Take a crash-test-dummy and strap it in ;-)

Seriusly, in the automotive branch they use bodyshaped plastic structures filled with water, which they strap to the seats ( standart safety belts ) to simulate the weight during testdrives.

Or take a big backpack, filled with sandbags and/or waterbags. It also could be easily and safely secured with the standard seatbelts.

skadi

Hmmmm,

If you are having to put that much weight up forward I am assuming you have removed some equipment fitted forward i.e. Nightsun or FLIR etc.

If this is the case you may find there are trim weights you can remove in the tail to solve your problem. Have a look in the panel below the ground handling fittings on the rear of the fenestron housing.

Or take the seat out and strap the 40kg, plus a weight equivelant to the seat, to the floor in its place.

Or take 10 kg out of the tail trim (if its installed) to achieve a more FWD result and be 50 kgs better off! :p

Or find yourself a model / actress to take along for the ride :E
Problem solved, friends jealous, ego boosted and who knows after dinner à deux, it might be more than adieu :ok:

The Height and Weight of 10 "Hot" Female Celebrities Revealed! | Fitness Black Book

I have just installed aux fuel tank, that mobes CG rearward.

It os impossible to legally unistall fenestron trim weight. I suppose they also,solve some vibration issues.

OK,

Now we have the "real story" to work with.

Looking back through your previous posts the AUX tank fixed parts were fitted by EC or someone else?

There is a "trim weight" kit that can/should be fitted in this case.........

The trim weights are fitted in the nose and in the rear of the fenestron structure.

(No they are not dynamic balance weights)

The trim weights are designed to be fitted/removed wihout special tools as required.

Granted there is an AUX tank for 135 and 145 but if you do the numbers and research, neither system is very practical.

You tell me :-))) But you now, these choppers does not fly so well without fuel.

I will look in the fenestron structure if there is something, and try to order nose trim weight. Cooperation with Eurocopter is disaster. It took me several months just to ORDER aux fuel tank instalation. The company reminds me of Franz Kafka book Castle.

Of that I have no doubt! There is a lot of room for improvement. If you are a big customer you tend to have direct connections to the right people! Otherwise...........................

Even the information regarding the kit is very vague in details.

OPTIONAL EQUIPMENT

85-80 Trim System

85-81 Trim Weight - Front - Part No. L858M0001051 (NP) Not procurable!
85-85 Trim Weight - Aft - NO NUMBER

Your only option will be to contact ECD as to whether you can do the installation in the field if there is no SB. (I checked TIPI and cant see anything)

An issue with ECD is the retrofit to aircraft in the field of Optional Equipment. If there is no SB it must be done "in house" through their manufacturing and modification approvals.

Yes that is my case. I am just poor owner of two small Eurocopter machines.

I have checked two inspection covers in the fenestrom, and there is no optional weight installed.

I know, that there is not SB to install front weight, so ECD should do it again. That means another gray hairs in my head and 6 months of emailing :-(((

ECD did a proper weighting after aux fuel tank modification so at least I have a lot of numbers I can play with in Excel table and figure out how to fly inside envelope. 120kg of water ballast instead front seats do the job well, but do you want to carry 120kg of uselles ballast?

So whateever I could put safelly on co-pilots seat is good for me.

Different force in cyclic
 

Guys

It happened twice to me.

I am flying EC135P2 with AP, SAS and all goodies, and after aprox one hour of flight I have realized, that when I press FTR, the forces in cyclic are more stiff than before. You probablly know the feeling, that if you press FTR there are no forces in cyclic, and cyclic feels light like nothing. But after hour of flight or so I have realized that the forces start to feel more hard, like if rubber was inside control box - I mean acutator bellow floor. I have landed, checked both hyd system. Nothing seemed to be wrong. Called maintenance. They told me that as soon as both hyd systems are ok I am safe and should observe. After two days the same problem. First hours of flight normal, after that more stiff forces in cyclic after I press FTR.

Does anyone had the same problem in the past?

Really 120KGs? I am about to have the retrofit aux tank done on our EC135T2 and ECD never said 120kgs ballast required in the front.... they said 40kgs max after I queried them on the C of G as I have my weather radar in the nose and unable to use the Front Trim Weight kit... AND they never said anything about an aft trim kit in the Fenestron...

Am I in for a shock once I fill up the Aux tank?

Wire Strike Installation
 

If ballast isn't allowed due to the radar perhaps a wire strike kit installation would help - the blades are heavy - not cheap, but a thought.

does anyone have experience with a Cineflex system on a 135? I see Meeker aviation do the utility step mount that's EASA cert'd, capable of mounting it, and easy to install, as do HDSkyCam but is the camera more limited in view than the typical installation on an AS350/355? It looks like being somewhat more in-line with the skids (which are also bulkier, and protrude further forwards than a 350) would restrict any rearward facing shots significantly.

If anyone has any experience with this, or the typical counterbalance weights used (if any) with this type of system i'd be very keen to hear more.

Thanks.

P.s. if you want to try out a Cineflex as CG ballast on the front i'd be more than happy to give it a go for you :)

sir, send us a email, will help with any questions. also the HD skycam mount is ours as well
thanks
cal
[email protected]

Hi Cal, thanks, you replied by email the other day with respect to pricing and lead times. I'm hoping for any operational experience from an operators point of view, with regards to flexibility (for example rearwards facing shots with the camera more inline with the skids in the 135).

Any advice much appreciated. PM or email if preferred if this is a thread drift. Thanks

sir, you might try and contact Coyotair, as they have both our mounts for the 135 and 355.
there is no counterbalance needed on the 135, if using cameras in the Cineflex / UMHD type
cal

Are you aware that the 135 has a speed limit of 60 kts with the door open?
There is a mod which allows higher speeds but I can't remember the limit.

Aucky,

I appreciate your desire to make use of the opportunity you have. Re: the EC135 (apart from police machines with dedictaed systems), the EC135 is not a normal filiming machine. By comparison, the AS355 is standard kit where a twin is needed. All the mods and kit are already cleared and available.

The main problem is that EC135s will be shiny and new, and their owners not wanting to risk the paint job for a utility job.

Because it is not used much in the role many of the wrinkles have not been worked through here in UK/EASA land. An example is BS's issue about Vne with door's open (assuming you will need the doors open), I am trying to remember what the kit consists of. I think it was a sort of leading edge kit for the front of the opening where the door normally goes. My guess is that it would be expensive and you would have to buy it and get it fitted.

Helinut - Thanks for the input, I have read the relevant parts of the manuals, spoken to a handful of operators, and generally have a positive response. Their machines are new and shiny, but most also see a nice opportunity for some interesting work with one of their trusted pilots onboard. The mounts that i've found so far are simply a replacement side step with bolts, no mod required. The hardest problem if finding the one most suited to the task, as I have a willing agreement in place for a T2+, but it does't have the door locks in place for doors open flight. Your correct there is an optional extra required for the rear door (a lock) to enable doors open flight, limited to 60kts, but 110Kts or VNE (which ever's slower) with the hinge/spoiler mod.

http://s19.postimage.org/7nqoalu0j/S...t_18_44_47.png.

I appreciate that the AS350/AS355 is more usually used for this purpose, however with the payload requirements even the N is on the limit, especially from restricted sites, at warmer temperatures, and they're not so easy to come by either. In either case finding one that ticks all the boxes is the part thats tricky, but thats why i'm working months ahead, and it's all worth investigating :ok: The AS355N alternative will suffice but be more restrictive with regards to MTOW for helipads that aren't clear area. I'm investigating all the options at the moment in an ideal world, and then filtering to those which are feasible with whats available. Thanks for the input - it's useful to hear things that I may not have considered :ok: