Interesting start procedure...

[BigMike]

Is this a fairly common way to start a 500 in N. America?

YouTube - Hughs 500 startup Pilot John Paden (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Hek0WHYjnw&feature=related)

[Impress to inflate]

Starting up outside is only asking for trouble. If anything goes wrong wrong, try explaining it to the insurance company !!

[helimutt]

You could always make a quick getaway, walking away quickly and say it wasn't you if something does go wrong.:ok:

[VfrpilotPB/2]

TTTTTTooo Rissssky,

unless of course you stood on the skid so you could clamber on board to settle down any out of balance problems,!!!... but on the whole I think that I would be seated and belted, call me old fashioned but.. would you people do that?


Peter R-B
Vfrpilotpb/2:eek::uhoh::ouch:

[DoinTime]

What are you all talking about, this is how I was shown and it is the way I do it. Especially when it is hot weather out side. That way i only hope in when I ready to go.......:ok::ok::ok:

[TukTuk BoomBoom]

yeah pretty dumb, a bit of a show-off i think.
Its a really long start too, if it was my machine id be getting the FCU adjusted.
Ive seen doosh-bag mustering pilots do this in Oz too with Robbies.
Always want to be in the seat on start

[Scissorlink]

Yeah Start bit to slow for sure :p

[Encyclo]

I beleive air regs in my part of the world say: "pilot seat must be occupied by a person which can control the aircraft".

Can't check that box :=

[Aesir]

Hehe you guy´s crack me up :)

Check these crazy maniacs out, and no one in the drivers seat :eek:

YouTube - Tractor start with Shotgun Cartirage (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rh1lxbelxVI&feature=related)

[xraydice]

Hah ! certainly not on a UK field , No Hi-vz ! ear defenders?? H&S police would love that and definatly not in proper control.

[SASless]

Perhaps the only really unsafe thing in the film is he left the aft door unlatched. The rest was just plain stupid.....but then I have seen worse things in the woods.

I have seen a Hiller Soloy cranked up on a trailer by a pilot doing as the one in the film did....and then he walked over to the office trailer for a cup of coffee while the ol' Hiller whined away on the trailer that was not attached to a tow vehicle and thus had no brakes.:mad::mad:

I asked him to have a bit of pity on me....as his Chief Pilot I would have to be the one to explain to the FAA just exactly how his aircraft ran off the bluff at Ground Idle without him in it.:ugh:

Then I came up with a grand idea.

I told him if that ever happened....I would bring a Micky Mantle thirty-six inch Slugger Baseball Bat to the "crash" scene and beat hell out of him until he looked as if he had been in the aircraft when he lost control and crashed.:ok:

[heliduck]

Good solution SASLESS!! I'll use that one in the future if you don't have a patent on it.

Helicopters can be compared to horses - never walk around the back lest you be kicked & if it's ready to gallop you'd better be strapped to its' back!! At least the camera man wasn't sitting under the tail rotor while filming, so they obviously have a healthy safety culture:rolleyes:

[CRAZYBROADSWORD]

tis a bit daft esp when 500's have sprung pedals with no feet on them they rest in the full left pedal position so I hope it's on firm ground.

[Bootneck]

Fuel on, brakes on, throttle closed, switches off

To which the ground crew would occasionally append, "and make sure they stay that way." :ok:


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v77/Robiz/cx411/Chipmunk1975.jpg

[SASless]

Crazy,

Normally one pulls the locking pin from one pedal and then turn the pedal around to block the pedals thus relieving the stress on the tail rotor and keeping the pedals in neutral.

[stonedigger]

I like how he winds the throttle on to full noise and then ties his shoe laces :ugh:

[Scissorlink]

I like how he winds the throttle on to full noise and then ties his shoe laces


You guys spend much time around 500's ??

[SASless]

He read a Lessons Learned write up by Nick Lappos on the topic of tying boot laces.:E

[inmate]

Bootneck,
That takes me back, my first life working at Plymouth Airport with the Navy basic training and Airwork. (1967) Love the old Chipmunk but never did get to fly one after I crossed the line to the flight side.
We actually looked after a guys aeroplane from Truro (Trumane??) been a long time.
Anyway thanks for the flash back.
And yes have been caught out by some dumb student who really left the switches on, always paid to swing the prop with caution.
Fly Safe
Oh and the 500 starter,he obviously has thumb in bum and head to follow shortly. What an idiot.

[RVDT]

In the "old days" of venison recovery/live capture in New Zealand this probably happened with 40 different aircraft on any one day!

Don't you love people's assessment of risk "assumptions" by the uninformed. How much difference would it make it if the pilot was in the pilot seat?

[inmate]

RVDT,
In 35+ years of flying I cannot ever think of an occasion when it was neccessary for me to stand outside of the helicopter and start it.
We all have started, frictioned down and then got out but not as dipicted.
Now I am open minded so how about explaining the rational behind the need for the pilot not to "be in the seat" as you have stated.

As for the "the old days" and the NZ venison capture methods of operation that we should save for another thread and another day.
Fly and start safe

[Aesir]

It seems that many here do wonder why the person in the video is not seated in the helcopter during start and eager to pass judgement on that person.

It is not at all unusual to have a instructor montoring and demonstrating start procedure to students (seated inside) while standing outside on the left skid.

However in this instance my guess is that the person starting the helicopter is a A&P mechanic starting the helicopter and wanting to be outside to monitor either for leaks or unusual noise.

[Freewheel]

I cannot think of a scenario where the scene depicted is acceptable, but then I do prefer to wait for a rotor to wind down before hopping out, even without a brake. Each to their own I suppose but it's not the way I'd be doing it.


Aesir,

I hope your final paragraph is tongue in cheek. If an engineer wants to do a ground run and observe leaks, a pilot can usually be found nearby. Generally speaking, pilots can easily be convinced to sit in the seat and make the right noises - sometimes even using the aircraft...


For training up a pilot inexperienced on turbines or type (I've never had an ab initio student get into a 500/Jetranger/Squirrel but I'm sure it happens), a full and proper brief on the techniques and cautions of the start is much better than standing outside hoping to be able to rescue the situation if the engine starts to melt. I prefer to use this method followed by a taxi, shut down and a second start for reinforcement. Does run up an extra cycle, but it shouldn't go beyond the average.

[Scissorlink]

Actually its probably safer to be doing what this guy did, I mean if it goes up in a ball of flame you can make a quick getaway :ok:. Imagine if your buckled in, door closed, pedals unlocked, you'd be toast, then you'd probably trip on yourself getting out the door giving your skull a good crack on the pad.

[Reefdog]

When in the mustering game used to start H-300 C's seated and then exit to check for oil leaks and to warm up the body near the exhaust (christ it used to get cold in the mornings) and once it was warmed up get back in strap up and then engage the clutch/rotors and away. Never started a machine like this bloke,,asking for trouble me thinks...

know a person that engaged the clutch on a 300 while outside and stalled the engine,,, didnt realigned the drag on the rotors, as a result on the restart and re-engage of rotors got ground resonance ( was in the machine this start) and the machine killed itself....LESSON learnt.

As some one said,that was a long start,,dont think that starter/geny is going to last to much longer

keep em in the green

[neat12]

there was a Jet Ranger in the red centre, that chopped the tail off from spinning on loose gravel, when the throttle was opend too quickly, the PIC was on the skids at the time.

This was around 10 yrs ago? they managed to replace the tail section, being flying ever since through out Victoria.

Just blows my mind hearing storys like this, just for the sake of 2 mins to belt up and prepare yourself for the job at hand.

[Heli-kiwi]

I see the video has been removed from Youtube......Feeling guilty perhaps?