helicopter turns turtle
Discussion
This link came up while checking out the canada sea plane thread
http://www.ybw.com/news-from-yachting-boating-worl...
Are helicopter flotation systems designed to float upside down?
http://www.ybw.com/news-from-yachting-boating-worl...
Are helicopter flotation systems designed to float upside down?
mikal83 said:
No but if it goes beyond the point of no return, the heavy rotor head and gearbox will keep it upside down
This is why people who go offshore by helicopter have to practice getting out of an upside down one in a pool, I rather enjoyed it but it cannot be much fun for non swimmers.Pooh said:
mikal83 said:
No but if it goes beyond the point of no return, the heavy rotor head and gearbox will keep it upside down
This is why people who go offshore by helicopter have to practice getting out of an upside down one in a pool, I rather enjoyed it but it cannot be much fun for non swimmers.saaby93 said:
coanda said:
Have a think about that saaby.
The helicopter will autorotate skid first to the surface of the water whereupon, because it is not airtight it will either:
1.Sink up to the inflatables, and then the inflatables will hold it in this position. Everyone is under water. Most of them drown.
2. Roll over until the inflatable on one side inflates, counteracting the roll and props up the fuselage allowing it to continue to sink and swing under the inflatable. Everyone is under water. Most of them drown.
Oh, unless you meant that the pilots have to use the energy in the autorotating main rotor to flip the helicopter upside down just before it hits the water instead of using whatever energy is left to flare and reduce the vertical rate of descent so everyone doesn't die of broken back syndrome, before drowning.
FFS.
coanda said:
<Jean luc picard face palm meme here>
The helicopter will autorotate skid first to the surface of the water whereupon, because it is not airtight it will either:
1.Sink up to the inflatables, and then the inflatables will hold it in this position. Everyone is under water. Most of them drown.
2. Roll over until the inflatable on one side inflates, counteracting the roll and props up the fuselage allowing it to continue to sink and swing under the inflatable. Everyone is under water. Most of them drown.
Oh, unless you meant that the pilots have to use the energy in the autorotating main rotor to flip the helicopter upside down just before it hits the water instead of using whatever energy is left to flare and reduce the vertical rate of descent so everyone doesn't die of broken back syndrome, before drowning.
FFS.
Do you mean thisThe helicopter will autorotate skid first to the surface of the water whereupon, because it is not airtight it will either:
1.Sink up to the inflatables, and then the inflatables will hold it in this position. Everyone is under water. Most of them drown.
2. Roll over until the inflatable on one side inflates, counteracting the roll and props up the fuselage allowing it to continue to sink and swing under the inflatable. Everyone is under water. Most of them drown.
Oh, unless you meant that the pilots have to use the energy in the autorotating main rotor to flip the helicopter upside down just before it hits the water instead of using whatever energy is left to flare and reduce the vertical rate of descent so everyone doesn't die of broken back syndrome, before drowning.
FFS.
saaby93 said:
coanda said:
<Jean luc picard face palm meme here>
The helicopter will autorotate skid first to the surface of the water whereupon, because it is not airtight it will either:
1.Sink up to the inflatables, and then the inflatables will hold it in this position. Everyone is under water. Most of them drown.
2. Roll over until the inflatable on one side inflates, counteracting the roll and props up the fuselage allowing it to continue to sink and swing under the inflatable. Everyone is under water. Most of them drown.
Oh, unless you meant that the pilots have to use the energy in the autorotating main rotor to flip the helicopter upside down just before it hits the water instead of using whatever energy is left to flare and reduce the vertical rate of descent so everyone doesn't die of broken back syndrome, before drowning.
FFS.
Do you mean thisThe helicopter will autorotate skid first to the surface of the water whereupon, because it is not airtight it will either:
1.Sink up to the inflatables, and then the inflatables will hold it in this position. Everyone is under water. Most of them drown.
2. Roll over until the inflatable on one side inflates, counteracting the roll and props up the fuselage allowing it to continue to sink and swing under the inflatable. Everyone is under water. Most of them drown.
Oh, unless you meant that the pilots have to use the energy in the autorotating main rotor to flip the helicopter upside down just before it hits the water instead of using whatever energy is left to flare and reduce the vertical rate of descent so everyone doesn't die of broken back syndrome, before drowning.
FFS.
mikal83 said:
Ginetta G15 Girl said:
So why did the Wasp have high set floatation devices then?
The Wasp bags exploded downwards not level with the top of the cabin.They were designed to keep the A/C afloat and that's about it.
I suspect it was more to do with looking after nuclear depth charges than crew.
The floats are multi purpose. If a controled decent, the helicopter can land and float on the surface. Several years ago offshore helicopters had their floats upgraded to cope with greater sea swells.
If it turns turtle, they can hold the aircraft near the surface instead of sinking, allowing people to escape, as per the photo.
They are not near the rotor blades in case of false activation, were the floats could hit the blades.
The floats on Offshore helicopters are armed / disarmed over certain speeds and coming into land on offshore platforms, lucky 6 months ago one did falsely activated, but the crew were able to keep control of the aircraft and land back at the heliport.
Edited by saknog on Sunday 3rd September 15:07
Edited by saknog on Sunday 3rd September 15:18
Pooh said:
This is why people who go offshore by helicopter have to practice getting out of an upside down one in a pool, I rather enjoyed it but it cannot be much fun for non swimmers.
HUET. Helicopter underwater escape training. I did it six times in my 23 years offshore. It scared the s
t out of me most times, water gushing up my nose, stuck strapped in, with a half dozen other bozos, as the chopper dummy flips upside down and fills with the wet stuff....But afterwards I always thought 'wasn't that bad really'.........
It got easier, as they started to use an air bag rebreather system a decade ago, gave you a fair bit longer to breathe.
One guy nearly died when we did it in Canada. They do a different one, HUEBRA, with an air bottle clamped in your teeth. His seatbelt got stuck, upside down, under water, full cold water exposure suit on. He panicked, thrashed around, and finally one of the safety swimmers noticed he was dying and managed to pull the auto release on the underside of his seatbealt.
He had bitten the rubber mouthpiece off his air bottle in his panic, and refused to ever do the course again.
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