changes that accompany changes in torque. This exhaust arrangement minimized the coupling of pitch to torque.

Mind you, this reason isn't quite as clean as the other. :)

[ 26 July 2001: Message edited by: Dave Jackson ]

[H-43]

Dave J here is a question for you. Why does the K-Max have a short exhaust stack?

Brian

[Dave Jackson]

H-43

Good question. I can only guess that Kaman handles the rotor torque's pitching moment in the K-Max by having a longer moment arm on the empennage.

The reason for the extended stack on the Huskie was given in a conversation with Mr. Glidden Doman, a long time associate of those in the intermeshing domain.

[Magumba]

Nice photo H43. I saw a lot of H-43's in Vietnam at Airforce bases. The AF used them as firefighting equip. for A/C crashes. The rotor downwash would confine a fire to allow the ground fire fighters to get in and get the pilot out if need be.
Strange machine it's nice to see them still flying.

[Thud_and_Blunder]

H43,

How is yaw controlled in autorotation? Is that why it has those huge vertical fins at the back?

[H-43]

T & B:

In an autorotation in the Huskie the same mixers I mentioned earlier are reversed giving correct pedal input. The inbetween powered flight and autorotation is where the interesting flight characteristics are. This is because the reverser has begun to move but has not fully engaged in the down configuration. The tail fins are also rigged to the pedals but for logging are more of a hinderance than a help and we are currently trying to get FAA approval to fix them.

Brian

[Copter Cody]

H-43,

What is the payload capacity on this Machine?

Cody

[Thud_and_Blunder]

H-43,

Thanks.

[H-43]

Copter Cody,

The Huskie is rated for 4000 lbs. The neat thing about it is with no tail rotor and a large rotor disk it can continue to lift well in hot or high conditions.

Brian