MD Explorer

[PANews]

The absence of G-EHMS on what was called 'an annual' ... it lasted 7 weeks ... and might be better termed 'an age' ... is well documented.

Having arrived at Staverton on August 8 the aircraft was not expected to return to service after being off-line at least 7 weeks. and that was the time it took. Two weeks is a typical quote for an Explorer annual.

The absence of the primary airframe did not greatly affect the performance of the HEMS service. It has always been about getting the doctor to the patient rather than lifting them to hospital. HEMS normally only fly 1 in 5 of the patients attended so some 80% of the job continues as before, and the medical team still get to the incidents within the average 11 minutes from receiving the 999 emergency call to putting the doctor with the patient.

In the meantime the Medical Team flew in an AS355F1 G-BSYI chartered from PremiAir.

[Heliport]

IC South London Press report Emergency landing for rescue helicopter


SHOPPERS escaped uninjured when a rescue helicopter's rotor blade was hit by a fragment of metal which forced it down.

There was traffic chaos as the London Air Ambulance was forced to make an emergency landing on its way to help a Turkish woman who had been in collision with a bus in Welling High Street on Saturday.

As the helicopter made its descent, a piece of metal or sign from Coral bookmakers somehow struck the blades and forced the pilots to land the aircraft right in the middle of the road.

Workers at nearby Boots saw customers blown back into the shop as stock flew off the shelves.

Police had closed off part of the street to let the woman get help.
She was later taken to hospital in an ordinary ambulance suffering from a fractured skull. She was believed to be in a stable condition as we went to press.


The dramatic events unfolded around 1pm.
Adam Ayrilmaz at the Superfry chippy was one of the first to come to the woman's aid. He said: "No one knew what she was saying but I spoke to her and tried to reassure her by speaking Turkish. "She wouldn't let go of my hand. She was saying 'I don't want to die'. I did what any normal human being would have done, I went to the hospital with her and waited until around 9pm."


The air ambulance didn't leave the town centre until around 8pm, after a spare part arrived from Bristol.
The helicopter was checked and back in working order on Monday.

A spokesman for London Air Ambulance said the chopper's breakdown did not affect the time it took for the woman to get help. He added: "Given the location of the incident the patient would not have been airlifted to hospital and would have gone by land ambulance with the medical team accompanying her, which is what happened in this case.
"The medical team continued their shift in one of their rapid response cars which are used at night or when the aircraft is unable to fly."


A Transport for London spokeswoman said the accident was being investigated.

[ppheli]

Photo of engineers on scene fitting new blade here (http://www.thisislocallondon.co.uk/news/topstories/display.var.646947.0.air_ambulance_grounded.php)

[quichemech]

Nice to see that no one was hurt and all is now sorted.

PA news,
you can't resist a dig can you. You really are not at all subjective when ever a 902 is mentioned. 2 weeks is pretty good going to do an annual by the way and it wouldn't involve any rectification work.

How much do Macalpines actually pay you?:eek:

[SilsoeSid]

I hear there's a bandwagon about to leave!!:E

Pretty unusual place for an annual eh PA News?
Looks like you missed this one and managed yet another of your anti-MD902 venomous posts.

Still, what an excellent crew of engineers they must be,

1400 - get the call
Drive to Welling High Street (3hrs 4mins according to Autoroute)
1800? - Arrive Location
2000 - A/C departs

:ok:
SS

[dr atkins]

I agree SS, the weekend crew did an excellent job.

If Macs had the maintenance contract the aircraft would have still been on the street Monday morning!!

It just shows how much safer the 902 is in the city environment where fod damage is a real danger. Imagine if the shop front sign had gone through the tail rotor of an EC145 or AS355 on landing. No such problems with a Notar aircraft.

Dr A

[PANews]

Attack from two people who might just be employed by the maintenance organisation that did such a good job in recovering the Explorer, at a fully commercial price, might just wash by.

You are not independent. The only difference is that I am willing to post transparent and take the stick. Or ignore the post. I have no hidden handle.

On many occasions I have stated that the aircraft is fine it is other aspects that draw criticism.

Years ago I was being put down by statements about the health of the programme like 'no one is interested' ... well wrong, they are interested and have been for a long time.

Operators are still very worried whether the support for the aircraft is up to scratch and as a result some of them are visibly voting with their feet. And this is not all Explorer the worry is across the product line. The eminence of the Explorer is that there are some with a vested interest in defending that product.

The length of time taken undertaking an annual could be a matter of question if one organisation claims four days and yet 2 weeks is 'pretty good going.' This is customer availability time. The customer is supposed to be important, and if he/she is happy with 7 weeks so be it.

It does not mean I am right, it means I am asking.

It does the Explorer case no real credit to blandly state that

'It just shows how much safer the 902 is in the city environment where fod damage is a real danger. Imagine if the shop front sign had gone through the tail rotor of an EC145 or AS355 on landing. No such problems with a Notar aircraft.'

Half truth seeking to negate the truth. The fact is that this whole thread hangs on FOD to EHMS. Fanciful 'ifs' about whether the sign went through the MRB or might have gone through the tail rotor of a different type that was not even there hardly apply when we have a 'proven' instance of FOD.

There is little doubt that NOTAR is less likely to suffer FOD but that is not to say there have never been instances of FOD to the NOTAR fan [or for that matter fan failure]. Rarer or not the resultant flight emergency is similar.

[dr atkins]

Here's one for the pilots then.

You are about to land in a city street on a HEMS mission. There is a shop 20ft to the left and 20 ft to the right. At 10ft from the floor you see a sizeable piece of shop frontage break off and rise over the main rotor disc.

Would you rather;

1. Be flying in a 902 with no risk to the yaw control.

2. Be in an 145 or 355 with the risk of the shop frontage knocking out the tail rotor resulting in a massive uncontrollable yaw which even the best pilot could not control probably resulting in a nasty roll over.


The one incident of in-flight notar fod damage took out 12 of the 13 blades and in the pilots own words "there was no evidence of loss of control".!!

PANews, why do you keep stating the Annual on EHMS took 7 weeks? I was personally involved with that check and it didn't take half that time. The main reason most of the 902 operators don't trust Eurocopter can be put down to the misinformation in your monthly rag. The 902 operators know how long an Annual check takes and know that your 7 week claims are laughable. Therefore they assume all the other quotes you come out with are laughable. I only know of one maintenance organisation who claims to be able to do a 902 annual in 4 days and they have recently lost quite a few contracts due to unhappy customers who would rather the job done properly than quickly!

As to the problems with MDHi I'm with you all the way PAN. I would love nothing more than the new owners to finally sort their sh1te out so that the 902 can once again be a real competitor to EC, Bell and Agusta. Patriarch have come up with a mission statement which I will not repeat here but looks on paper to be a modest and realistic way of rebuilding the company. There is no point in them playing the damage limitation game because the damage has already been sustained. They are instead opting for an actions speaks louder than words approach which the old MD management were not very good at. There will be no overnight recovery but I believe that there will now be a recovery.


Dr A

[Tony Chambers]

I think something posotive came from this incident in a funny kind of way. A HEMS helicopter arrives to an incident and is involved in its own emergency situation causing the Heli to make an emergency landing.

1. The woman that they we're called too still arrived at hospital in the required time, great work.
2. The Heli recieved minimal damage and landed safely without injury to any other person, great work by the crew.
3. The Heli was back in the air that same day, great work by the engineers.

I agree if it had not been a NOTAR then the circumstances may have been different but it was a NOTAR and the circumstance was as it was reported.

Excellent work by all and a posotive look on the incident, everyone was safe and London remains safe as long as those guys keep working, keep it up and well done.

TC

[Thomas coupling]

The 145 wouldn't land in those tight spots 'cos it's VTOL specs are ify. Plus it's bigger than the MD and EC135.

Also a piece of: "shop frontage????" would worry me if it started dancing with the MRB's never mind the TRB's!!!!

Anyway, I digress. What I have difficulty accepting is that the CAA allows a helicopter unlimited access to any busy street in the City?????

Using HEMS Jar Ops App1 to 3.005(d) (c). (2). (c). must by definition seriously minimise the choice of landing sites every time [dimensions from nearest obs being atleast 2D (daytime)].

Your 20' analogy Dr atkins is therefore unacceptable.

Anyone who cared to do an RA of this operation into some of these tight streets would deem it unacceptable in this day and age. :confused:

[MightyGem]

I agree if it had not been a NOTAR then the circumstances may have been different
In this incident being a NOTAR made no difference at all, as the FOD hit the MRB and not the tail.

[quichemech]

P A News,
Just for the record I am not employed by PAS, granted I have been, but am no longer.

4 days for an annual?

Would you care to supply the name of this Maintenance organisation, as that's pretty good going.

Didn't think it would take you long to bite, you still didn't say how much they pay you.;)

[PANews]

Another bite. In fairness I could not just ignore it before or now.

***********
..... why do you keep stating the Annual on EHMS took 7 weeks?

***********
The aircraft went into Staverton in early August [the 8th if I recall correctly] and remained there until very late September. It went in with a stated intention of being there 7 week 'for an annual.'
Armed with that allegation and the surrounding furore I sat back and counted off my diary, personally checked the roof of the Royal London and news reports. I only went 'public' when the 7 weeks had expired - as the aircraft returned to service.

In the meantime I paid attention. I rang around. I acertained that NO ONE claimed to be able to undertake an Explorer annual in less than two weeks.

I asked a range of maintenance organisations what their times were and got a range of replies. Four days for an EC135 under favourable circumstances [they claim to have done it and I guess someone on this forum will be aware of the truth of that claim] but realistically a week for that and at least that for the 355/117 era machines. Yes, including the 145, its not new you know ....

All this I said.

The question I raised [and it is all still on line] was why 7 weeks? Especially as it appeared that another Explorer was in for a similar length of time. No one sent me a reply. I asked.

If you were 'personally involved with that check' you may well not be exactly independent.

No one has to read the rag. Most of it is no more than a compendium of emergency services news stories from around the World it is only the English audience from way west that has a twitch about the odd paragraphs that mention EXPLORER. One page in 28, if that. More than the aircraft truly deserves [for its market penetration] but still of interest.

Money? That is true I did not say how much. But then you have not posted your identity or your wage slip. You would find the answer destroyed your insinuation - but I am not going there anyway.

And why Macs? Why not one of the real, current, advertisers? Smoke screen?

At least they answered the maintenance questions and as a result got the positive Eurocopter viewpoint in print.

[oldgit]

I must be really stupid but I can\'t actuallywork out what the problem is! London Hems lands in an uncontrolled environment ( as it has thousands of times befoore) and for the 3rd time in 18 years of operation picks up a bit of FOD. Is this news? I think not.
Vis a vis the argument between the MD camp and the Eurocopter camp, we are all losers. Eurocopter support is c**p, MD non-existent. For gods sake stop bickering amongst yourselves and pray that this p**s poor industry wakes up and realises that to fly requires 3 things:

1. Serviceable Airframe (thanks engineering)
2. Serviceable Pilot
3. Ongoing tech support ( no thanks to eurocopter/MD/Agusta etc etc

[Droopy]

I'm not interested in the EC-MD slagging, but for the record quiche, our 135's last 3 annuals:-

2003............4 days inc. 100-hr SMI

2004............5 days inc. 400-hr

2005............4 days inc. C of A

Oh, and I don't work for them...or their sister company.

[Thomas coupling]

Quiche: 8 days for a: 400/800/annual/CofA. On average 4 days for just an annual! Get real will you?

Old Git: speak for yourself, look at the EC135 availability stats year on year on year: on average its around 97%.
ECD do a superb support job on the whole.

Trouble is, they're stealing the market...where's the competition for replacement light twins now? They could take advantage of the monopoly and that would be worrying.....................

[BigMike]

The competition is right here...

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a3/Micksphotos/429specs.jpg

... and you will get their great customer support with it.
We are getting 4 of them.

[MightyGem]

4 days for an annual?
4 days for our 135's last annual, including CofA.

[ppheli]

BigMike - and when exactly are you expecting these? Currest estimate for JAA cert is 2009... That's a long time to wait...

[stas-fan]

what is the best guess cost of them when they turn up? My 145 is going to be the other side of $5m?

[BigMike]

ppheli:
you get out of the wrong side of the bed this morning? or do you work for Eurocopter? Who said they were going to Europe...
Why dosn't the JAA take part in the US certification so it's approved by both at the same time? Wouldn't that make sense for everyone?

stas-fan:
Standby, will be talking to the person who pays the bills tonight.

I hope MD do make a comeback. The guys here were quite impressed with the Explorer, just lack of support at the time was the problem I think. Medical crew loved it for the large cabin.
NOTAR is a big plus for safety when landing on primary missions.

[MightyGem]

4 days for our 135's last annual, including CofA
Hmmm...I'm sure I posted this in a thread about the LAA. And now it's here...spooky. :eek:

[ppheli]

BigMike. Thank you for your inaccurate analysis. Your signature states you are in the Czech republic, and your recent postings on page 76 of that amazing thread 'ROTORHEADS AROUND THE WORLD' : Photo Gallery (http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=76347&pagenumber=76) (2nd November) show that you are in the Czech Republic and operating a Bell 427. It is thus quite reasonable to assume the company that employs you would quite likely want 429s to replace 427s so your "we are getting 4 of them" ties up nicely.

So, I then recall a conversation I had with a Bell employee at Helitech, who told me that deliveries were targetting FAA cert in 2007, EASA cert in 2008/9 being in mind the extra work for the IFR aspects, and thus likely European deliveries from 2009. It might well make sense for EASA/JAA (or whatever they are called this month) to team up with the FAA, but that sounds very radical for them, and even more for Bell.

Given that I have no links with Eurocopter or any other manufacturer at all, perhaps you will tell me which facts in my analysis are wrong. Is Bell wrong?? Why would they have quoted me bad dates if they have told you better ones? Maybe I'm not as high up the pecking order as your operation, given that you are a well established Bell customer

My conclusion from your analysis is that I must have got out of bed the wrong side.. funny that, my wife didn't tell me I crawled out over the top of her this morning ;)

PS. Are they taking your 427s and 206LT in part exchange?

Edited for spelling misteak



Edited.
Please don't mention companies you suspect people work for. It's up to members to decide for themselves how much they wish to reveal about their employment.

Heliport

[SilsoeSid]

PA News;
Armed with that allegation and the surrounding furore I sat back and counted off my diary, personally checked the roof of the Royal London and news reports. I only went 'public' when the 7 weeks had expired - as the aircraft returned to service.

In the meantime I paid attention. I rang around. I acertained that NO ONE claimed to be able to undertake an Explorer annual in less than two weeks.

I asked a range of maintenance organisations what their times were and got a range of replies. Four days for an EC135 under favourable circumstances [they claim to have done it and I guess someone on this forum will be aware of the truth of that claim] but realistically a week for that and at least that for the 355/117 era machines. Yes, including the 145, its not new you know ....

Someone looking in from the outside, could get the impression that your actions are the sort that may be used for subversive means.

Making diary notes, watching helipads, phoning units on serviceabilities / downtimes and then making that information available to whoever calls!

Making such close notes on when Air Ambulances and Police Helicopters are offline is, IMHO, pretty suspicious and that sort of information in the wrong hands could lead to some very well timed incidents!!!

Who, if not Macs, does pay you? :suspect:

:hmm:
SS

[md 600 driver]

pp heli does not work for eurocopter and i dont work for md [just in case you asked steve

[BigMike]

ppheli:
Why the sarcastic tone in the first place? All I did was point out that the 429 will be an alternative to the 135 and the company I work for is purchasing 4. Why do you care when we get them? Our owner is on the advisory board for the 429, so maybe he knows a little more than others?
Some aircraft may, or may not, be based in Europe, but the future commercial operations of this company have nothing to do with anyone on this forum. I don't make a big secret about who I work for, but it's really up to me if I want to state that here thanks.

"inaccurate analysis" err, of what?
The Explorer hasn't got a large cabin? Having a NOTAR is not safer than a conventional tail-rotor when landing at crowded accident sites? or that the Explorer is not a good helicopter?
I have no bias to any make, just the best machine for the role. They are all fun to fly.

[dr atkins]

I wouldn't worry too much BM. Some people out there just like to knock what they don't know about simply because they see new types or superior types as a threat to there current ride. Others such as PANews have an obvious commercial interest in one particular manufacturer and will use any rumour or half truth to try and steer the unknowing into their mode of thinking.

For example, PAN has persistently stated that the London Hems machine was on an Annual for 7 weeks and the aircraft was delivered back to HEMS end of September. Well I checked today and the paperwork for the annual(a legal document) wasn't raised until the 5th of September. Given that this is normally done a week before the work commences and even with my rubbish maths I still can't see how he manages to make 7 weeks!!! This is prity typical of his way of spreading rumours. His next question will predictably be where was it for the other 4 weeks it was absent from the hospital roof. Well this is an answer only the HEMS team can answer.

I had a look at the 429 mock up at Helitech 05 and it sure does look a real competitor to the current EMS types available. 2008 is a long way off for certification but I'm sure we'll be hearing lots more about them in the mean time. BM, you could always stick them on an N reg if you couldn't wait.

Dr A


Just for the record I'm actually a big Eurocopter fan having worked on AS 355's and BO 105's for 10 years now and more recently a few EC135's. It's just MD knocking Eurocopter stooges I don't like!!!

[quichemech]

PAN

Thanks for the bite.

Gentlemen

Just for information, an Annual on a 135 is not really comparable to an annual/Periodic inspection on a 902. The way the maintenance programme from the manufacturer is written means that to compare like for like inspections would be: 135 800 Hr(yes I am aware that on calender time that is a Bi-annual).

Like Dr A, I too am a big Eurocopter fan, 4 of my 5 type ratings are on EC products.

Like wise, I also bite myself to PAN as it always seems to be a rather vindictive bashing that is put about with regard to the 902, which does, without doubt have faults as do various other types.

A little bit less of the constant knife might mean that a certain company in the mid-west would perhaps be a little more responsive to enquiries.:rolleyes:

[Mediahawk]

Can anybody clarify the role of the Bell 427? It seems kind of odd to introduce the 429 when the 427 is capable of the same things (at least it seems very similar)? Will Bell stop production of the 427 after the launch of the 429, or?

It's certainly my impression that the 427 lives its life outside the limelight... How come? It seems like a pretty solid design...

Thanks

- M

[BigMike]

I think the 429 is in response to the short comings of the 427, ie:
Not enough power (is there ever)
Rear cabin needs to be larger
Not certified IFR or true Cat A

Quite a bit of thought has gone in to the 429 and I think it will be successful, especially in the EMS role.

One of the good things about the 427 is it's relatively small size which enables us to land in tight spots close to the incident. The 429 is about the same size just a little taller.
For the pilot the 427 is really nice to fly with a normal cruise of about 125 kts at 85% Tq (100%Tq is Max Cont.) Believe it or not, the pilot seats are very comfortable. Thats right, Bell seats that don't screw up your back! It is very reliable helicopter too, with only the occasional glitch with avionics, and you have the great support from Bell. I enjoy flying it, but I've enjoyed every helicopter type I have flown, which has been a mixture of Robinson, MD, Bell, and Eurocopter.

[ppheli]

Heliport (and thus, by implication, to BigMike too) - sorry, I was not aware of that ruling about companies people work for and will bear it in mind in the future

Bell told me that the 427 will carry on once the 429 is out and about, and the 427 remains a VFR-only machine. The 429, on the other hand, should be an "IFR=I Follow Railways" machine from the start.

The also told me that the 429 internals are close to a 145 and rather more than a 135, but as I didn't have a tape measure with me at Helitech, I didn't check to know whether that was sales talk or not.

Either way, the more competition out there, the better - it keeps them all on their toes and not their laurels.

[JimL]

Of all the elements that BigMike has mentioned above, Certification in Category A is the most important - this element provides confidence that he helicopter can operate, without limitation, over a hostile environment.

Certification in Category A is required for operations in Performance Classes 1 & 2 by JAR-OPS 3.

CERTIFICATION

Helicopters certificated in accordance with FAR/JAR 29 are said to be in the Transport Category; helicopters certificated in accordance with FAR/JAR 27 are said to be in the Normal Category. (The break between FAR/JAR 27 and FAR/JAR 29 is 7,000lbs or 3,175kg - a helicopter certificated in accordance with FAR/JAR 27 is limited to 9 passengers)

Note: the precise certification standard of any helicopter type is governed by the revision status at the time that the type certificate was first issued. As certification standards develop, they are improved but are not applied retrospectively. It is considered that for Category A, amendment 39 of FAR/JAR 29 is a benchmark revision.

FAR/JAR 29 Category A

Category A is a certification standard which, by redundancy or design assessment to reduce the probability of failure, provides assurance of continued flight. Engine isolation ensures that one engine failure is unlikely to lead to a second, and fire in an engine compartment can be detected, contained and/or extinguished. These provisions give a level of confidence that the helicopter can be operated for continuous periods over a hostile environment.

Category A also requires the provision of performance data so that One Engine Inoperative (OEI) obstacle clearance from take-off, through climb, cruise and landing can be calculated; this data includes: mass related take-off and landing procedures; heliport/helideck size limitations; distances and climb gradients (or rates of climb); and one-engine inoperative climb performance graphs. From these procedures and graphs an operator/pilot can establish a complete OEI flight trajectory.

Although the helicopter is highly manoeuvrable in the slow speed regimes and can take-off from extremely small sites, its relative inefficiency - with respect to fixed wing - in the climb and cruise means it has a limited performance envelope. This is sometimes manifested as a single-engine height limitation or a requirement for reduction in the take-off or landing masses to achieve obstacle clearance. However, the helicopter’s flexibility ensures that it does not need a runway and can take off from obstacle rich confined sites, and elevated platforms, with operational payloads.

FAR/JAR 27 Category A

Light twins certificated in accordance with FAR/JAR 27 may be certificated to Category A in compliance with Appendix C of FAR/JAR 27. Appendix C calls up a number of requirements from FAR/JAR 29, which provide a similar (but not equivalent) level of airworthiness and the provision of performance data. It should not be assumed that all light twins certificated in accordance with FAR/JAR 27 have been certificated to Category A (even if performance data is provided or available).

It is my understanding that the B429 should be the first helicopter that will be provided with data (distances) to enable (simple) compliance with Operations in Performance Class 2 - both onshore and offshore.

Jim

[huntnhound]

What is PAN anyway? Lots of discussion about it .
The only PAN I know of is to be found in the smallest room in the house:O

[dr atkins]

PAN = Police Aviation News which is written by PANews on this forum. PANews is an ex-Police ASU copper who now has very close ties with Eurocopter and Mcalpines. Most of the articles in PAN are simply cut and pasted quotations from more reputable magazines. Any articles he writes himself tend to be very anti to any aircraft manufacturer who isn't based in France and Germany. Just read through the last 12 editions and tell me where he has a bad word against Eurocopter. Yeah, the answer is none.

Having close ties with MDHi myself I can see just how untrue the majority of his anti MD articles are. Now that the industry has got to know him and his creative style of writing they are very wary of speaking to him thus the majority of his information comes from pro EC operators. He has even stated elsewhere in this forum that "if the non-Eurocopter manufactures and operators would speak to him his articles would be more accurate"!!!!!!!

All I will say is read PAN by all means but take it with a fistful of salt. If an article catches your eye then you can investigate it further through more impartial sources.

Dr A

[huntnhound]

Dr A,

Thanks for the info. Is PAN for sale in the newsagents or would I have to go to a trade show to get a copy?

HnH

[whoateallthepies]

Police Aviation News (or Mcalpines news as we used to call it) is available here www.policeaviationnews.com

You can subscribe by email

Good Luck

[FloaterNorthWest]

PANews has even used information displayed on this forum to fill the pages of his publication.

FNW

[John Eacott]

Thanks for the link: that's my old man on page 9, next to the B47!!! :D :ok:

[Trevor KC]

Hi Guys and Gals

Trying to get my hands on a MD 902 Explorer flight manual.

Any ideas?

Thanks

[Thud_and_Blunder]

What, as in a fully updated, amended copy? Only if you either:

- work for an employer who owns one, or

- buy one yourself!

[tomotomp]

I belive that you can download one from the add below
http://216.19.207.5/Rotorcraft/Models/MD900_Technical.htm

[Trevor KC]

Thud and Blunder:

No, it would be a one off. I've just looked at the MD publications website - a one off is $110!!

I'm not so sure now!

Tomotomp:

Thanks for that, although that deals mainly with maintenance manuals

[FloaterNorthWest]

Trevor KC,

Seeing as you are in Wiltshire I assume you are looking at a 902 with 206E engines?

You can get it free from the MD website by registering. If you have trouble PM me and I will send you a copy.

FNW.

[Choppersquad]

md 900 pilots can you tell me the cruise speed of the md900 . and are they a good machine for corporate use.

thanks
cs

[OHWDOHNTORKSOFT]

CS,

I've been flying the MD902 / 900 for the last five years. I currently fly a private MD900. It will cruise at 120kts IAS at 75% TQ. It's very smooth and quiet. For the size of the a/c it has a good cabin size. We can take 5 pax comfortably, six if we put the front middle seat back in. It's not thje best machine for long sectors, it's lack of speed shows, but generally it's not too bad. Plenty of twin engine power and with the aux tank full you get two hours useable flying with 35 mins in reserve. Back up and spares have been the real problem over the last few years, but things have improved more recently, although it needs to get much better. Personnally, I'd be looking at an MD902 on the G-reg. Some of the N-reg machines are lacking when it comes to IFR, but obviously depends on the individual machine. Definately worth considering. PM me if you want.

[mfriskel]

I have been able to consistantly get 140 KTAS at @ 90% TQ over the last year. This has been from SL up to 13,500 and very consistant at usual T/O weights fo 5700-6000 on ferry flights. Usually 65-70% will give you a cruise of 125KIAS with a fuel burn of 500pph, 85-90% will give you another 10+ KIAS with a 100 PPH burn rate increase.
Currently you are limited to 100 KIAS above 6250 pounds, but that will go away soon. In the EXP program we get 6500 pound Vh better than 135 KIAS at DAs below 5000. We were given a limit of 126 KTAS for a demonstration program, and with 6500 pounds and external hoist installed we achieved that with mid-70s on TQ.
This info is with 207E engines installed. Also of intrest, 100% TQ is available up to above 8,000 ft DA before hitting any yellow EGT.
Cheers
Mark

[Flyting]

I've just started training onto the 902 and was wandering if anyone knows of an interactive training program I can use?
Something that covers the IIDS and 2ndary display, and all emergies/warnings/failures.

Something like what Eurocopter has for the 120 & 350...

[Flyting]

Can anyone tell me why there is a PUSH sticker on either side of the tail boom of the 902???

I can't find any thing printed on this :ugh:

[gixer6]

For ground handling when the wheels are fitted. The vertical fins have no push decals on them

[SilsoeSid]

I'f love to know more about this pushing of the tail boom, very intriguing :confused:

http://www.mdhelicopters.com/publications/pdf/Tech_Pubs/902rfm/fm207pdf/fm207e/sec08/sec08a.pdf

Manually move helicopter on ground handling wheel set by balancing tailboom and pushing on rear fuselage portion of airframe.

[Flyting]

In exactly the same place on the 520 it says NO PUSH.......?!