Royal Navy "lost" a Merlin for a week...
Discussion
As per this story in the local paper really...
https://www.swanageandwarehamvoice.co.uk/news/1796...
"‘£25m’ Merlin was stranded in Corfe Castle field for a week"
Merlin on "routine exercise" encounters technical fault, makes controlled landing in a random field. Recovery attempted, but muddy field prevented recovery by road, so fault finding and repairs had to be carried out over a week in the field so that the helicopter could self-recover to RNAS Yeovilton.
https://www.swanageandwarehamvoice.co.uk/news/1796...
"‘£25m’ Merlin was stranded in Corfe Castle field for a week"
Merlin on "routine exercise" encounters technical fault, makes controlled landing in a random field. Recovery attempted, but muddy field prevented recovery by road, so fault finding and repairs had to be carried out over a week in the field so that the helicopter could self-recover to RNAS Yeovilton.
When they were still RAF Merlins we had to do the same outside the wire in Afghanistan (near FOB Price IIRC) after a rotor impact req'd a quick landing and a couple of blade changes in the field. Luckily a Chinook had done the same about 2 weeks prior so everyone involved knew what to do regards Force Protection etc but it was still a fun day 
Blade 1 - took the initial impact and deflected the round
Blade 2 - took the tumbling round on the edge and shattered it.
Blade 1 - took the initial impact and deflected the round
Blade 2 - took the tumbling round on the edge and shattered it.
Tony1963 said:
Yertis said:
Those look like small injuries to have grounded a big helicopter like a Merlin. Why did that necessitate a blade change? Does it completely cock up the behaviour of the rotor?
Not sure if serious. Tony1963 said:
Not sure if serious.
Why would I not be? It's perfectly rational question. How would the damage shown affect the operation of the helicopter?Yertis said:
How would the damage shown affect the operation of the helicopter?
Combination of things which Biggles obviously felt were sufficient to put it down.Aerodynamic balance across the rotor disc is one.
Structural integrity is another but I’d agree...it seems rather superficial. Then again the tactical environment may have been very low-threat.
But it is a Merlin so the aeronautical equivalent of a cracked fingernail would probably see it grounded.
Chinnies used to come back with that sort of damage, and worse, all the time.
To use an analogy:
Merlin:
Chinook:
(And not forgetting, Puma
Yertis said:
Why would I not be? It's perfectly rational question. How would the damage shown affect the operation of the helicopter?
Until an engineer has inspected the damage and determined the extent, nobody knows what the best course of action is. So, if the aircraft isn’t in the thick of a battle, landing might be the best option. There are too many variables at play, so the crew will make their decision based on evidence and training. It is always better to be on the ground wishing you were in the air, than in the air wishing you were on the ground.
In war time when you are under fire and staying still might be worse than moving, then one decision might be made, but in peacetime and in a safe location, then it is simply madness to risk the airframe, yourselves and people on the ground by flying with damage just to get it home.
As an aside, blade balance and how noticeable it is and how damaging it is a very serious consideration. Even a heli with just slightly out of track blades is a horrid thing, let alone one with serious damage!
In war time when you are under fire and staying still might be worse than moving, then one decision might be made, but in peacetime and in a safe location, then it is simply madness to risk the airframe, yourselves and people on the ground by flying with damage just to get it home.
As an aside, blade balance and how noticeable it is and how damaging it is a very serious consideration. Even a heli with just slightly out of track blades is a horrid thing, let alone one with serious damage!
The "spade" shaped bits at the ends of those blades are nearly a meter across (front-back) so the holes/ damage is possibly bigger than it appears in the photos. The hole in the first pic is probably about 20cm long.
I'm guessing they didn't want to damage the rotor head or gearbox- the gearbox on a merlin is a massive thing about the size of a dinner table and a huge job to replace.
I'm guessing they didn't want to damage the rotor head or gearbox- the gearbox on a merlin is a massive thing about the size of a dinner table and a huge job to replace.
CAPP0 said:
Where's the bit where they "lost" it?
OK. I'll admit it was kinda a "click-bait" title. So they didn't actually misplace the helicopter, but technically they lost the use of it for a week and some poor saps had to live in a tent in a muddy field for a week, guarding it and fixing it. I posted it up because I hadn't seen mention of it on PH, nor in the national press, yet it appeared (to me) to be an "of interest" story to PHers who are into aviation matters.Maybe I should PM you in future to run thread titles by you for approval?
Crossflow Kid said:
Emeye said:
Yeah - bit rubbish these helicopters took out by a single round - bullets used to bounce off TC’s helicopter in Magnum PI.....
At least one Chinook took an RPG in Helmand.And carried on.
Another lost an undercarriage leg to a land mine.
Ditto.
- merlinsarecrap
Before we hit Helmand we got "up armoured" with a tiny 1ft tall section around the sides, pilot seats and an armoured floor. The idea being your own armour protected the top half as you sat down and the Merlin armour protected your legs but anything knee high and above was fair game!
IIRC the Merlin with the tip damage had vibrations due to the broken tip in the second pic as Merlin blades generate virtually all their life with those massive 1m x 1m tips carbon fibre tips so any damage there is instantly noticed. We had worse damage to the main body while I was there but this was the worst blade damage, other that the boxed up ones a Chinny blew over smashing them to bits
Edited by IanH755 on Wednesday 23 October 14:55
Crossflow Kid said:
ecsrobin said:
And for other PH members (as Crossflow will already know) the blade that took the RPG round is now part of the bar at 27Sqn.
I was thinking more of the one that went through the aft pylon, missing the aft vertical drive shaft by an inch.Right?
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