S61 Questions

[Winnie]

Bladestrike, you come to the rescue again!

By the way, ref your handle, have you ever experienced one?

I did once in a Sea King, 3 blades all damaged beyond repair, add one drive shaft looking like a banana, and some fiber gass covers shattered. In addition to that there was an engineer on the outside looking VERY mad!

[Guest graunch1]

Best I heard about (or worst - depending on your view of itLuckily the guy standing out in front of the a/c was close enough and low enought to have all the bits pass him by

[Bladestrike]

Yup, in a 206, 19 years old, almost 1000 hours under my belt, and full of piss and vinegar. Had to ride in the caboose of an ore train for 12 hours to get back to base, load up a new blade, and head back north with an engineer. I thought my flying career was over and that train ride was the longest 12 hours of my life. Luckily everyone had taken a liking to me and I kept my job.

[Winnie]

About hitting other stuff with the rotors...

A friend of mine ruined his chances of rising higher in the military when he decided to taxi a Sea King between the terminal building and a parked Dash-7, first they struck the D-7, then the termianl building, to the great detriment of rotor blades, dash 7 and terminal building roof!

But he's still flying so all is well I guess.

 

In regards to my first mention, that was a bladestrike to the fuselage because of blade sailing during start up, thus not too much speed yet, just after the droop stops came out, but it didn't feel like a lot in the cabin, but the engineer turned red immediately!

They even had a great investigation to find out why it occured, as if that was not very obvious.

Seems they had built a Hardened Aircraft Shelter just downwind (from prevailing wind) to the pad where the sea king always started, and that caused a not too strong wind to cause the blades to sail excessively.

Nuff said, will appreciate more good S61 stories/tips!

[Over-Talk]

We all have little mishaps in our careers, as Bladestrike recently explained. As commercial pilots we try hard to avoid such events, to keep our lives, families, careers and reputations intact.

 

So, I am amazed that with all the crew on a Sea King that it can still be taxied through what was obviously a very small area (apparently too small !).

 

As a taxpayer who pays this crew's salary, and for all the damage they caused I feel very disappointed.

 

As a pilot, I am scared to hear "he's still flying so all is well I guess".

 

Then a request goes out for "more good S61 stories".

 

What is our Military all about ??? From this it appears to be about coming up with a darn good story to tell at the Officer's Mess-Hall that evening, regardless of the expense to us taxpayers.

 

If you want some more good "tips"....here's one; stop taking unnecessary risks at the taxpayer's expense, and if something does go wrong, at least have some humility about it, as Bladestrike did.

 

I realise many of you on this forum have made the transition from the military to the commercial world.

What do you think ?? Was it always like this ?? Is that why you got out ?? Did you succeed in the commercial world because you didn't have this mindset ??

 

What about you folks still in the appropriately named Department of Defence ??

Let's please hear at least one good defence to this tale, so as a taxpayer and pilot I don't feel so ashamed.

 

Then, in the other event it sounds like I (we) paid for a "great investigation to find out why it occured, as if that was not very obvious".

 

I feel violated in a delicate place. I used to carry a wallet back there to provide some protection, but too many Sea King taxiing (or should it be tax-ing) games have sucked out the contents !!

[Winnie]

Over-Talk

Sorry that I have misled you!

The story of my friend, and the one I was unfortunate enough to experience, DID NOT COME OUT OF YOUR TAX DOLLARS!

They came out of my Norwegian TAX Kroner!

(Didn't mean to shout either) just to clarify that.

With regards to the S61 stories

1. They do not have to be of silly or stupid behaviour

2. They do not have to be of military origin, since my goal is towards the civvy sector rather than mil.

3. My friend who got greatly embarrased and actually had to go to court (civilian) as it is, due to the mishap, actually had to find a different career for quite some time, before he was let back in to a purely flying job. The reason for the route they took may be questioned, however, they were called out on a SAR mission, and they thought they had the space to go between...

I know you should not think, you should know, but at least someone can learn from his mistake, whereas if we don't talk/write about stupid stuff, or embarrasing stuff, we will never learn from the mistakes of others.

As it says on top of the Aviation Safety Letter that we get with every one of our AIP amendments:

"Learn from the mistakes of others, as you won't have time to make them all on your own"

Please be free to submit more stories, good or bad regarding the S61, maybe common things that people do in the early stages, so that we may learn from the mistakes of others

Sincerely

H.S

[Over-Talk]

Winnie,

In that case, I extend my apologies to the fine people of our Canadian Armed Forces whose excellent name and reputation I mistakenly smeared and besmirched in my recent post.

How could I have ever jumped to such a conclusion ????

 

I would also like to extend a tusentakk (a thousand thanks) to the fine citizens of Norway, (some of whom are close friends of mine and commercial pilots in Canada). Their generous spending of tax Kroners on this mistake of someone else has allowed me to learn not to taxi a Sea King so close to a terminal and a Dash 7 that it is too small to even fit the rotor system past, let alone not blow the crap out of everything.

I also learnt not to let the pressure of a SAR callout force me into such decisions, after all people need my good judgement then, more than ever, and I haven't even left the ground yet !!

 

You were right, good story, thanks.

 

[Winnie]

Well Over-Talk,

Good to see that some of you will admit to having Norwegian friends!!

Like I said, it don't have to be stories about stupid stuff, it could be educational, something for all to learn from.

I'd like to point out that my friend learned a great lesson to the detriment of his future career, but that is a story for another day.

The first incident I wrote about happened on a day with winds inside the envelope (less than 50 knots of wind, straight on the nose), and ended up costing the RNoAF and the taxpayers of the land of the vikings lots of money, and this was an accident. However, it was embarrasing for the crew, because they "should have understood" that the winds would be diffeent, with a building some 600 feet away.

 

Well enough of that, anybody else have any good stories?

[Winnie]

Bladestrike:

The motor generator, is that the same as where you start the #1 engine in Accessory drive, then start #2, the rotor, and then pull #1 back to idle, take itt out of accessory drive, and advance #1 to join the needles in N2/Q?

Sounds weird I know, but maybe I could be onto something?

[a_c]

Just playing cut and paste........

just remeber this is the OM of a S61N..

 

 

 

 

 

MAIN GEAR BOX. -------

The main gear box, mounted above the cabin aft of the engines, reduces engine

rpm to the main rotor to produce a main rotor speed of 203 rpm from a power

turbine speed of 18,966 rpm. A freewheeling unit, located at each engine

input to the gear box, permits the main rotor to auto-rotate without engine

drag, in event of engine (or engines) failure or when engine rpm decreases

below that of the main rotor. An accessory section, located at the rear of

the main gear box. drives the primary and auxiliary hydraulic pumps, the

rotor tachometer-generator, torque meter oil pump, the main gear box oil pump,

a dc motor generator, and two alternating current generators.

The motor-generator can be used to drive the accessory section of the main

gear box to furnish main gear box oil pressure and hydraulic pressures when

the dc essentail bus is energized and the rotor system is shut down or turning

at low rpm. The motor-generator is automatically motorized when the motor-

generator switch is in the ON position, the dc essential bus is energized,

and the rotor system is shut down or operating below 28 to 32% Nr. During

rotor engagement when Nr increases to 28 to 32% Nr a speed switch automatically

converts the motor to a dc generator and the accessory section is driven by

the main gear box. Some helicopters are equipped with an accessory drive

switch on the overhead control panel. This switch replaces the speed switch I

and permits the pilot to select whether the motor-generator should be

motorized or not when the rotor system is shut down or operating below 28 to

12% Nr. Above 28 to 32% Nr a change-over relay automatically converts the

motor-generator to a dc generator and the accessory section is driven by the

main gear box. After rotor engagement, the accessory section is driven by

the main gear box through the tail take-off frewheel unit on the tail rotor

shaft. On helicopters with main gear boxes equipped with a through shaft,

the No. 1 engine input drive to the main gear box will drive the accessory

section at a slightly lower rpm if the normal drive through the tail take-off

freewheel unit should fail. Failure of the tail take-off freewheel unit is

indicated by a light on the warning panel marked TAIL TAKE-OFF.

September 9, 1963

Reissued December 17, 1963

Revised October 26, 1977

l-4A