I had a set of Coptercovers for my last machine and although they are very expensive, they are very good & fold up really small.
The Machine I have now came with lined Cambrai covers, look very nice & brand new but they are huge and just fit into a bag about 18" diameter by 3' tall, I can't see me ever taking them away but they would be Ok if its left out at night at home. Problem is trying to get them on by yourself.

R44 - it just started vibrating...
 

Anyone familiar with R44's might be able to help.
I was flying with front 2 doors off, took off and about 10 minutes into flight noticed vibrations - more of a noise than a feel - sounded like someone blowing over a bottle. descended and slowed up, then noticed that it seemed to go away below 60-70kts. Landed and looked around but couldn't find anything out of the ordinary to explain the noise.
I fly every day - it just didn't sound right to me.
I've heard all kinds of stories about blade delamination etc, so thought i'd ask on here for ideas.

Try one door off and/or differnt air vent settings in the back doors. . :hmm:

Doors off???
 

I havent quite been brave enough to take the doors off my 44 despite the scorching Wx recently and more on the way.

Is it really noisy and blustery? How does it affect the performance?

Any tips will be appreciated.

Best regards

Hairy.

Hairyplane

Have flown R44 with all conbinations of doors on and off, have not had any bad effects, most of the time the noise you here is seatbelts flapping. Make sure there is nothing to fly out in airstream. Other down side is need for PTT use for talking as wind over normal mic setting sets them off.

BVGS

There are a few Astro's around that have hydraulics like the Raven from the factory. Frank put on the hyd. then when they worked ok decided on the new name.

Flying without doors is great. Resonance in the cab can usually be stopped by by flying ever so slightly out of trim at the expense of a bit more wind in the cockpit. Altering speed will also do it. Make sure all is secure. I remember a 22 was lost a few years ago by a map blowing out and taking out the tail rotor.

Not sure where this one came from but I believe that if you have a factory rebuild of an Astro then they mandate the fitting of hydraulics?

doors off R44
 

Took the front doors off my R44 a couple of days ago (when it got really hot) and have been enjoying the breeze ever since.
Not as breezy as I thought though - but the additional noise factor is significant.
Nevertheless ATC still seem able to understand.
SB

It funny how different flying is between the US and back home - in this part of the world it would be a novelty to see a helicopter with doors on!
(or flying above 500ft for that matter)

defective blades- can anyone tell me how many hours a new R44 helicopter has to be tested before it leaves the factory minimum. some one said 4 the other said 5 hours, who's right?

same here. it has to be a cold day to have doors on.

never have them on mustering no matter the temp.

5 hours...

G

I picked up brand new 44 and it had 5 hours on the hobbs.

4 Hours - just picked up one.

On the RHC maintenance course I was told that it used to be 5 now it is 4, from memory because the engines are run up in the test cell for 1 hour.

The first oil change is soon (may have already) to be changed to 29 hours rather than 30 to reflect this.

No offense, as I am certain your covers work remarkably, but if you can truly install all of the covers shown in your photo in only five minutes then we need to get you on video doing so and then send it in to America's Funniest Home Video's TV show. It would be a hit for certain and you'd probably get hired by one of the international race car teams to be on their pit crew.

Only five minutes to install all those covers???? Come on now...:= :*

R44's around the world?
 

We are looking at buying an R44 Raven II to put to work. Just want to do a bit of homework and see what type of work others are doing in them?

Anyone doing anything interesting in R44's? Cheers

I know a gent in western USA who uses one for the cherry-drying season. (Seriously)
Also one in Pennsylvania who does powerline observations and another several in the southest US who use them for tours.
I use mine for pleasure and a bit of business.

Guys in Canada use them for supporting the seismic industry and operators in Australia use them for tourism as well as supporting the mining industry.

Here in NZ we have them being used for private, tourism and ag work.

Basically they are a very useful machine. Few operators here are using them instead of a Bell 206B and are now making money - according to them.

Ned

R44 W&B Programme
 

Hi

Does anyone have a W&B programme for the R44, doing both long and lat? I came across one for the R22 which plotted the CofG on a matrix.

Anything similar would be appreciated.

TT