Copter Doctor
Elite Veteran
Location: daleville/ft.rucker, al
| Hi Guys!
wow nice to see all the comments and thanks for your concerns.
it liiks like gmebey came closest to guessing what happened. seems the blades did not like the hard landing and they started an oscilation or ressonance. i believe if the blades were tighter in the grips, it would not have happened but when this happens, the only thing to do is ride it out. i tried shutting the engine down as fast as i could and hoped. as for the damage, it isnt bad at all and came out better than when the rotorhead's "jesus" bolt sheared in flight last july just two weeks before IRCHA (placed 2nd there)
as lady luck would have it, the blades, rotorhead and all mechanical components are fine and only some minor cosmetics to repair. i always ran the blades a bit loose in the grips because if too tight, they wont swing out evenly and cause shaking. i think now i may just have to runthem a bit tighter. as for the unstable look in flight, it was windy as hell and the most wind i have ever flown her in so it was a new and horrorfying experience. as for the tail heavy look, well it isnt tail heavy, the blackhawk has a 3 degree forward mast tilt so it will have a level attitude in cruise flight. this results in a nose high attitude when in the hover and on the approach.
the hard landing was due to me trying to make the circle for those extra points on the landing. i knew better than to do that because yo dont lose any points if you dont hit it but i was lucky during the first round and figure i'd go for a second try. oh well, it happens. no worries however, it isnt the first accident with her and as i plan to fly it till the end of days, it probably wont be the last
during the build, i had this same thing happen with another rotorhead that had a lead lagging joint. these blades just do not like that at all so i changed it to the current head. guess they dont like being loose in it either so tighter they'll run in the future.
thanks for posting that vid BMW, i will learn a lot from that.
also it was quite a pleasure chatting with you and your wife and i sure hope to see you again at other future events.
drive a rotary, fly a rotorcraft |
Was that a boomstrike at the end?
