false Indications

[412driver]

good point Oryxs. wasn''t there a case a few years back that had a 100 hour guy flying the top brass? he had a false indication and on the way down the guys could hear the turbine running but didn''t say anything and they ended up autoing into the water?

[Jammed left]

I know the story your thinking of 412. There was a great deal of pilot hours in the machine that ended up in the water. What happened was the cannon plug worked it's way off the n1 tach gene, and the horn went off - the pilot entered the auto - rolling the engine to idle as he did. The guy in the passenger seat (with many hours himself) saw the indications that the engine was running and asked the pilot to pull in some pitch. He did and the rotor started to droop - so down with the pole and they put it into the water - very nicely I'm told.

 

I think that they figured the pilot rolled to idle because that is what he did when he practice them annually - subsequently training pilots now roll the throttle off during recurrent for that company now. This also brings up a point with some new pilots who did training on r22 and 44's. During full ons, the pilot has to keep the throttle in the over travel position(past idle) to disengage the governer. I know a fella or two who have it engrained in their auto training to roll the throttle to idle. There should be some awareness of the potential to be in the situation where they've entered the auto, rolled to idle without really thinking about it - they you could find yourself in the same situation as our aforementioned wet ones, with a false engine out indication, the dials telling you that the stove is still on, but no useful power- and in the heat of the moment, it might not get sorted out until too late. Not sure if it has ever happened that way, but food for thought, no???!!

 

 

[Puddle Jumper]

Here''s one that I don''t fully understand...maybe some of you boys can help me figure it out. Supose you go flying and forget to turn on the generator and the battery voltage drops below 14 volts DC...the engine out horn should activate...why is this?.. I can''t remember!

[Cambox]

Mmmmmmmm......... Anyone think we''re going to feel a bit of yaw if the stove actually quits???

 

 

 

R...

[Nomex]

Puddle Jumper: Leaving the gen off and when the battery dies will cause all sorts of confusing indicators. Two first clues (in a 206) will be poor VHF transmission & reception, boost pump(s) stop (caution on) - it happened to me but fortunately caught it at this point after checking systems, and yes I have heard of engine out, low rotor and other lights/noises and not all consistant.......

My advice is do a regular pre-landing, en route, pre-take off check always - I have caught the gen switch off numerous times during these checks - all as the result of the switch tripping off by itself due to malfunction etc..

[Puddle Jumper]

Nomex

 

Thanks for the reply....and yes I am well aware of the ususal first sighns of a generator off or a failure. During my first solo ride during flight training I had a generator not charging the battery properly....I could recieve fine but couldn''t transmit very well...it takes a lot of juice to operate those power transistors on the transmit side of the radio. I can''t remember why but I heard that engine out is quite common in older ships when having a generator off or during a failure....supposidly the rotor low horn is one of the first things to go crazy...I can''t remember why..I guess I will just have to ask.

[412driver]

yes, you will sense some serious yaw......

 

yes, it will get quiet..........

 

just leave the throttle alone and the story Jammedleft verified is why i believe in that.............

 

 

[DGP]

puddle jumper...I believe when the voltage drops below 14 volts the reverse current relay kicks off line and this shuts down most of the remaining voltage that is left in the battery...at which time the rpm senors will have no voltage going to them and on goes the warning lights...all though they will be dimmer than usuall...all of this will be very irratic due to the low voltage...the rpm sensers run on very low voltage,so when this starts happening your jetbox is not a happy camper and soon will want to be on the ground.

[Randy_G]

There will be a large amount of very sudden yaw.  Then the low rotor & engine out horns start blasting in your ears.  The engine may get quiet, but those horns are sure loud !! 

 

 

Cheers

[Bruised Armpit]

How many of you are flying around out there with your low rotor horns deactivated? I know some operators that do this.