SAPD Helicopter goes down *VID*
11-06-2006, 10:18 PM
#5
TECH Fanatic
iTrader: (25)
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Katy & College Station, TX
Posts: 1,271
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
most likely, i have heard of a solis, king, and babb (thats all i can remember right now) ...dad was a captain out there a few years back. you talkin about the blue/white MD500 thats several years old yet hauls *** and is nimble as can be? take it you are solis' son?
Trending Topics
11-07-2006, 12:16 PM
#11
TECH Senior Member
iTrader: (7)
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Katy, TX
Posts: 12,754
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Autorotation is simply pitching the blades (collective) to keep rotor speed up, so you can maintain directional control (since the tail rotor is geared to the main rotor). Once you've built up / maintained your rotor speed, you can control your glide and approach to a safe landing zone more or less like normal. Right before touching down, you would change the blade angle again to slow your descent, and touch down as softly as possible. Right before touchdown, the pilot also tries to minimize the forward movement (by pulling back on the cyclic) so avoid sliding too far on the skids or possibly tipping over.
The power lines were just a hazard they avoided as they came down.
The power lines were just a hazard they avoided as they came down.
11-07-2006, 12:52 PM
#13
TECH Enthusiast
iTrader: (1)
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Cypress, Tx (Houston)
Posts: 690
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Originally Posted by Brains
Autorotation is simply pitching the blades (collective) to keep rotor speed up, so you can maintain directional control (since the tail rotor is geared to the main rotor). Once you've built up / maintained your rotor speed, you can control your glide and approach to a safe landing zone more or less like normal. Right before touching down, you would change the blade angle again to slow your descent, and touch down as softly as possible. Right before touchdown, the pilot also tries to minimize the forward movement (by pulling back on the cyclic) so avoid sliding too far on the skids or possibly tipping over.
The power lines were just a hazard they avoided as they came down.
The power lines were just a hazard they avoided as they came down.
When flying the blades are tipped (like when you stick your hand out of the window of a moving car). When the engine quits, if you keep the blades pitched they will stop. When the engine quits you make the blades flat to the wind. A rather unpleasant side effect is the tendency for the machine to drop like a freaking rock. There's a rotor tach so you can keep an eye on the speed of the rotors, and you can slow your descent SOME on the way down, but generally you wait until you're JUST the right distance from the ground and you yank those blades back into the tipped position. Timing is critical, obviously. If you have enough altitude when the engine quits the landing shouldn't be too bad - meaning the machine may not be totalled. If you're low, it's gonna hurt - not enough distance to get the rotor speed you need to make the landing.
11-07-2006, 01:19 PM
#14
Glad they are ok
Brian the Google Grimal knows all!
Originally Posted by Brains
Autorotation is simply pitching the blades (collective) to keep rotor speed up, so you can maintain directional control (since the tail rotor is geared to the main rotor). Once you've built up / maintained your rotor speed, you can control your glide and approach to a safe landing zone more or less like normal. Right before touching down, you would change the blade angle again to slow your descent, and touch down as softly as possible. Right before touchdown, the pilot also tries to minimize the forward movement (by pulling back on the cyclic) so avoid sliding too far on the skids or possibly tipping over.
The power lines were just a hazard they avoided as they came down.
The power lines were just a hazard they avoided as they came down.
Brian the Google Grimal knows all!
11-07-2006, 01:30 PM
#15
Originally Posted by Brains
Autorotation is simply pitching the blades (collective) to keep rotor speed up, so you can maintain directional control (since the tail rotor is geared to the main rotor). Once you've built up / maintained your rotor speed, you can control your glide and approach to a safe landing zone more or less like normal. Right before touching down, you would change the blade angle again to slow your descent, and touch down as softly as possible. Right before touchdown, the pilot also tries to minimize the forward movement (by pulling back on the cyclic) so avoid sliding too far on the skids or possibly tipping over.
The power lines were just a hazard they avoided as they came down.
The power lines were just a hazard they avoided as they came down.
11-07-2006, 02:58 PM
#19
TECH Fanatic
Thread Starter
iTrader: (4)
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Not Austin, Texas
Posts: 1,263
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Originally Posted by Brains
I've always wanted to pilot a helicopter, so I read up everything I could long ago 
