Brutal:

Not sure how it is now, but when I was serving in Blue, our pilots were hugely proficient at touchdown autos, (every auto was a touchdown, unless at night or it was obviously going bad) and all were capable of a zero-speed. It's the poor civvies who rarely get training after the licence phase.

Was picked up today.
https://www.facebook.com/7newssydney...6945498996245/

Well, from what I understand, this bloke was a civvy (but may not be that poor).

KJ - I would have thought that if he had full power at the end, he might have hovertaxied to a better area - if he had some power left as he pulled pitch to cushion what he expected to be an EOL, I still reckon it's bloody good flying since the judgement of the flare and cushion height would be tricky over that bushy foliage.

Now I'm confused. Saw the pilot interviewed this afternoon and he said something like "You never know how you're going to react when you have a loss of power...or in this case a loss of transmission"! In an earlier interview he definitely said something about loss of power and autorotation.

I suspect he'd switched the donk off in the descent looking at the condition of the blades. Might be wrong.
Either way (EOL / auto) a fantastic bit of poling by a PPL. Congrats to the driver and if he gets to read this - the beer's on me as I'm over there for Chrimbo/NYE!!!
Your kids must think your a bloody hero!:ok:

R44 Recovery
 

On the news tonight...
Maybe the nerves of being on tv :uhoh:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmOL...ature=youtu.be

Crap, none of the AUS youtube videos are viewable in the USA :(

Proxtube can't run them, either :ugh:

Not in UK either:(

I did a 4 month attachment with the Australian Army Aviation back in 1987. During my conversion onto the Jetranger, I was taught to always aim for a zero speed touchdown for that very reason.

See above.

It could be 7 News that is blocked: try this?



Why is it the likes of serf and islandlad feel a need to jump in from the other side of the world and criticise? The pilot pulled off a pretty good result, and was flying legally in the region where the accident happened and under Australian air regs.

If you have another set of rules under which you operate, bully for you. But leave out the snide 'holier than thou' stuff, eh?

It looks a touch windy! job well done given the circumstances.
The guys in the Bell were having trouble holding it steady in the gusts and I guess they had to pick up the Robbie again to put it fully on the trailer.

There are operators flying Robbies who do scenic flights from pontoons on the Great Barrier Reef, miles and miles and miles from any land. Any emergency landing is going to be a water one, unless close to the pontoon of course, though I wouldn't be trying for an EOL to a pontoon. :p Aircraft properly fitted and all legal. Want a flight? You accept any associated risk, as with any endeavour.

As an interesting aside ... several years ago, a friend of mine recovered (under-slung) an R44 from said pontoon following an EOL onto the water close to the reef. The previous scenic flight had been around the reef with a certain Judge (Judy) on-board. It's nice when the public get to see helicopters that aren't just "falling from the sky or exploding in mid-air".

in the days when many mil pilots were flying singles then yes, probably many would crack it. Nowadays with most flying twins, that skill level doesn't exist except perhaps amongst QHIs with plenty of previous single experience.

And a zero speed EOL in a jetranger is a much easier task to perform than in a Robbie:ok:

IF this was a genuine EOL, in a Robbo and with a PPL(H) at the controls then it is an exceptional act of airmanship, he should be very proud of pulling that off, especially in front a the most precious audience in his life!

Doing a zero/zero EOL into a confined space must be the hardest act of flying a helicopter on anyone's agenda. There is absolutely ZERO room for error and you get only one pop at it.

What intrigues me is the state of the blades, for even with an EOL landing there is residual energy in the head and those blades would have made contact with something, possibly. For them to appear to be intact suggests he came to a stop fractionally above the treetops/bush and then it fell into the opening for the last several feet.
Either that or he had it craned in and his family then did a photo shoot!! For the album you understand????:confused:

As usual TC, I believe that consistent with info that is being aired elsewhere that you have retained over the years, your critical analysis powers of observation to a high degree. merry Xmas tet

Thanks, Squeaks, that did the trick! :-)

TC - or is it just that the height of the bushes is just below the height of the MR head? Those bushy bushes wouldn't do any damage until you got down to the harder woody bits so it is quite feasible that the EOL was real and the rotors just brushed the tops of the bushes as the Nr decayed.

Islandlad, don't be afraid to ask questions here - just ask them but phrase them nicely:)

If the pilot was well trained and well practised, what difference does the level of licence make?