August AAIB and ATSB reports
 

The AAIB's August bulletin has quite a few helicopter incidents this month, thankfully none involving serious injury.

Click here for the AAIB August bulletin list

The most prominent ones are a lucky Gazelle pilot (G-GAZL) and an even luckier R22 pilot (G-DERB)

And if you fly Hillers, it might be worth checking this Australian ATSB report into an incident where the stabiliser failed.

I saw that 22 an hour or so after the girl brought it in. I don't know how she was still alive. I could not believe the size of the crack. The blade was split in two at the mid point and hanging on by a thread - amazing !

Does anybody know the cause of the other R22 accident in Augusts report?

To me it sounds like weather cocking got the better of the pilot, someone want to clarify?

TiP

Does it work?
 

Something which KMS has highlighted here interests me. I've been going over the massive R22 corner thread over the last few days and there's a bit on pilots pulling the Guages CB on the 22, thus disabling the Hobbs meter input. Does this work for real ? Anyone?

Thanks.

TFS

( many great Lu Zu moments in the thread )

http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthr...r&pagenumber=1

It certainly used to work, but someone wised up to it and it was changed. I think now the datcon is connected to the clutch switch, which you can't disengage in flight. I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong.

Early R22's had the Datcon wired up to the gages CB. As mentioned they wised up to this and I believe it has no CB. Switching off electrical power would stop it, therefore flying with the BAT and ALT off... no thanks.

Bad move trying to stop the Datcon anyway, no point in risking your and other peoples lifes by overtiming machines and their components.

TiP