North Sea Crash
 

A Scotia Super Puma rolled over today on the West Navion (west of Shetland). No pax on board but one of the crew members was injured, I believe a broken leg. Fortunately the aircraft remained on the deck which I guess is a blessing.

Any other news as to what caused the roll over ?

Saturday, 10 November, 2001, 18:19 GMT
Pilot injured in helicopter accident


The helicopter was on a drilling ship

A helicopter with two crew on board has been involved in an accident on a North Sea drilling ship.
The Super Puma rolled over on its side after landing on the West Navion.

One of the pilots suffered a broken leg and has been taken by coastguard helicopter to Lerwick where he is being treated in hospital.

The man, who has not been named, was inside the aircraft which flipped over on its side on the North Sea ship, 70 miles west of Shetland.

'Windy conditions'

The drilling ship is owned by Norwegian company Smedveg and is operated by BP.

A BP spokesman said an investigation had begun into the incident.

He said: "At the moment we are unsure why this helicopter turned on its side, windy conditions may have played a part in this, but it is too early to say.

"The crew were making last-minute checks to the helicopter, which was being refuelled on the ship's helicopter deck when this happened.

"They had taken 12 oil workers out to the ship earlier in the day and were about to return with 12 different workers who were taking part in a regular shift change.

"The passengers had been waiting near the helicopter when the incident took place but none of them had gone into the aircraft prior to it turning."

A whole multitude of possibilities.

Too early to speculate, time to reflect and Thank God that the only thing to happen as a consiquence was a broken leg. Could have been a hell of a lot worse!!

Seem to remember from my Navy days that the stumbly had an appallingly low sloping ground limit due to its high CofG. It was considered totally unsuitable for ship ops. Are the civvy ones different?

Glad it was no worse.

Ark,

Yes. The undercarriage is different. They have been successful in the role (roll?) for twenty years or so. ;)

Undercarriage may be different, but its still very top-heavy with a high mounted gearbox and a narrow wheel base. All in all, give it a low fuel quantity and empty out all the pax and it won't take much to tip it over.

With no fuel, yes.

What about with full fuel as in this case?

Report on a previous dynamic rollover here - different circumstances, but still needs some turning moment to get the thing on its side, surely ?

No doubt the oil companies will change the limits again and if it cost them money revert to status quo. Thank the gods, nobody was killed. :mad:

Glad to see that no-one was hurt.

Here is the ABZ P&J story.

Probe under way into helicopter accident

by Angela Taylor

A MAJOR investigation was under way last night to establish why a helicopter tipped over on the deck of a drilling ship, injuring the co-pilot.

Coastguards and offshore union officials said the incident, off Shetland, could easily have had devastating consequences.

The Aberdeen-based CHC Scotia helicopter had flown 12 crew members to the West Navion ship, then refuelled onboard.

It was preparing to return to Aberdeen at about 1.10pm on Saturday when it rolled on to its side in gale-force winds.

The rotor blades were still turning as the Super Puma helicopter rolled and it is understood one blade struck the co-pilot, breaking his leg.

He had been standing nearby, supervising the refuelling of the helicopter, when it rolled.

The pilot, who was the only person on board the aircraft at the time, is thought to have clambered out of the helicopter.

The co-pilot – who suffered a "nasty leg injury" according to coastguards – was winched into a coastguard helicopter and taken to hospital. Neither he nor the pilot have been named.

The ship – owned by Norwegian firm Smedvig – was operating in the Assynt field, about 78 miles from Shetland.

She was being used to carry out drilling work in the Assynt well for BP and was scheduled to continue that work for about another fortnight, although all work has been suspended in the wake of the accident, a spokesman for the oil company said.

Last night, it was still unclear exactly why the Super Puma capsized.

The Air Accidents Investigation Branch and Health and Safety Executive are investigating the incident, while BP is also conducting investigations in conjunction with the HSE.

An internal investigation by CHC Scotia is also under way.

Jake Molloy, secretary of the offshore workers union OILC, said the crew were "very lucky indeed" that the incident had not been worse.

He said: "I was a helicopter lander when I was offshore for 17 years. I've never come across a helicopter being blown over. If there was a pitch and roll of four to five metres you must be looking at the limits for safe landings and take-offs.

"If it was sitting steady on the deck I can only imagine it was pitch and roll that caused the problem."

The rescue operation was co-ordinated by staff at Aberdeen Coastguard, assisted by their Shetland colleagues.

According to a spokesman, the West Navion was pitching and rolling between four and five metres. A westerly wind was blowing at 33knots – gale force seven to eight – and visibility was 4,000m.

Shetland Coastguard's Sumburgh-based helicopter, Rescue Oscar Charlie, flew out to the ship and winched the injured man on board. He was taken to Gilbert Bain Hospital, in Lerwick, and later transferred to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, where he was last night said to be "comfortable".

The Super Puma was lashed to the deck of the vessel to prevent it toppling into the sea.

Coastguard winchman Friedie Manson said: "We were told before we arrived there that one of the pilots had a severely broken leg and that the other pilot was unhurt, just shaken.

"Amazingly, nobody else was hurt in the accident."

Captain of the coastguard helicopter, Mark Jackson, said the winching operation was not as straightforward as he would have liked.

"The difficulty, initially, was to try winching him from the stern. But it was so turbulent that we couldn't do it.

"So we had a little think about it. We spoke to the captain of the West Navion and came up with the idea to winch him from the helideck where the helicopter was lying on its side," he said.

"We winched from a height, so we did not affect the chopper at all, and that was relatively straightforward."

The BP spokesman said measures had been taken to prevent further problems on the ship.

"The helideck on the drill ship has been isolated and, as a precautionary measure, foam has been used to make the aircraft safe. The well has not been affected by the accident and has been made safe."

The crew due to be taken off the boat will have to remain on board until the damaged aircraft has been removed.

They will not have to work while they wait for transport, the BP spokesman said.

He added that the vessel has the capacity to accommodate the extra staff and there would be no bed shortages.

No helicopters will be able to land on the West Navion until the damaged helicopter has been removed.

Large cranes will have to be used to carry out the salvage operation. It has not yet been decided whether to get heavy lifting gear taken out to the West Navion or have the ship brought back to shore.

It is not known how long it would take to get a crane to the site.

BP will work in conjunction with Scotia and Smedvig to arrange removal of the helicopter.

The rotor blades of the helicopter were damaged when it rolled, the BP spokesman said. It was unclear yesterday whether there was any further damage.

"Until investigations are carried out no one is going near the craft," he said.

The rotor blades cut into the helideck causing some superficial damage, but this will not cause any operational difficulties.

The Super Puma is made by Eurocopter, a French-German consortium, and can take 20 passengers.

It is 18.7-metres long and has a top speed of 165mph and a range of 540 miles.

The disabled helicopter could be removed from the West Navion in a number of ways. Experts said the most likely method used to remove it would be by crane, either on shore or offshore.

The West Navion has been modified into a drilling rig so she can carry out drilling operations. She can manoeuvre like a ship but she has a drilling platform on board, so she can move from well to well. She was in the middle of a drilling programme at the time of the incident.

The drama could potentially have been much worse, if the aircraft had gone into the water or the rotors had struck the drilling equipment, the Aberdeen Coastguard spokeswoman said.

"It was a very, very unfortunate accident, but it's one of these things that could have been a lot worse. Safety measures were put into play immediately, preventing it being worse. Luckily, nobody was in the sea or more seriously injured. If the helicopter had gone into the sea it would have been a lot worse."

Twelve men were killed when the Super Puma helicopter they were travelling in crashed off the coast of Norway in September, 1997. It disappeared while on a flight to the Norne field in the Norwegian Sea. Super Pumas were voluntarily grounded for a short time after the crash.

Question....

Is it taught, ie; part of a standard offshore flying training syllabus, to "fly the disc" whilst on a lively moving deck with rotors running? Up to now, I asumed this was fairly standard practice - but on the subject coming up for discussion, a couple of experienced pilots have stated they keep the cyclic central.
Most pilots I think, more or less naturally, input some opposite cyclic to the roll or pitch if they start feeling uncomfortable.
I seem to remember being taught this technique way back in the Navy, but can't remember it being specifically discussed or demonstrated during offshore training - bearing in mind that initial training DLP's and recurrency checks are almost always flown to a stable deck.
Any thoughts on the pros and cons of this?

In answer to your question TwistGrip, Operating Proceedures forbid us to 'Fly the Disc' whilst on a moving deck. While I feel the Super Puma does not present a particular problem in this regard due to its high rotor head, aircraft such as the S-76 would highly endanger deck crews if the disc was to be manouevered after landing - To stop this from happening, a Manual Disc Lock has been fitted folowing some pretty awful accidents.

Twistgrip,

yes, I'm afraid I'm guilty of flying the disc during spells on a difficult deck. Most of us have probably landed on a deck that was out of limits due to "enthusiastic" reporting of the pitch, roll and heave. Once on the deck, there is little option but to fly the disc to counteract the oleo movement. I've done it on the S61N & the AS332 but do agree this would be dangerous on a helicopter having a low rotorblade clearance height.

I did see an AAIB accident report some time ago on the web involving an S76 or Dauphin - can't remember which - and the loss of the life of a deck hand when a blade hit him.

I can't find it on the AAIB web site, but it seems to reinforce the point - low head, moving deck, BE VERY CAREFUL OUT THERE.

Seem to recall something about that too.

Ships crew member was stood at nose of a/c, the ship pitched and the a/c rolled back, and the guy didn't realise. The pilot put in a cyclic input, lowering the front range of the blades. Because he had rolled back, the guy was now at the tip of the blades, and got decapitated.

Something along those lines.

Not nice.

[ 15 November 2001: Message edited by: skidtoob ]

Re: Flying the disc

Check out the posts on ditching relative to disc movement on a pitching,rolling deck or when the helicopter is on floats.

To: All re "Flying the disc"

I need some help but I don’t want to start an argument. Some of you address “Flying the disc” as standard practice and others state that their ops manual says not to do it. I spent a lot of time up in Greenland and in the Great Lakes as a flight mechanic both working on and flying in three types of helicopters. These were the HO4-S (S-55) the HO3-S (S-51) and the Bell HTL-1 (B-47) which was on floats. When the deck was pitching and rolling we had a lot of problems with the Sikorsky models during start up and in some cases we came damned close to going into resonance. The Bell had its’ own problems under the stated conditions. When the rotors were at speed we had additional problems regarding disc stability during heavy rolling and pitching which is common on icebreakers.

Now for the questions: What are you trying to counter by flying the disc? And, what do you do and in response to what. If you do fly the disc what in your mind would happen if you refrained from doing it?

Thanks for your assistance in this matter.

Lu,

Bascially, I think flying the disc, ie; putting in opposite cyclic to the vessel's pitch & roll, helps to keep the aircraft (particularly one with oleos) stable. Now before we possibly get into something highly technical, I have felt comfortable doing this (with a high rotor head - agree the 76 is too low for safety) and I prefer to feel comfortable if possible. This technique would only normally apply on a deck that is moving considerably. Therefore you are generally keeping the disc level with the horizon.
Perhaps relevant is that it is standard technique on the S Puma to apply cyclic into the turn when ground taxying to counteract the rolling moment - though in this case of course the disc will not be level.

Sorry;

Can't see the point of flying the disk if the lever is fully down! I think some pilots do it to give them a comfortable feeling i.e.'at least I'm doing something'

If the collective is fully down, and the speed selects at idle, what would be the point of "flying the disc"? Surely there would be little or no thrust from the disc, and little or no overall effect. Can't remember having to resort to such a move, even when sitting on the Capalonga (North Sea tyros from the 70's will remember the name with dread....) and seeing nearly 20 degrees of roll in a 212 :eek:

Having refused to go back after that episode, a B105 gave it a go and slid off the back end with all doors still open, and bits falling away left and right ;)

With John Eacott's alleged experience, I'm suprised he would consider bringinging the speed selects back to "idle" on a moving deck. You want to stay in maximum controllability mode if there is a risk of inadvertent aircraft movement. Flying the disk on deck is not something I would recommend unless there is a good chance you might have to lift off in a hurry - which is not good for those on the helideck. If the disk is kept parallel with the horizon, a more controlled lift off is likely. If the situation is such that the pilot thinks that the deck movement is likely to cause the aircraft to slide, he shouldn't be there in the first place unless other protections are provided. Not easy to turn away when you have flown all the way to your ship and the vessel is very close to deck movement limits.

The problem is excacibated when deck movement is reported by the ships crew and it is them who want to get on the helicopter to get home. It will be interesting to see the results of the investigation into the West Navion accident and the accuracy of the reported deck movement prior to the aircraft landing.

As to John's story about a Bolkow sliding of the back off the Capalonga, I think his imagination is being a bit over active - but why spoil a good story with the truth.

(why do I never see the typos until after I've posted the message!)

[ 17 November 2001: Message edited by: coalface ]

To: coalface

I hate to keep harping on my experience aboard Coast Guard icebreakers as it took place 49 years ago but it is still relevant. We had two helicopters aboard the CGC Eastwind one was a Bell HTL-1 (B-47) and the other was a Sikorsky HO3-S. We had to share our flight deck with a very large cylindrical tank that was to be delivered to Weather station Alert on Elsmere Island in the far North of Canada. We wanted to remove the blades from the 3-S but the Captain of the ship wanted them in place in case there was a requirement to fly the helicopter prior to our arrival in Greenland. We told him that it would only take about 30 minutes to replace the blades in the event of having to fly the aircraft. He said no, so we folded the blades. This exacerbated the high CG by concentrating this weight along the longitudinal centerline. There were no problems until we entered the Davis Straits between Newfoundland, Greenland and Canada. The currents came from three different directions making the seas very turbulent. Our ship was not equipped with bilge keels so we had a monstrous roll rate. The very high CG on the 3-S made it very unstable and it started to work on the oleos. We were in danger of losing the helicopter over the side. Our only means of stabilizing the helicopter was to immobilize the shock struts. I wanted to depressurize them but my maintenance chief had his own ideas. He went down into the machine shop and constructed a set of Dutchman’s’ clamps that incorporated tie down rings. That took about two hours and it left me riding on top of the helicopter trying along with my junior mechanic to remove the blades. This was an impossible task and in the process I became seasick.

We eventually got the clamps on the oleos but in the process we got jammed fingers and almost suffered a capsizing of the helicopter. So what John indicated about the BO-105 might very well be true.

A note of possible interest: The maintenance chief was the co-inventor of pop-out floats. He also helped develop the first hoist used on a helicopter and he developed the friction controls used on Bell model 47 helicopters.

[ 17 November 2001: Message edited by: Lu Zuckerman ]

Mr Zuckerman,

I can assure you, no Bolkow was lost off the back of the Capalonga in the North Sea.

I know you and another gentleman are in the habit of contradicting everything each of you say but don't drag me into this game. Facts are facts. Check UK AAIB records if you don't believe me

Coalface.

To: coalface

I was not implying that a BO-105 was lost overboard as John had indicated. I was however implying that based on my experiences in rough seas it could very well have happened.

Coalface,

Alleged experience notwithstanding, ISTR that sitting on a deck either refuelling, loading bears, baggage, crew changing or whatever, it was SOP to sit at idle. Most crew changes on a Ripple 3 in the RN would take 5 to 15 minutes, and you certainly wouldn't have the speed selects fully forward, especially with pilots getting in and out. Similar ops in the Brent ( hence the Capalonga saga) were at idle whilst the loads were taken off/put on, and/or hot refuels carried out (on the helidecks of the rigs, whilst the platforms were under construction) on a static deck. The only times I recall not selecting idle were very few and far between, certainly the Capalonga episode would have been one which I failed to elaborate. Mea culpa.

As to the Bo105, I didn't say it fell into the water, but that it slid off the back end. I should have been specific and said 'the pilot reefed in the collective and got it airborne with doors still open'. Obviously better clued (after our refusal to return with a 212) he had kept the S/S's forward. Good on him. Yes, I was there, so imagination isn't an issue. The Capalonga had knowledge of our deck landing limits, and would never give a pitch & roll call above them, hence the continuing problems of finding yourself on deck with excessive deck movement.

John Eac

Sorry, mate, but the speed selects most certainly would be at flight idle. i.e. forward with the rotor rpm in the flight range. Any other setting invites sailing blades and strikes with the fuselage and/or deck. Yes deck. There is a famous picture of a Sea king deck strike during shutdown.

Regarding 'flying the disc', it was not standard RN practice either in the Wessex or Sea King. In the Wessex, it would almost certainly have led to ground (deck?) resonance, and in the Sea King, would have been of no benefit. Keeping the disc horizontal is not a good option in the case of a hasty take off. You are much safer snatching the helo away at 90eg from the deck. Any other deparure would invite dynamic rollover.

[ 20 November 2001: Message edited by: Arkroyal ]

Here's one for the aeronautics people. What would happen if you left the auto-pilot in on a pitching and rolling deck?
I seem to remember it trys to fly the disc for you; but not that quick.

Ark,

Thanks for the update, I guess old timers must be setting in :( I am that used to rolling back to ground idle these days, I envisaged that it was the way we did it all those years ago. A quick browse through the old flip cards certainly reinforces your comment. Having been corrected on that, anyone recall SOP's for the rig shuttles in the Brent in the 70's, did we or didn't we roll back to idle during refuels, crew changes, etc., or was it a 'pilot option'? Genuine question, if I'm wrong I'll admit it!!

I recall a picture we had of a Sea King on 1 Spot (Eagle) with the blade sailing such that the tip was about 3ft off the deck, would that have been the photo that you recall? I'd be interested in a copy if anyone has access to it.

To: disstings

The HSS-1 (Navy version of S-58) was equipped with an Automatic Stabilization System, which had directional control, hover altitude control (barometric reference) Sonar hover hold (hydrostatic reference to depth of the sonar ball under the water)and attitude hold. After a few major incidents the pilots were told not to engage the ASE until they were airborne. They had several problems when the pilots had the system engaged and the ship changed course. The whole back end spun around trying to maintain heading.

A pitching an rolling deck would result in the ASE flying the disc as you described in your post.

[ 21 November 2001: Message edited by: Lu Zuckerman ]

[ 21 November 2001: Message edited by: Lu Zuckerman ]

John,

Yep, me too with the failing memory! The picture I'm referring to was in 'Flight Deck' I think and actually showed a blade strike 1 o/clock. The composite blades made this quite possible.

Lu

As you know, the Wessex was just an S58 with turbines. It had a thing called the Mk 19 autopilot! (hate to see what marks 1 to 18 were capable of!) This was engaged just before launch, and disengaged immediately after touchdown on deck. Landings were often made exciting by ground resonance (exasserbated by the ASE) requiring an immediate lift off, often into the dark with no stab.

In 1987, a crab chinook made the mistake of sitting on the deck of my namesake with the autopilot engaged. The ship was moving around a fair bit in roughers. So much so that one end of the wokka got airborne. Crab mate pulled power, and snapping the lashings, got airborne with a hapless sailor clinging on. They kidnapped the poor chap and took him to Aldergrove.

So, rambling dit over, its never a good idea to leave autopilot engaged on deck, or to fly the disc, although I stand to be corrected when it comes to the Puma family. Their incredibly high CofG might make a different technique valid? :eek:

Ah, the dear old WxIII ASE. IIRC (and I'll be VERY careful...) the 706NAS course lasted about 12 weeks, of which 6 weeks were GFT on the Wx HAS1, then the next 6-8 weeks were on the HAS3. Needless to say, the mechanical wipers on the III's ASE used to corrode between ASW sections of the course, so you were almost guaranteed a runaway on transition, usually at night :eek:

It was still a vast improvement on the Wx1, and as for the Whirlwind.......

Speechless Two, those were wonderful times. Don't you remember having the option. The lovely 61 could shut down one engine and then you apply the rotor brake to stop the rotors whilst the other engine kept running.
Rig crews on the heli-deck went to work with no pressure, and you had the knowledge that releasing the rotor brake brought back all those hydraulic and gearbox systems to get you home.
One day the'll build a helicopter like that again.

Disting,

Ferried a 61 through Kalgoorlie many years ago, and wanted a hot refuel prior to parking for overnight. Refueller couldn't accept the proposal of keeping one engine going with the rotors stopped, but was more than happy for us to have the APU running :D :D

Speechless Two,

No relation to Speechless One, of 826 fame? Winching in the Whirlwind, trying to keep the Nr up, but how about dragging the Sproule net, and keeping the back wheels out of the water. With only 2 PoB!!! :eek:

Rumour was that you could walk across the bottom of Portland Harbour on the ditched Whirlwind airframes ;)

I operated Offshore Super Pumas in the Timor Sea for some years.Getting back to the thread on speed selects at idle whilst on the deck, despite not being a North Sea driver, I can not see that this would be an option as the alternators all drop off line, as such we operated them at flight idle, i.e. lever down and yellow handles forward.
Providing you took the ship roll in pitch the acft could handle the movement of the deck. However rolling limit was +/- 1.5 degrees, which didn't give you much to play with if you took the roll option.

A scan of the stuff provided at the Small Helicopter Safety Seminar shows 2 accidents in the space of 6 months where helicopters took people out on a deck - an S76 and a Dauphin.

Unfortunately the accident reports are no longer available from the AAIB web site.

Problemchild:

If any of the following information is incorrect, please correct me anyone, this has all be received through rumour from ABZ.

As far as the airframe is concerned all I know is that it was an AS332L

Rumour has it that the co-pilot has a very severely broken ankle/shin. Caused by a fragment of main rotor blade. Skin and muscle grafts (is that how you spell it?), pins through and all sorts!! :eek: :eek:

There was thought that he may lose his foot, but apparently they have managed to save it.

As for the pilot we believe he is off work with shock. (Not surprising really!)

I for one hope that they both make a good recovery soon.

Pprune is just wonderful, if only for the nostalgia trip. Last known, Speechless One was flying out of Gatwick, initially with Dan Air then, I hope with BA. Where is he now? And as for John Eacott - are you still wearing that wonderful Akubra? Hope 'The Helicopter Company' is still going well.

Back to the main point. Pumas and Super Pumas have had quite a history of falling over, at Aldergrove many years back and, almost as many years ago, when parked offshore overnight (was it the Forties field?) That one I seem to remember was when the wind got up to 80+ knots. Another blown over onshore, after it had been parked as close as possible to the hangar doors, comes to mind again in extreme winds.

The report of this occurrence, with feelings of relief that the pilot is recovering from shock and the co-pilot more seriously but hopefully will return to full flying fitness, talks only of moderate (for the North Sea) winds of 35 kts and the aircraft secured to the deck with lashings. Perhaps ship movement was a factor but it is not made clear if the aircraft had shut down and was restarted. If so and as the French never did fit a proper rotor brake to any of their heli's, the well known wind-up wobble combined with ship movement would be all it takes. You can't beat a Sikorsky rotor brake that let's you start both engines before engaging, with a rapid wind-up when needed.

To add two-pen'orth to the Auto Pilot question, RN training has always made good sense to me - disengage on landing. I seem to recall the odd Wessex tail wheel skidding across the deck as the ship turned after land-on and the heading hold worked very hard to do its job!! Should be SOP for all moving decks.

The technique taught for sloping ground, that the cyclic should be centred after landing, I believe equally applies to moving decks. With the collective at Flat Pitch and the deck moving within cleared limits, there is absolutely no need to try to 'Fly The Disc'.

The Offshore weather and deck movement reports have always required a good pinch of salt, particularly on the RO's change-over day. If the deck movement is - or may become - out of limits then the only way to overcome the intense commercial pressure is to employ those good CRM lessons, provided at great cost by our employers, to say "Diverting" or "I go NOW".

Glad I've been there and done that.

I'm surprised no-one has posted an update as to what happened. Here's my understanding about what has been found so far:

The vessel is a drill ship that has a helideck very high above the water line. It's position is maintained on station by a simplex computer feeding info to various thrusters on the vessel.

While the aircraft was on deck the positioning computer failed and the vessel heading and position started to wander. Once the vessel crew realised what had happened the vessel had drifted about 40 degrees from it's original heading i.e. the aircraft is now 40 degrees out of wind.

In order to get the vessel back on course/position full thrusters opposing the drift were applied. The effect of this force, coupled with the very high helideck resulted in a large roll on the helideck. This, coupled with a 35kt wind "under" the disk caused the aircraft to roll over.

Here's hoping for a full recovery by the P2.

Regards
Variable Load

A couple more comments from downunder. Regarding the roll over, as any good test pilot will explain at length, (Well he did to me!!!!!) it's not just roll limits for ship or slope limits for a/c but particularly rate of movement that is important as all this comes together producing moments which may easily roll a helo. Some ships have been modified to reduce their rate but increaseing the amount of roll to allow helo ops to be possible. Weight may not be a good thing even low down in the a/c the limits for the Sea King reduce drasticly with increased weight for some ships (2 deg roll!!) but on other ships its much greater. Deck surface can also play its part, if the a/c slips the rolling moment will be somewhat negated. (Not neccessarily a good feeling as the crew on Hermes in '82 found as the SK tail wheel hopped over the deck edge and out along the boat gantry!!) :eek: :eek:
As to blade sailing there is also a phot of a Sea king on 1 spot on a CVS with one blade folded up and over the rotor head due to bad winds around the ramp during shutdown. :(
Anyway I'll keep the stab out and the cyclic still on deck as I've no wish to argue with rotor blades as I crew change at 02dubs!! :)