Anyone???

I'm genuinely interested to learn how the ginger beer managed to roll a 44 into a ball whist ground running.

The only problem with engineers (including myself) carrying out ground runs, is that a lot of the time they are running the helicopter "after" maintenance, repairs, component replacement or an overhaul.

This could lead to an out of balance incident if anything was installed out of balance etc , new blade, main rotor head, straps, etc.

I have been on a ground run that was "walking" around the helipad quite briskly with tail rotor balance equipment being dragged along the ground behind it. The main rotor blades had not been aligned correctly after strap replacement.

It would have made no difference if a pilot was running it.

No, I have not retired from my job as a Norwegian engineer, because I never had such a job.

Well yes but this was because the engineers had had no training whatsoever in groundrunning helicopters.

The why didn't you push for them to be trained when you worked for them?

I think you might find he did, not 100% sure why it was shelved in the end but might had to do with engineers wanting extra allowances for it.

Ahh, the sudden awakening of HC on this thread now makes sense :D

I can understand the desire of engineers to do their own ground runs. Having been an avid motor car DIY person I would not like to fix something and then stand aside whilst somebody else proves it. However, running a helicopter is a bit different and the person doing the running would not know the effects of tailwinds over the disc or even understand how to control it should the a droop stop stay out.

As Crab says. A helicopter is virtually flying when the rotors are turning.

Superman doesnt exist. But its a really cool story how he was born with these super powers.
I dont think there is one single pilot ever born with super powers either. You all got trained. Its a process. Guess what? Others can be trained. Its not rocket science. But its the key.

Total thread drift;

Back in the mid 1990's I flew into Sumburgh in an AS332 having gone round the houses all day. P2 was an unusual character whose name still causes shivers down the spines of many pilots in the Aberdeen crew rooms. Having imbibed a lake of coffee I had a real need to relieve some pressure before the last sector to Aberdeen. I asked if he minded if I jumped out first and dashed to the gents which was just inside the terminal door while he started the RR re-fuel. He agreed, we stopped and I leapt out (leaping was still possible then) and dashed for the bog.

Mighty relieved I was just going back theough the door to the aircraft when the P2 passed me on his way in. There was a brief, confused look on his face and then he turned round. Our Puma was on spot, running, being re-fueled, in the dark, in a 30-40kt wind and rain. I still reckon that he and I dressed in suits, lifejackets and flying boots were pretty close to Olympic record times as we ran for the aircraft.

The pax had been removed during the re-fuel process, only the bowser driver was nearby, and no-one else saw us. He would certainly have been fired, and I would have been a P2 again by the following morning.

SND

True... we all got trained... AND THEN we spent hours and hours accumulating experience.

Experience would be difficult to get ground running... e.g. on some 44's when you push the carby heat down with the frictions off the collective comes up... that ones not in the manual! or how about on machines with a light collective a decent gust of wind can bring the collective up too.

How does the machine feel? Who spends hours and hours sitting in them?

There’s always another solution :)

http://www.eacott.com.au/gallery/d/8...+no+blades.JPG

John, yes - a helicopter without blades is just a big generator set. :ok:

But it's difficult to carry out a track and balance without the blades on! ;)

In the halcyon days of Sumburgh in the 70s the Bristow aircraft would be parked one side of the apron and the BAH aircraft the other side. There wasn't an awful lot of room between them when you taxied out.

I was briefed to err on the BAH side so if I collected a rotor blade I would take out one of BAH's aircraft as well as my own.

Yet how many times early in your career with little to no experience were you alone? Likely alot i reckon. An engineer will learn the same way you did...by sitting in that seat. And a good instructor will be passing on all those sweet little nuances to his trainee if hes any good at his job. Dont worry, engineers wont take your precious job away from you.

That is rather an immature comment. I can't think of any pilot who would worry about losing his/her job because some mechanics carry out ground runs.

Especially in view of the earlier comments about one claiming to have to do ground runs himself because he was often unable to get pilots out of their warm crewroom!

Having said that, I did once tell an engineer I would not do an early morning ground run - but that was because the weather was conducive to engine intake icing and outside of the aircraft's weather limits (turbine engines no intake protection, so quite strict icing limits). That was in the early 1980s.

A bit adrift, story abounds of a engineer standing on the fixed floats of a running 205 tinkering with something/leak check when pilot decided to do a circuit. Shades of the WAAF doing a circuit sitting on the tail of a Spitfire. Perhaps it's better if the engineers do the ground runs. :p

An Bristow AS332 got airborne from a platform in the Shetland Basin with a bear standing on the luggage bay door loading the baggage. A panic call from the helideck and he came back.

As a helicopter mechanic, licenced and rated on several types in Australia, Fiji, and PNG, I would not ground run a machine unless I had a pilot at the controls.

Having said that I know of a Bell47 doing pirouettes on wet grass when the bricks fell off the pedals when someone ???? was doing a fan balance at 2 am dark o'clock, dragging oneself along the basket to get to the throttle took some doing.

Years ago at Army Aviation Base Oakey, SNCOs were approved to do ground runs on 3B1s.
To pull enough power to get the turbo to bootstrap six diggers were stood on each skid and collective was pulled.
During one particular ground run one person fell off the left skid, the machine rolled over resulting in death and destruction.
Needless to say this practice was banned.

My personal risk mitigation is that unless you can fly the machine, don't run it.
FWIW

Perhaps a retelling of the legendary story from 9 Squadron RAAF:
After maintenance test flight terminated near the hangar, during two minute run down period the mechanic gets out, opens LH engine cowl and having a bit of a stickey at the bits and pieces.
Whilst he is having a look, ground ops radios the pilot to relocate the Iroquois onto the pad.

Not knowing that the mechanic is standing on the skid the pilot spools up and pulls collective.
In a low hover taxi the mechanic starts belting the side of the helicopter with his tools, pilot thinks he has a massive compressor stall dumps the club and rolls his mate across the tarmac.