Are engine failures always recoverable in helicopters?

[Gordy]

Question--

Just for sh1ts and giggles---How many documented cases, worldwide, of engine failure on take off have there been in the last five years?

[VeeAny]

Gordy

Having just checked the database there a quite a few in both twins and singles.

I can't post a link as the way I filtered it throws up all kinds of other accidents involing engine failure or power loss, not just on take off.

If I manage to cut it down to a sensible list I'll post a link up here.

And a few others that involve operating in the shaded area of the HV Diagram one of which hospitalised a very experienced instructor over here in the UK.

Hardly a quantitative answer like you wanted but definitely more than none.

GS

[busdriver02]

Another thought, those max performance take offs/ high hovers for no reason.... what if instead of an engine failure, you lose part of the tail rotor drive system? Think you can recover that?

[newfieboy]

Here, here Busdriver, I totally agree. I also agree 100% with Shawn.You boys doing 100ft zero airspeed in R22, or any machine, setting yourself up to get bit in the Ass bigtime.We do them every 6 months recurency, cos we have to. Most of our work is in the dead mans curve. And thats in machines with a little more user freindly than a robbie.Mind you we all hate it, even when prepared. I got over 10,000 hours, aprox 85% of that over the Boreal Forest or Zero reference in the artic on longline moving drills, 4000lb pieces in the hover while the riggers set pieces, not a good place to be. But ya know what, I get paid good money to do it, also know the consequences if I lose an engine.Not gonna be good for sure,I accept it cos I minimize the risk everyturn by having a plan, maybe gotta take the big trees only option. you guys doing it in an R22 on Utube all fine and dandy, airport, taxiway, run on landings, yeah great. try an engine failure for real operationally, you;re on the ground before you even get to punch the load.I know, cos I been there. I know alot of guys over in Canada had one, some die some get hurt, no one I know walked away without a visit to the local ER . You guys think your cool posting that on Utube, right, we can all pull tricks at a nice big airport. Like I said, operationally in the real world, you likely gonna kill yourself. If you think you can get away with it cos you pulling stunts like that over an airport, light, with a place to go, and ready for it, forget it. Come on down to Canada, fly with an operational check pilot in the real world. Think you in for a big eye opener.

[Two's in]

I think it's fair to say that Military training is pretty much fixated on emergencies because guess what, when someone is shooting at you, you are likely to have an unscheduled exciting moment when it all goes quiet. In all that training, whether single engine or twin engine, the avoid curve is hammered home as a place to really; well avoid actually. Whatever the flight mode when the engine failure occurs, if you are in the unhappy part of the performance graph, stand by to be the first on the scene of the accident in a short space of time.

Just to reinforce the point made by several others, if commercial and military pilots only operate within the avoid curve due to absolute neccessity and fully understanding the risks involved, it's certainly one of life's mysteries why a PPL in a machine whose performance could best be described as "barely adequate" would dick around in that high risk envelope. It can only be a terminal lack of imagination or gross stupidity - or both of course.

[Ag-Rotor]

Newfieboy, it was a pleasure reading your post.Sometimes when you filter through all the dribble on this site you read something from the real world of Heli driving. Safe flying

[GeorgeMandes]

1) Leaving aside the safety considerations of an unnecessary vertical departure, isn't the idea to get your helicopter off the ground and into forward flight with the least amount of power required, so as to know how to finesse the ship when it takes all the power you have?

2) It appears that the original poster removed his posts, and we are merrily carrying on without him.

[[email protected]]

George - at least it's stopped him calling me names - I was very hurt

[newfieboy]

Quote;
Just to reinforce the point made by several others, if commercial and military pilots only operate within the avoid curve due to absolute neccessity and fully understanding the risks involved, it's certainly one of life's mysteries why a PPL in a machine whose performance could best be described as "barely adequate" would dick around in that high risk envelope. It can only be a terminal lack of imagination or gross stupidity - or both of course.

Thanks for that quote,being a profesional that dicks around in said envelope and am currently away doing said stupidity, couldn;t have put it better myself. Thanks for the laugh, very true, very ammussing.