What is Bell 206 fuel flow hover OGE?

[Tinstaafl]

News helicopters have been hovering 500-1000' over the Orlando night club shooting site nearly continuously since it happened. Made me wonder how much fuel they'd be using to do it.

Anyone happen to know hover fuel flow for Bell 206? Not sure, but I think they're Longrangers. Temps have been around 30 deg C.

[John Eacott]

26USG/100lt per hour for a 206B, 206L will vary depending on the mark/engine. Anything from 120lt/hr to 150lt/hr from memory (or was that 180?).

[Never in Balance]

About 135-140lts for the 206L-1 and 3's with the C30's

[Tinstaafl]

Ta! Not as much as I thought it would be. Still not cheap though. There were 3 or more of them holding station for the last couple of days. It seemed some channels kept their heli there the whole time. Quick stop for fuel at KORL 1 minute away and back to it.

[krypton_john]

How does B407 consumption compare to B206L-4 for this scenario?

[Ascend Charlie]

Speaking of 407 burning fuel, I have found that the exhaust from a 407 stings my eyes, whereas a regular C20 or C30 doesn't have this effect. Neither does a LTS-101, PT6, T53-L13 or anything else.

Any body else felt this?

[krypton_john]

Strange. Maybe it's just your love of the design getting you misty eyed? ;-)

Ever stood downwind of an MD600?

[Evil Twin]

There were 3 or more of them holding station for the last couple of days. It seemed some channels kept their heli there the whole time. Quick stop for fuel at KORL 1 minute away and back to it.

Utter morons! What could they possibly think was going to happen?

[Tinstaafl]

It's the culture of breathless 'We're here on the spot' 24hr moment-by-moment over produced news media that's endemic here.

[Evil Twin]

.....and isn't that just the problem. 24 hr News isn't 24 hr news, it's actually 10 minutes of news on a permanent loop, with the talking heads quacking the mantra 'be scared, we're protecting you'. Just why I don't read the paper, listen to commercial radio or watch mainstream TV.

[Ascend Charlie]

Just why I don't read the paper, listen to commercial radio or watch mainstream TV.

Jeez, Evil, how do you find out what the Kardashians are up to??? And you are missing all those wonderful informative election ads.

[GoodGrief]

How does B407 consumption compare to B206L-4 for this scenario? 190-200 Liter/Hour

[belly tank]

I used to budget 6lb per minute on the 407, it was easy on the maths plus gave me a buffer.

In actual fact she used to burn 330lb /Hr or 5.5 lb a minute in normal operations.

One of my favourite singles!!:ok:

[Tinstaafl]

Thanks, everyone. I fly piston, TP & jet fixed wing so heli ops are a bit of an arcane art to me. However, I'm certainly aware that hovering OGE isn't exactly a good way to maximise endurance.

[Gomer Pylot]

OGE hover often uses no more, perhaps less, fuel than cruise. Normal cruise for most people is 80% torque, and you may be able to hover with that or less, depending on altitude, temperature, and weight. The yellow line for max cruise is 85%. I've hovered OGE at less, near sealevel, cool temps, and light. OTOH, hover OGE may not even be possible under less benign conditions. Weight is the biggest factor, of course. Get a 206 at max gross, and you may be barely able to hover IGE. The transition from IGE to OGE as you depart an offshore platform with no wind can be exciting in the summer when the SLF has lied to you about their weights.

[[email protected]]

Far better airmanship to fly small racetrack circuits - with a gyro stabilised camera you will still keep the picture but will use less fuel, be less likely to encounter IVRS or VRS and have some forward speed to use if the donkey stops.

[John Eacott]

Far better airmanship to fly small racetrack circuits - with a gyro stabilised camera you will still keep the picture but will use less fuel, be less likely to encounter IVRS or VRS and have some forward speed to use if the donkey stops.

crab@, much as airmanship is a factor it has to be combined with achieving the primary task. Racetrack patterns will not always keep the desired picture, indeed it will of necessity vary the image and very likely put obstructions into the image which will not earn the pilot any points with the newsroom.

As if that isn't enough reason to remain in the hover, the camera mount position on the 206 will always have a sour spot where the skids intrude and spoil the shot.

Hence hovering is a desirable facet of newsgathering from a helicopter.

[Ascend Charlie]

John, remember the Bad Old Days of a Continental mount out the side door - anything other than a hover was not appreciated. (Whatever happened to Christine? Did she transition across to small gyro nose mounts?)

[AnFI]

John are you suggesting that crab is not an expert in the fields he chooses to give advice in? i thought you recently told me you thought he made sense.

[Fantome]

maybe a bit behind the 8 ball but which Christine are you referring to/ CCD of Connair and her Tigerschmitt and horsing around with hay-burners?

[[email protected]]

Sorry AnFI - I missed your snide little reply to John's post - no more than I have come to expect from you.

John, I take your point but maybe shot variation would be preferable to the same picture where nothing is happening (usually because it is so far after the event) whilst the newsroom anchors fill TV hours with, usually, pointless speculation.

I based my opinion on countless hours of day and night searches with daytime TV/FLIR where the same POV was distinctly undesirable and long periods of hovering, especially at night with few references, were both fatiguing and heavy on fuel burn.

I suspect the other problem with the news gathering, especially in the US, is that every channel will have a camera helo in the air, all vying for the best shot.

[John Eacott]

crab@, different strokes and all that. Yes, a Sea King with gear up and a relatively unobstructed view all round from the FLIR, plus a very different task, will benefit from a racetrack.

A news Bell 206 (which is, after all, the topic of this thread) will not achieve the primary task of newsgathering by mucking around with the image unless at the specific request of someone higher up the foodchain. They actually like the same picture filling the monitor back in the newsroom, it gives a reference for the story.

[[email protected]]

Roger that - must be mind-numbingly tedious though - other than the constant fear of VRS, engine failure, TR failure, fire etc:ok:

[John Eacott]

Roger that - must be mind-numbingly tedious though - other than the constant fear of VRS, engine failure, TR failure, fire etc:ok:
No, no, no. Dontcha know that only happens in twins ;)