355 Fx?
 

does anyone have any time or experience in one of these?

never flown an Fx, did some time in a F2 though

European Twin Squirrel Simulator
 

Can anybody recommend a Twin Squirrel sim based over the channel in Europe?

Try ringing +49 2382 82082. they have just bought a B3 with good hours and I KNOW he always likes to sell his helicopters, nearly got a 212 rating until he sold them all from under me...drat!
Don't buy it too quick though, I might still get to fly it :E

Sorry, slip of the keyboard it\'s a B2 NOT a B3

Rick

Never heard of one, certainly is something that would be useful though:ok:

Never heard of a 355 simulator. Hell they didn´t even have a SA 365 Dauphin sim until about 3 years ago.

Its in Marignane France.

I would imagine that the flight hour cost on the sim would not be much less than the DOC's on an actual aircraft.

Bond Air Services will shortly have an EC135 sim that may be configurable.

The French Army Air Corps have some but no visuals just an IF trainer. I don't know if they'd let anyone else use it though.

Heli Union training center has a FNPT2 which is a fixed base sim featuring the cockpit of a Fennec - Twin Squirrel with Arrius engines.

Héli Union Training Center
Aéroport d'Angoulême - Brie Champniers
16430 CHAMPNIERS FRANCE
Tél :33 05 45 90 33 30
Fax : 33 05 45 90 33 33

www.heli-union-training.com

Cheers

ATN

Squirrel tow bar
 

Mods, this is offered for free so I don't think it can count as an advert.

We have an A-frame towbar which is built to fit the Twin Squirrel; we no longer use that type so we want rid of it. It fits via pins to the jack-up handling wheels and the tow point is about a metre in front of the nose [it started life as an apprentice's project].

It's nowhere near as useful as the heli-lifts etc currently available....but it's free if you want to collect it, obviously UK only; it seems a shame to scrap it. I'm too short of time tonight to post a photo, so PM me if you're interested.

Just what I want....

As 355 Fx?
 

Any Ppruners out there that have flown the AS355FX?
WOuld like your thoughts on the C20R and FX conversion's performance.Does it really make a difference?:E

Sorry don't know much about it-is there a web site?

It's a customised STC version, at present only Certificated in North America. See www.helilynx.com.

AS350 blades, winds, and tiedown/braces
 

Would appreciate a Eurocopter citation for securing the rotor.

I'm having a technical disagreement- one party is concerned about the starflex, the other with the blades and the effect of unrestrained flapping. Specific issue- The blades must be immobilized, braced and tied above "x" windspeed (40 knots?)? Up to that point, autorotation is the only issue?

I believe this is addressed in the maintenance manual.

This is purely from memory, and I'm assuming the 350 limits are the same as the 355; beyond 20kts tie downs required, beyond 60kts hangarage is recommended. I could get you a maintenance manual reference in a few days if no-one else comes up with it.

I remember having several AS355 in for an overhaul and all the blades where scraped, because they where never tied down. I can only suggest to tie them down all the time.

Squirrel Tie downs
 

I have never split a starfex head using tie-downs. Here is the method taught in Donouworth and Marsaille.

Tie the main rotor down at it's median point..ie leave it where it is when no wind is blowing, let it jerk all over the place all night, check it in the morning before you fly, 99 percent of the time it will be worth flying.

If you tie it down FFS don't drop it two inches as you might on a different head you will bust that starflex and that equals an expensive repair.

Para 2 applies to factory courses as taught on As350, As355, as365 and EC135.

Talk to the guys who design and build the things if you don't believe me.

I have been fixing these types for over 20 years,some just happen (no wind, no flex), some are engineer/pilot/handler lack of knowledge), most are avoidable.

Take care

4R

Eurocopter issued an alert telex on 9th June to inspect the right hand cabin anti-vibration damper. The inspection has been included in our Daily Mandatory Inspections. All the pilot does is drop the right hand side of the belly panel to check the damper. If it breaks it could foul the trim actuator. Our engineers showed us in a few minutes what to look for. No fuss, no drama, no grounding.:ok: