Helicopter Aeros & Display Flying

[overpitched]

Apollo

Thanks for that. On the quick clip I saw it looked like he was doing quite a good speed as there seemed to be a lot of water flying around and the skids looked like they were actually skipping along the water. Do you remember what speed the stunt was performed at ??

I would love to get some decent footage of it as the tiny clip I saw looked very impressive

[deeper]

Overpitched,

Actually the helicopter went a bit close to the water and the vertical tail fin or the rear of the skid did touch the suface.

It was a Kiowa from memory and it was very close to going in.

I have a video of a night aerobatics display in an aeroplane it is quite spectacular.

Deeper.

[Apollo 100]

Overpitched: Deeper is absolutely correct about it being a Kiowa (B206 B1) and it was most likely the stinger (the bar underneath the tailrotor) which probably went in the water a probably throwing up water into the tailrotor causing the spray. Couldn't be sure without seeing the video though. Hard to say what speed, I only vaguely remember it but I imagine about 60kts would probably be in the ballpark. Doing a stunt like that was not smart - nor a good example to more inexperienced pilots. There is a very good rule in display flying - your show should be as safe as houses whilst giving the illusion to the crowd that it is dangerous! In the UK your display is scrutinised before you are allowed to perform in public - any hint of a dangerous routine and "no show"

[overpitched]

From what I saw it was definately in the "don't try this at home folks" category

[Jacques Stahl]

Hey Apollo,

I didn't realise Charlie Zimmerman was dead - you are right, his displays were awesome. I still have a set of his wings which we swapped at a Heli-meet in UK in the eighties.

Those were the days![B]

[Apollo 100]

Charlie was one the the nicest guys you could ever meet. He was very modest about his amazing skills with a BO 105. I was told by someone (I think at an airshow in Berlin in 1992), but can't remember who, that he was killed in an accident. Can't verify that though. I hope it is not true but I fear it is.

[sycamore]

Reminds me of a time(39 yrs) when we used to dabble the nose-wheels of our trusty Whirlwinds(S-55) in the surf at 90 kts on the long beaches in Borneo. The crewman in the door would usually get wet.......As you got lower , there was a reflected swishing noise from the rotors, which would increase in pitch the closer you flew to the surface.....probably Doppler frequency shift....but it allowed you to judge contact very precisely!!!!

And then, we did it at night.................!!, until we came back with a fishermans` mist net wrapped around the wheels.......!!!

However,that was then, this is now ,and I would never condone 20yr old helo pilots doing such a thing!!!!

[Vfrpilotpb]

At a CAA safety meet about 2 years ago, a video was shown of a pilot who was flying an R22 behind a speedboat and he appeared to try and dip his skids into the pond, what seems like three frames later the same pilot was breaking the surface gasping for breath, Neptune grabbed him within the blink of an eye!

[SilsoeSid]

Sorry for the delay, I said I would post here, but not when! I first posted this in the 'rotorheads gallery'

Sutton Bank, North Yorkshire.





edited to re-insert the pic as the link was lost.

[Aser]

Just to add wood to the fire...

Loops and rolls in a CH-53

http://www.augustoheli.com/videos/vi...3_RollLoop.zip

[nickel]

360 degrees vertical loop

Hi all,

Ok, maybe the maneuver I will ask about doesn't have any practical use but still...

I have looked at 360 degree loop videos like http://youtube.com/watch?v=53y8An1zAsc or for a Ch53 http://youtube.com/watch?v=VC2E8RJE3Jo .

I am curious if it is possible to make such a loop from hover (from 0 initial speed case). If you would pull the stick back fully it would create a continous torque on the rotor and this should result in a turn. You would loose altitude pretty fast but assuming the starting altitude is high enough it should be makeable.

It would look cool if you are trying to show off! I, however, don't remember seeing such a thing. Is it just too dangerous or simply impossible? What would happen if you try this?

[RVDT]

Do you mean like this? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIiFmHfdg-c
It is not a circular loop but is 360 deg of course.

[mountjoy]

I think its called a 'shuttlecock' saw a lynx do it at farnborough last year. From a standstill to following in lie/formation with 3/4 gazelles.

MJ

[nickel]

360 degrees vertical loop

RVDT: Yes that's what I meant exactly. I somehow failed to find a video like this and was trying to figure out why it can't be done Thanks for the video the maneuver looks cool.

[wg13_dummy]

The Lynx carries out a manoeuvre called the 'Back Flip'. From the hover, it rotates pretty much around the tail rotor, vertically through 360 degrees. One of the advantages of a semi-rigid rotor head.

[nickel]

why semi-rigid rotor head?

wg13_dummy: Why is it an advantage of semi-rigid rotor head? Shouldn't other rotor heads be able to do the same given enough power?

[wg13_dummy]

Yes, but you have less chance of chopping your own tail off with a semi rigid arrangement.

[somepitch]

i don't know about that! the semi-rigid head is the "teetering" head found on bells and the like...i think they'd do a fairly good job of de-booming a machine performing aerobatics. i think you're referring to a fully rigid head such as the 105 and lynx have

[wg13_dummy]

The Lynx has a semi rigid head. The Bell teetering head is not really concidered a semi rigid in the true sense of the word. The Lynx uses the flexing properties of the Titanium head in lieu of hinges.

[spinwing]

Mmmmm ....

Well Karl Zimmermann was awarded an FAI Gold Rotorcraft Medal award in 1993 so I assume he was alive for that!

However I believe it was Ziggy Hoffmann who was killed in a Bo105 whilst doing some filmwork in the USA .... though can't remember when ???

I am of course ready to be corrected ... ...'twas such a long time ago.


Cheers