Video of R44 crash in China
 

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=cb2_1472181644

You have to look out for those sudden onsets of Intense Gravity!:oh:

Hmm. High power manoeuvres, reverse flight, low power helo driven by a muppet. What could possibly go wrong.. :ugh:

I imagine the owner of the boat that caught fire was less than amused!

Be interesting to know at what point he realised he had completely F***ed it - possibly when the low Nr horn went off as he started to overpitch:)

Interesting that even in water, a Robbie can catch fire :}

I think that was the boat I mentioned.....

Hmmmm, .....
 

Reminds me of your typical Vancouver, Canada driver. :uhoh:

In my mind, the most shocking thing is the Vertical Video. :=

I have to go with MightyGem on the "Just say no to vertical video."

Frankly the video was so poor (or maybe it was my eyes) that I didn't realize it had crashed on a boat until the post by 212man. Good catch!

Interesting one to distribute to the film community.

At what point was it unrecoverable?

Don't say immediately after take off:)

Mickjoebill

It's in China. They'll just buy a new one. No problem.

Just opened the video on the Live Leak site, and saw the comment; "Both the pilot and passenger managed to swim to safety after crashing."

Well, maybe - just maybe - the pilot's learnt something about the limits of a Robbie.

Launching any type at the ground and into its downwash isn't the smartest thing to do. Outcome coud easily have been the same with many types. The Robbie and its "limitations" weren't the problem here. What a %&/$§!

It was one of those videos where what happens next yields one with little surprise.

Except that it was the limitation of not enough power that caught him/her out.

An R44 with 2 POB actually has pretty decent power reserves. ****ty flying technique like that would have most likely resulted in a similar crash in most comparable types.

At what point did this actually go wrong? Was the yawning after steep bank due to no power left and then descent due to holding left peddle or did he intentionally drop it with a high rate of decent and was then unable to arrest?

Low altitude, low airspeed, turned tail into the wind, settling with power, welcome to the scene of the accident.

Oh, and it was an R-66. Doesn't matter how much power reserve you have when you start vertically down the column of air you're producing. Classic.