Question from a mere spotter
Joined: Jun 2016
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From: Brantisvogan
Joined: Jun 2016
Aviation Qualifications: CPL
Posts: 1,318
Likes: 387
From: Brantisvogan
Originally Posted by [email protected]
And what did the harrier pilots have to learn to hover in - oh yes, a helicopter
Joined: Oct 2006
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From: UK
Take away the gizmos and it is not so easy. One way of preventing the rear rotor from catching up with the front is to differentiate the collective and cyclics. Basically if the rear rotor isn't leaning as far forward as the front it wont catch up. This means it hasn't the same vertical component so it needs more pitch. I believe that on the early Piaseckis or Vertols there was a spirit level in the cockpit to assist you to level it with differential collective.
The problem with twin rotors is the transmission. Apart from the Belvedere one or more of the gearboxs was dependent on a shaft to drive it. This breaks and you have a fatal disymmetry of lift. Luckily AFIK this hasn't happened yet.
The Belvedere had an engine under each rotor and a synchronisation shaft keeping the blades apart. This has broken twice in service. In both cases the pilots flew the aircraft so the rear rotor, turning at a different speed than the front, was stepped above the front until they landed.
The shutdown was quite noisy.
The problem with twin rotors is the transmission. Apart from the Belvedere one or more of the gearboxs was dependent on a shaft to drive it. This breaks and you have a fatal disymmetry of lift. Luckily AFIK this hasn't happened yet.
The Belvedere had an engine under each rotor and a synchronisation shaft keeping the blades apart. This has broken twice in service. In both cases the pilots flew the aircraft so the rear rotor, turning at a different speed than the front, was stepped above the front until they landed.
The shutdown was quite noisy.
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From: London/Atlanta
Agree with the Cessna comment... but the Tweed comment, You clearly haven’t been to the races at Royal Ascot, racing at Goodwood, Henley Royal Regatta or Polo at Windsor Great Park... Tweed is quite the fashion and receives many compliments when worn, Is there no Tweed at The Durban?
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From: UK
but the Tweed comment, You clearly haven’t been to the races at Royal Ascot,
Joined: Mar 2011
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From: London/Atlanta
Joined: Jun 2016
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From: Brantisvogan
They provide some fantastic insight into the British psyche (and frequent lack of dentistry)
But we wafting away from the topic.
If we had a pound for every time we heard the one about the oil leak or the earth repelling, we would all be quite wealthy.
My personal favourite is still:
How do you tell the difference between God and a helicopter pilot?
God doesn't tell you he's a helicopter pilot..
Last edited by Bell_ringer; 29th June 2020 at 06:45.
Avoid imitations
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From: Wandering the FIR and cyberspace often at highly unsociable times
Avoid imitations
Joined: Nov 2000
Aviation Qualifications: ATPL
Posts: 15,110
Likes: 1,083
From: Wandering the FIR and cyberspace often at highly unsociable times
The shaft certainly has broken on an RAF Chinook, at Odiham. Thankfully the aircraft was in the low hover and the occupants escaped intact. Mind you, everything else broke, too. The pilot told me that after it fell to the ground like a railway carriage, he naturally reached up to shut the engines down and the engine controls had departed, along with the cockpit roof, which was also missing.
Joined: Nov 2000
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From: Pewsey, UK
The problem here is that two helicopters are being forced to fly in close formation with each other. They are so ugly that they repel each other, so sometimes the shaft breaks.
The shaft certainly has broken on an RAF Chinook, at Odiham. Thankfully the aircraft was in the low hover and the occupants escaped intact. Mind you, everything else broke, too. The pilot told me that after it fell to the ground like a railway carriage, he naturally reached up to shut the engines down and the engine controls had departed, along with the cockpit roof, which was also missing.
The shaft certainly has broken on an RAF Chinook, at Odiham. Thankfully the aircraft was in the low hover and the occupants escaped intact. Mind you, everything else broke, too. The pilot told me that after it fell to the ground like a railway carriage, he naturally reached up to shut the engines down and the engine controls had departed, along with the cockpit roof, which was also missing.
And to a US Army Chinook in Germany too in 1982 - http://www.chinook-helicopter.com/hi.../74-22292.html
Last edited by The Nr Fairy; 29th June 2020 at 09:34. Reason: Add 1982 crash link