Robinson R44
Talking about the SB for the fuel bladder tank to my local aviation authority about a year ago they told me that neither them nor the EASA saw any use in turning it into an AD. One year later they suddenly do.
What about all those other helicopter in the world flying around without fuel bladder tanks? Our H300 doesn't have one either. Will we have to replace those tanks as well pretty soon?
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If you read the PAD it is very clear why they are making this an AD. In July last year a helicopter crashed in the US and it had bladder tanks fitted, The aluminium shell was badly damaged but the bladders held out fine and there was no post crash fire,
IF you read the SB it explains all about the bladder tanks. You take the old tanks off and bin them and fit the new tanks that have bladders installed inside, Expect each aircraft to cost around £10,000 by the time you've bought the tanks had them fitted (40 hours labour) and then got the new tanks painted.
IF you read the SB it explains all about the bladder tanks. You take the old tanks off and bin them and fit the new tanks that have bladders installed inside, Expect each aircraft to cost around £10,000 by the time you've bought the tanks had them fitted (40 hours labour) and then got the new tanks painted.
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http://www.ntsb.gov/doclib/recletters/2014/A-14-001.pdf
Read that NTSB report. It explains why EASA acted.
Read that NTSB report. It explains why EASA acted.
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IF you read the SB it explains all about the bladder tanks. You take the old tanks off and bin them and fit the new tanks that have bladders installed inside
pulling about 26 inches, at over 2,000ft indicated, and 90+ knots. RPM drops to 80% or so, lights on horn blaring, and still over 25" on the MAP gauge for almost 30 seconds?
I'd say this RPM loss was caused by a severe case of stuck collective. And by that I mean, he had it stuck in his armpit.
I'd say this RPM loss was caused by a severe case of stuck collective. And by that I mean, he had it stuck in his armpit.
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Think it has been done over before and yes the excess power is noted, however isn't Max continuous about 24"? Nevertheless the slow airspeed at the power shown would indicate a fair load.
The compass and airframe vibrations are very indicative of engine malfunction of some sort. This could be driven by the high power usage giving the engine cabinet and CHT high readings - then if there is a soft spot in the valve area one could easily have a valve stem get grippy or a valve guide get loose, each of which can recover to be virtually undetectable on a mag check immediately afterwards.
Of course these valve problems can strike any time especially if the valve guides are either overdue for a ream or it wasn't reamed properly before WRT operating in a warm environment.
Or it may have been a magneto breaking down with the plugs on the other side not working too well.
So, yes if he is using a higher than acceptable power, flying along with a it won't happen to me or he hasn't worked it out and is too brain dead to do so attitude, then he deserves what happened, his pax did not.
The totally unacceptable bit here is that he continued in cruise throttle setting for some time after the usual half second allowed to get one's emergency thoughts in order. I found myself with my left hand almost dropped my coffee as I automatically was grabbing for the lever and heart thumping soon as I saw the vibes.
There were plenty of places to land at, particularly, he was stupid in placing himself into a low level auto area and therefore placing himself and pax in jeopardy every time a copse of trees flashed by thus excluding safe sites. That was just not on.
In this case he should have immediately entered a low power descent steering toward a selected site as would have been seen on video, landed and then asked for help and shut down until help arrived. No excuses.
For the sake of any future hapless pax for this pilot and operating company I sincerely hope that the regulatory agencies have done something positive with firstly a number ten boot to their posterior, next sent them back for some reading of the AFM and then some revision of general safety flying procedures with an instructor.
Also of great importance the regulatory airworthiness mob should have on their desk a maintenance defect report of the problem and how it was solved, bet they haven't.
It is a good video to repost for mentoring purposes.
The compass and airframe vibrations are very indicative of engine malfunction of some sort. This could be driven by the high power usage giving the engine cabinet and CHT high readings - then if there is a soft spot in the valve area one could easily have a valve stem get grippy or a valve guide get loose, each of which can recover to be virtually undetectable on a mag check immediately afterwards.
Of course these valve problems can strike any time especially if the valve guides are either overdue for a ream or it wasn't reamed properly before WRT operating in a warm environment.
Or it may have been a magneto breaking down with the plugs on the other side not working too well.
So, yes if he is using a higher than acceptable power, flying along with a it won't happen to me or he hasn't worked it out and is too brain dead to do so attitude, then he deserves what happened, his pax did not.
The totally unacceptable bit here is that he continued in cruise throttle setting for some time after the usual half second allowed to get one's emergency thoughts in order. I found myself with my left hand almost dropped my coffee as I automatically was grabbing for the lever and heart thumping soon as I saw the vibes.
There were plenty of places to land at, particularly, he was stupid in placing himself into a low level auto area and therefore placing himself and pax in jeopardy every time a copse of trees flashed by thus excluding safe sites. That was just not on.
In this case he should have immediately entered a low power descent steering toward a selected site as would have been seen on video, landed and then asked for help and shut down until help arrived. No excuses.
For the sake of any future hapless pax for this pilot and operating company I sincerely hope that the regulatory agencies have done something positive with firstly a number ten boot to their posterior, next sent them back for some reading of the AFM and then some revision of general safety flying procedures with an instructor.
Also of great importance the regulatory airworthiness mob should have on their desk a maintenance defect report of the problem and how it was solved, bet they haven't.
It is a good video to repost for mentoring purposes.
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The word around the traps in Australia was that it was a failed magneto. There has been a couple of magneto issues recently that CASA are examining. This appears to have been one of them.
Lots of discussion also about where to put it down, or how far to 'continue'.
Lots of discussion also about where to put it down, or how far to 'continue'.
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TBO engine up to 2200 hours
Finally some good news for the R44 operators: Lycoming Eliminates “Frequent” Use Requirement on 2200 TBO for Robinson Helicopters.
News
News
What would cause a R44 to blow hydraulic fluid out of the vented cap on the reservoir? The machine makes a big mess inside the gearbox compartment and the fluid level drops below the sight glass within 1 or 2 flight hours.
I think I had the same problem at one time. I had to replace the reservoir. Seems to me it was caused by the internal bladder leaking inside the reservoir, allowing fluid to leak out of the vent.
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R44 Clipper II
We need to perform the pop-out float inflation check on our R44 Clipper II. Is there any other place in Europe where you can refill the bottle afterwards. The shipping costs to RHC are a little bit high.
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@ spunk
Try these guys - www.ablsrl.com - they did a good job on our float sets.
They are near Rome, Italy.
Well, the sets were for bigger Helis but you can ask them if they do the Flimsicopter ones as well.
Try these guys - www.ablsrl.com - they did a good job on our float sets.
They are near Rome, Italy.
Well, the sets were for bigger Helis but you can ask them if they do the Flimsicopter ones as well.
S-Tec introduces Robinson R44 Autopilot
S-Tec introduced a version of its HeliSAS helicopter stability augmentation system and autopilot for the Robinson R44 series, bringing big-helicopter capability to the piston rotorcraft market for the first time.
The system's two-axis autopilot provides heading and nav hold as well as vertical speed and altitude hold modes. HeliSAS provides attitude stabilization and force feel features that improve handling and mitigate inadvertent cyclic control inputs that could result in dangerous attitudes.
In addition to the R44 series the HeliSAS system is certified for installation on Bell 206B, 206L and 407 helicopters as well as the Airbus Helicopters EC130 and AS350.
HeliSAS for the Robinson R44 series is priced at $40,752 for SAS only and $50,279 for SAS with two-axis autopilot. S-Tec parent company Genesys Aerosystems said today at Oshkosh that deliveries are scheduled to start in the fourth quarter.
The system's two-axis autopilot provides heading and nav hold as well as vertical speed and altitude hold modes. HeliSAS provides attitude stabilization and force feel features that improve handling and mitigate inadvertent cyclic control inputs that could result in dangerous attitudes.
In addition to the R44 series the HeliSAS system is certified for installation on Bell 206B, 206L and 407 helicopters as well as the Airbus Helicopters EC130 and AS350.
HeliSAS for the Robinson R44 series is priced at $40,752 for SAS only and $50,279 for SAS with two-axis autopilot. S-Tec parent company Genesys Aerosystems said today at Oshkosh that deliveries are scheduled to start in the fourth quarter.
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R44 Raven II FCU
There have now been 60+ reported failures of the washer in the FCU. Symptoms reported include: stiff throttle or lack of anticipated power. Has anyone got reports of this or had maintenance carried out?
Pics of debris which can migrate to the injector and reduce fuel flow at the cyclinder are on the following:
http://www.caa.govt.nz/Airworthiness...CAN_73-003.pdf
http://www.casa.gov.au/wcmswr/_asset...awb/73/007.pdf
Pics of debris which can migrate to the injector and reduce fuel flow at the cyclinder are on the following:
http://www.caa.govt.nz/Airworthiness...CAN_73-003.pdf
http://www.casa.gov.au/wcmswr/_asset...awb/73/007.pdf
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