206lr's What Can They Really Do

[helicopterjim]

All I want to know is who's got the fastest helicopter!! All the rest of this so called operational stuff is just window dressing!! Speed man! Ya gotta have speed!

[picapart]

throw one inside of a 747 and you'll make australia in a day . fast enough for you ??

[GoldMember]

I agree with the Egg Driver on the high/low gear issue. If anyone thinks that high gear gives you a large amount of tail rotor clearance, that someone should not be surprised if they suffer a T/R strike somewhere down the line.

 

Now.... lets see, say we take an L1(C30) at 2400 lbs and load up 6 pax plus the pilot, all at 200 lbs to be realistic, and go for a flight. We are now at 3800 lbs and still need fuel, so we add 350 lbs to max out at 4150 internal. The fuel system in the LongRanger line is finicky at best so our company policy is on the ground at 200 lbs indicated, which leaves us with 150 lbs to burn which will last about 39 minutes. The L1/L3 is slow at max gross, around 100 kts, so we'll get about 65 miles if we're shooting for distance.

 

Not too bad so far eh? Reality check though, someone on here said that an L3 would go straight up at max gross.... never happen. At max you need a runway, and be very careful at 100% Tq as all it takes to overtorque is a little push on the left pedal and you're over 105% instantly. The other thing is, try and find one that really weighs less than 2450 - 2500 lbs. We weigh ours with the gear in it that is always there.... headsets, floor trays, axe, survival kit, etc. so that if we ever had Transport take a close look for any reason, we would be all nice and legal.

 

They are nice and smooth and I do enjoy flying them, but a powerhouse they are not. Live by the flight manual so that you don't die beside it.

[vortex]

If I remember, the 206LR gross is 4000 lbs so the +-150 lbs weight savings from the empty weight is pretty much traded for a lower gross.