Bambi vs B3 tail rotor: lucky escape

[John Eacott]

This is all in Italian so it's double Dutch to me, but the video is almost self explanatory. Apparently it was an empty bucket and was caught in an updraft, EOL to a very tight spot

Elicottero antincendio «precipita» per mille metri

Emergency landing this morning in the mountains of Pertica Bassa . It was about 9:30 and a helicopter was engaged in extinguishing a fire in town Frondine , on the slopes of the Corna Blacca , at 1,500 meters altitude .
He had just dropped what would have been the penultimate load of water when a gust of wind lifted the basket whose steel wires are tangled around the tail rotor .
The experience and the cold blood of 56-year old driver of a firm astigiana committed on behalf of the Lombardy Region in the fire is out , did the rest .
The man turned off the engine and started the procedure of " autorotation " falling for several hundred yards before giving " load " to the blades and head towards a handkerchief erborso and land unharmed .
The resort Frondine the small field to a hundred meters from the hamlet of perticarola Forno d' Ono , where the helicopter was able to land in one piece, there are a thousand meters, routes all with the engine off .

[Peter-RB]

Cool chap, deserves the freedom of the nearest Vino Trattoria,!

[Hughes500]

Was he using a longline or just the bucket wires and controller ?

[RVDT]

Lucky it was a Bambi! Shouldn't reach that far if correct model without longline of course.

Simplex tanks with pumps make more of a mess and not so fortunate!

EC-IOJ

[soloviev]

It looks not to be a Bambi to me, maybe it's a clone

[Nubian]

RVDT,

I guess if you snagged the rope surrounding the pool with a bambi it would have done pretty much the same thing really.

But from what I have seen, some operators are not fully aware of the limitations of using a Bambi. It states that if you purge the valve and pull it as far out as you can, and at the same time pulls the bambi to full aft stop, the clearance between the rubber valve and the tip of the tail rotor edge should be at least model 6 inches. If less than 6 inches a longline is to be used.

But from the pictures, it looks like it might be a different manufacturer than SEI, as all the bucket I have seen has BAMBI market on the sides all round.

[mad_jock]

I have said it before...

I can't understand how any of these mechanical palm trees get off the ground carrying the weight of the bollocks of the pilots flying them.

And that's just the girls never mind the boys.

And that is said with much respect as you can get from a plank jock.

[fijdor]

That bucket looks like a SEI Bambi to me but an old one which has been repaired more than once. The chute on it and the straps has been replaced. It is usually the first thing to go from being dragged on the ground etc, the markings on them doesn't last long for the same reasons.

JD