Single engine cruise... It look nice but what is behind this concept, an idle or a full shut down? And is the drag reduction allow to maintained the VBR around 135-140kts on one engine?

And is the RCU placed in a sensible place........Love the Fenestron blades.

ec-135
 

sir;
As I learn from internet, German Army use EC-135 as basic training helicopter. What is your opinion about it? Can you train all emergency manuevers with that helicopter? As we know, multi-engine helicopters are handicapped for this way. For example have you ever train tail rotor emergencies or full touch autorotations? and also I have more questions about it. If you reply I'll be pleased. Thank you.

EC120 is their primary...

Wrong, you are thinking of the police force.
Army actually does do basic training on 135 as a result of highly successful lobbying from EC. They do a couple of hours of AR training on the 105.
My opinion: Ineffective as a primary trainer. Gigantic waste of tax payers money. There would have been so many better and more effective choices, but if they really had to obey to the EC people so badly they could at least have gone with the 120 option. This is a nice example of the difference between police and military aviation.

Hey guys,
Does anyone have the H135 supplement manual for winch/hoist operations, including performance?

If is there any further material or presentation regarding the H135 hoist operation I would appreciate.
Thank you in advance

Indeed, sorry bout that.

Anybody knows the differences training requirements from P2+ to P3?

8h "classroom" and 1h flighttime, for what reason ever....

skadi

Thank you!

Is anyone familiar with the details of Dutch Police EC135 training mode incident some years ago?
After failing to lower the collective when the training mode disarmed (RRPM bellow 92%, 10 seconds buffer elapsed), they overtorqued the engines and XMSN. Another source also claims the rotor overspeed.

What exactly was happening in the cockpit? Any reports out there?

Phoinix,

It sure will. Pretty sure there is a note in the RFM about it somewhere.

The terminology used might "disguise" the issue a bit.

If you think about what is actually going on I think you will find it is NORMAL.

Exceeding Power ON RPM limits - it disarms so you would expect things to come back to normal in a big hurry.

Of course dumping the collective rapidly to counter the over torque could easily end up with an overspeed as well so ...................

Thanks RVDT. Any info on the actual events of the incident?

M.R Blade behaviour
 

I seek inputs from experience 135 drivers and engineers. About a month back we started feeling some vertical vibrations which kept increasing slowly in about 15hrs of flying. We did the Vibrex and found one of my main rotor blades out of track. It was Up around 1inch as compared to the other three in hover. The engineer corrected the tracking by bringing this blade down.
After about 10hrs more of flying v felt the same vibrations still but lesser amplitude. At a gap of around 20hrs we did the Vibrex again to find the same blade higher then others..
What can cause the same blade flying up gradually out of track?
Does anyone know of composite degradation of an EC135 blade? And too in causing increased flapping.

Appreciate you inputs if someone has experienced the similar thing.

The first possibility is unlikely but worth checking. You should ensure that the lower lobes of the MRS hub are not cracked on the rising blade.

The next quite likely possibility is to ensure that you do not have cracked main rotor blade tabs. Use a magnifying glass.

There is also a replaceable spherical bearing inside the Blade cuff on a beam that attaches the flex beam to the frequency adaptors. I would check that as well as it can turn into a maraca quite swiftly once it starts wearing, this will also affect the track and hence vertical balance. It is best practice to change all of them if you find one worn.

This depends on the blade part number. The blades do have a tendency to crack and craze a bit along the trailing edges but this should not affect the flight of the blade. The crack to look out for is one that starts about a metre from the cuff on the trailing edge and propagates at an angle of 45 degrees. But I have seen them up to a couple of inches long and only found them on a detailed inspection so they don't appear to affect the flight of the blade. That one will cost you a few bob unless you have been wise enough to buy PBH.

Last but not least: It is always best to raise a Technical Enquiry (TE) in your Keycopter account. If you haven't got one then please do apply. It is worth it. You will have access to the horses mouth and your snag will then become part of product support and improvement for everyone.

I hope this post finds me blathering into the ethernet (which I rarely do) and your engineers have already fixed the problem.

Actually I have been looking forward to get any reply here.. Thank you so much for taking the time.
👍
We are suspecting the link connecting the dampers and the flex beam. On ground when v are flapping the blade there is a different noice coming.


As u described.
There is also a replaceable spherical bearing inside the Blade cuff on a beam that attaches the flex beam to the frequency adaptors. I would check that as well as it can turn into a maraca quite swiftly once it starts wearing, this will also affect the track and hence vertical balance. It is best practice to change all of them if you find one worn.

Thanks again.

135 P3 "fish" tailing
 

Hi,

I have a question for P3 experienced pilots. This aircraft has a bad fish tail attitude in cruise flight. More wind - more movements left to right. Example 15 kt tailwind it was fighting 5 degreed left to right all the way (NAV mode on). I have a years of experience with P2+, but only few weeks (20h) with this almost brand new P3. I know about difference of the model and heard about this tail movements, but it doesn't feel good. One day we had quite of turbulent weather and it was awful to fly with. Any comments?

Has there been a Service Bulletin issued since the Cayman Islands Police incident?

Hi
no SB yet. longitudinal servo failure

AAIB uk and Germany on the case

Hyd pack with Airbus.

And my underwear in the wash!!!!!

Ahh, DEGRADE. I take it you were flying it at the time?

ERIC was hands on for what it was worth!!

Yes, I was just wondering if you were Eric. :) Good job done, anyway. :ok:

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....47e9c459a.jpeg
Anyone able to tell me why this 135 has that little damm in front of the static port? Haven’t seen it before on the 8 different 135s I have come across...

Is this one configured the same as the other 8 from an optional equipment stand point? Is it on both sides?

"Dams" are usually installed when something is added that affects airflow at the static port and its sensitivity.

Looks like someone in Donauworth might have drilled supporting holes in the wrong spot.

Warning unit shenanigans
 

Anyone ever flip on their battery master switch and not get the low rotor rpm tone? Or get just the gong instead? Or no sound at all?

Some more detail:

Ship is a P1. A previous warning unit worked great for about a year, then it started to act up. Sometimes when we turned on the master battery switch it worked correctly, you’d get the low rotor rpm tone, hit reset on the cyclic, then get the gong. But intermittently, we’d get no low rotor rpm tone, just straight to the gong, and sometimes neither tone, just silence.

We replaced that one and it worked fine for another year. Then we figured out the warning unit we put in wasn’t calibrated for the 95% low rotor rpm threshold for the P1, but instead for 97%. So we got a brand new unit from Airbus (complete with a check engine light…), calibrated for 95% and stuck it in. Now we’re having the same intermittent issue with the tones not coming on when you flip on the battery master.

Could this be a voltage thing? Could low battery voltage cause the warning unit not to make the tones? Could this be a compatibility thing between the new unit and the old aircraft?

Thanks!

135H? Helionix? 3 big screens in the front?

Optional on 1 thru 3 versions and possibly standard on H version.
SB EC135‐34‐045 Valid for Versions: T1, T2, T2+, T3, P1, P2, P2+, P3 635 T1, 635 T2+, 635 T3, 635 P2+, 635 P3
Recommended for helicopters having problems with entry of water in static ports.

Before you go replacing the WU again I would be checking that your ICS is not the issue or the RESET button on both cyclics if fitted.

FADEC FAIL - Power available on good engine
 

I thought I understood the FADEC FAIL / manual throttle logic but was recently given a new perspective from someone who was taught by factory TRI. Looking for some 2nd opinions.

Currently teaching is that when you get a FADEC FAIL / manual throttle, you set the engine to 80% N1 /20-30% torque respectively iaw the PCL. Then (and this the critical part) you are limited to AEO limits on remaining engine. However, people being taught by Airbus TRI are saying the “good” engine is limited to OEI. This of course would make the whole procedure simple. Set and forget in a sea level/temperate environment. Even the roll off on the ground becomes simple. (Obviously it does mention AEO limits in the PCL but only if you subsequently increase the manual throttle above 80% N1/30% torque).

This is discussed in this thread going back 11 years but I was wondering if anyone had anything in writing from the Airbus TRI? There is one mention in the training manual of this in that it says one of the triggers for “OEI mode” of the FLI is a FADEC FAIL but it’s specific to T3/P3 (OEI mode shifts where the “bong” happens - instead of 10 FLI, it’s 13.5 FLI).

I see you are in the Southwest, have you spoken to Jesse, what he doesn't know about 135s is not worth knowing....

One of our cabs has got the same problem, it's also a P1 of '99 vintage but the warning still works when you toggle the test switch and when you explore the limits.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....200e496e46.jpg
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....5232f465b3.jpg
source:
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....6fdf4a459a.png

5-blade T4 prototype?

Beanie hat suggests the blades are spaced closer together. Also new tailplane, new cowlings, removed oil cooler fan exhaust and revised oil cooler intakes

Only Airbus has the power to make this a variant (yet again).

This has been bubbling in the background for years.

Due to the design of the rotor head it isn't much of a challenge to add a blade as most of the "components" are in the blade cuff which is now seperate from the blade as per BK117-D3.

The mast is a simple design. I would say the R&D was done for the BK117 D3 and they just scaled it down.

A trade in the design I would bet on as being 5 bladed the ARIS mounts are now gone.

Fenestron looks to be slightly larger and some stator vanes have been removed?

The cab has a lot more composite structure.

And yes it will apparently be a "variant". I know there was a struggle to keep the H145 as a "variant" of the BK117.

Even the 135 is up to about 27 different "variants". Wouldn't be surprised if there is only one engine choice and by the look of the skinny tailpipes a "T" model.

So even the cab is of different design, sliding and front doors also. Same type 🤣

H145 and BK117, say C2, have very few things in common…I bet there is a lot of AH workforce in EASA offices.

Oh yes!

Might be imagination but in the pictures it seems like maybe they got rid of the broom closet and went all flex ball cables like in the EC145.
Interestingly they seem to have not adopted some noteworthy features from the Bluecopter demonstrator, like the active rudder, the curved blades on main and tail rotor as well as the fancy aerodynamic cowlings.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....4189548cba.png

Is it me or does the fuselage look longer...Single engine HEMS variant for the American market...Electric backup option for EASA Hems approval...