Brady Longmore
Senior Heliman
Location: Idaho Falls, ID
| Sadly  I have to report that my Intrepid had an accident today.
It was flying fine today and yesterday, and I really feel like I have come a long way with it. I have even started to practice some brief nose-in hovering.
There I was in about a 10 foot hover, enjoying myself when suddenly I lose all control of my rudder. The heli starts spinning around and around like it has a mind of its own! I quickly reduced throttle and tried my best to keep her level while bringing her down. For an instant I thought I was going to be ok. I hit the ground a little skewed to one side, but the momentum of the spinning heli caused itself to tip momentary and WHAM I hit my blades, shattering them.
From what I can tell a bolt that threads through the bell crank securing it to the tail gearbox housing sheared away somehow. It didn't come lose and fall out, as the other half of it is still there, fastened securely to the other side of the bell crank.
Anyway, kinda frustrating. I always do a pre-flight inspection of bolts, and linkages before I fly, but this is one of those things you probably couldn't have caught just by looking at it.
Damage Report:
Main rotor blades are toast
Tail rotor blades intact but nicked up a bit
Main gear is missing a bunch of teeth
one bent lower swashplate linkage
Fly bar is bent pretty good
all the bearings / spacers that were in the bell crank that the broken bolt threaded through are gone
And my new canopy is a little banged up, but not too bad.
this was the maiden flight of the new canopy too
Anyway, gotta order replacement parts and stuff, and ask some questions. I'm a little intimidated about fixing it, but how else will I learn?
And I am glad it wasn't that bad. It could have been so much worse. I am impressed that it stayed under the kind of control it did. Too bad I don't have as much experience. Maybe I could have saved it if I was a better pilot. |
