Van Horn blades
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From: USA
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From: Somewhere, Over the Rainbow
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From: Hedge
Happened to a couple of our blokes a few years ago and they described as much worse then what you have shown when I forwarded them your video.
Back then was no info and happened unexpectedly twice, in two different airframes.
Similar configuration as to what you detailed.
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From: USA
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From: Hedge
Up until the incident in Sept 2024 it was my understanding the FAA and VH indicated the VH blade severe vertical was very similar to the induced Bell blade vertical. However, after the Sept incident and given the low number of VH or Bell vertical bounce events, the FAA decided to expand their investigation and issued an Airworthiness Concern Sheet against the 206L series fleet for more input. It will be interesting what response they get since this is not a common issue.
They don't interact with the Nodal System at the same frequencies as Bell OEM blades.
Even on the ground they cause issues at idle.
Latest info from VHA is to sweep blades aft two points after initial alignment to avoid the flight regime of Vertical bounce.
Then contradictory information in another SB stating this causes tail wag at Idle on the ground and to use chord weight?
Lateral IPS rough at idle. Add 9% and settles down.
I've stated in other posts on this forum that VHA MR Blades on 206L don't track well and I suspect harmonic feed back into Nodal Beam being a primary issue.
Tab on the old blades have no effect compared to OEM blade Tab adjustment.
The later blades don't have Tabs and use wedges.
Never adjusted Tab or Wedge on VHA blades as minimal effect.
Even above 55KT PCL is the best adjustment . Their own documentation state this also upto 105KT.
To summarise I can't see a consistency of how VHA MR Blades on 206L interact with adjustments.
They are a bugger to T&B and don't respond to normal adjustments compared to OEM blades.
My opinion only.
Last edited by T28B; 14th October 2025 at 12:27. Reason: formatting
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From: USA
I think if it was blade related it would be more of a fleet wide issue vs only a handful of incidents.
I do find VH blades more sensitive to installation requirements and adjustments than Bell blades. So I find when the blades are not aligned per VH guidance and the MR trunnion not centered correctly, you start any balance work 2 steps behind especially when alignment errors of a string-width can make a difference even on Bell blades. Even VH notes that the sweep point is different on their blades during alignment.
As to the tail wag, that is found on Bells as well and is usually related more to trunnion centering which if not corrected can cause excessive sweep or chord weight use.
But agree the inflight adjustment routine has a lot to be desired and for some reason it reminds of the voodoo and virgin sacrifices used to get the initial series 407 and 412 blades to fly good. Maybe VH should incorporate product balance pockets and BB use on their blades??? Ha.
I do find VH blades more sensitive to installation requirements and adjustments than Bell blades. So I find when the blades are not aligned per VH guidance and the MR trunnion not centered correctly, you start any balance work 2 steps behind especially when alignment errors of a string-width can make a difference even on Bell blades. Even VH notes that the sweep point is different on their blades during alignment.
As to the tail wag, that is found on Bells as well and is usually related more to trunnion centering which if not corrected can cause excessive sweep or chord weight use.
But agree the inflight adjustment routine has a lot to be desired and for some reason it reminds of the voodoo and virgin sacrifices used to get the initial series 407 and 412 blades to fly good. Maybe VH should incorporate product balance pockets and BB use on their blades??? Ha.
I'll get me coat......
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From: Gold Coast, Australia.
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From: Somewhere, Over the Rainbow
Originally Posted by FiveBlades;[url=tel:11969202
11969202[/url]]VanHorn is being sued by who, the family of the deceased?
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From: USA
The SB appears to be a reissue of the previous Info Letter into a Bulletin format. I wonder if there will be additional requirements on the horizon that will need an OEM bulletin to reference?
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From: Hedge
Just a 1:30 advert for VHA, not a breath about potential issues..
Vertical magazine Van Horn profile
Vertical magazine Van Horn profile
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From: yes
"Over the last 6 years, this issue has been reported to VHA and the FAA on only 15 aircraft out of an installed fleet of nearly 300."
5% of the fleet reported an issue. Makes you wonder how many went unreported, especially when AI tells us that "studies indicate that about 90% of hospital mistakes and 49% of workplace injuries remain unreported. In manufacturing, approximately 78% of quality events, such as defects and complaints, also go unreported."
5% of the fleet reported an issue. Makes you wonder how many went unreported, especially when AI tells us that "studies indicate that about 90% of hospital mistakes and 49% of workplace injuries remain unreported. In manufacturing, approximately 78% of quality events, such as defects and complaints, also go unreported."
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From: Australia
Sure, the more aware people are of what to expect the better.
A couple of our pilots had reported what they thought was the onset of the 'vibration', both reported it at similar configurations. So I elected to take the aircraft out and see if I could replicate what they felt, I departed with 400lbs of fuel on board. Around the 300lb mark, a slight bounce became evident, you'll see me nod to the camera at the 00:11s mark to indicate I could feel something as I wasn't sure what the camera would pick up. The 'bounce' increased in amplitude so I applied lateral cyclic which, at the time, was a method to correct the phenomenon. The bounce did indeed reduce almost immediately, although it was still present. I continued on to see if it would develop again and this time would wait a little longer to see if it continued to increase in amplitude. I gestured again to the camera at 00:34s mark. When the bounce became uncomfortable, I tried the lateral cyclic again. This time the lateral cyclic had less of an immediate effect. Unfortunately, the video doesn't capture the sound properly as it added to the extremely unsettling feeling!
Longranger with Van Horn main rotor blades.
A couple of our pilots had reported what they thought was the onset of the 'vibration', both reported it at similar configurations. So I elected to take the aircraft out and see if I could replicate what they felt, I departed with 400lbs of fuel on board. Around the 300lb mark, a slight bounce became evident, you'll see me nod to the camera at the 00:11s mark to indicate I could feel something as I wasn't sure what the camera would pick up. The 'bounce' increased in amplitude so I applied lateral cyclic which, at the time, was a method to correct the phenomenon. The bounce did indeed reduce almost immediately, although it was still present. I continued on to see if it would develop again and this time would wait a little longer to see if it continued to increase in amplitude. I gestured again to the camera at 00:34s mark. When the bounce became uncomfortable, I tried the lateral cyclic again. This time the lateral cyclic had less of an immediate effect. Unfortunately, the video doesn't capture the sound properly as it added to the extremely unsettling feeling!
Longranger with Van Horn main rotor blades.
If I understand the 206L data correctly the main rotor 100% speed is 394 RPM? That equates to a frequency of 6.57 Hz, but given there are two main blades, the blade passing frequency becomes ~13.1 Hz (my understanding is that rotor vibration frequency is what the 206L Nodamatic suspension is tuned to damp out). I was sort of expecting it would also be that frequency that might be setting the VH blades up into an undesirable vibration mode. But this blade passing frequency seems to be around 2.7x higher than what the oscillations in the video appear to be.
Has anyone got any further insights into what might be happening?
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From: British Columbia, Canada
A25W0084
L3 shed a M/R blade this summer in the Canadian Arctic.This man’s family deserves every penny from VanHorne.
Worst product ever slapped on a helicopter in my opinion.
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From: Southern United States
Thanks
FltMech
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From: Arizona