Rehab1´s accident(s)

[Rehab1]

1 hour ago, Pard said:

2 helicopter accidents?  Share the details!

 

Both experimental. One was an Oshkosh Grand Champion in 2002.

1st: Rotorway- experimental helicopter- Accident cause: Coolant hose blew filling the cockpit with smoke. I autorotated into a corn field. 8 foot stalks took out my tail rotor spinning the chopper out of control tipping it over. I need to find the news coverage on that one.

2nd: Safari - Accident cause: Rotor RPM gauge went into a spasmodic episode ranging from 50-500 RPMs in seconds. The  main rotor needs to stay within a 50 RPM high/ low range.. no more. Chopper started shaking violently so I dropped the collective which controls the blade pitch angle and autorotated. I hit the ground hard and it flipped on it’s side. I punched my way through the glass bubble, grabbed the fire extinguisher and put out the flames. Unfortunately the helicopter was rebuilt, crashed and burned 5 years later killing both the pilot and passenger.

 

 

Edited February 14, 2018 by Rehab1

[WARPed1701D]

Nice paint job. 

[Rehab1]

15 minutes ago, WARPed1701D said:

Nice paint job. 

Not mine. Auto body shop and a local artist Pamela Shanteau. She actually played Star Trek music while painting the murals. 

If you look close you’ll see a 2 foot long ballast weight mounted on the right front skid. The 50 lb weight came loose during flight causing the pilot to loose control.

Edited February 14, 2018 by Rehab1

[Vik's]

1 hour ago, Rehab1 said:

Thanks! My wife may have written the forever part. 

So you're telling us there's a chance?

 

[Marty Backe]

52 minutes ago, Rehab1 said:

Not mine. Auto body shop and a local artist Pamela Shanteau. She actually played Star Trek music while painting the murals. 

If you look close you’ll see a 2 foot long ballast weight mounted on the right front skid. The 50 lb weight came loose during flight causing the pilot to loose control.

Cool pictures, and helicopter.

Wow, losing that weight caused the crash and fatalities? Would good pilot skills allow that to have been a recoverable mechanical failure? If not, I would have welded the ballast to the skid.

[Rehab1]

2 hours ago, Marty Backe said:

Cool pictures, and helicopter.

Wow, losing that weight caused the crash and fatalities? Would good pilot skills allow that to have been a recoverable mechanical failure? If not, I would have welded the ballast to the skid.

My bad. Let me clarify. The 50 lb ballast weight is strategically placed by the pilot depending if there is a passenger is onboard. Crazy right? Experimental aircraft is just that...experimental..

Pilot and passenger onboard requires that the ballast weight be placed aft of the cockpit in a predetermined location to balance the CG . If only the pilot is onboard then the weight is placed on the left front skid (passenger side).

The weight cannot be welded in place being  you have to physically transfer the weight based on the 1/2 passenger payload. The lead weight is housed in a cylindrical container with a special security pin.  According to the accident report the aft ballast came loose during flight causing the tail boom to abruptly angle upwards striking the mainrotor blades. Pilot error as he missed an important section of the preflight check list.   

If interested, here is the detailed, somewhat gory details http://www.uzpln.cz/pdf/incident_JAGcQGH7.pdf

Edited February 14, 2018 by Rehab1

[dmethvin]

Hmm... two helicopter accidents, one truck and EUC dumped into a lake, and a high-speed EUC wipeout. If you learn only one thing by visiting this forum it should be this: Avoid vehicles when @Rehab1  is near them.  

[Marty Backe]

45 minutes ago, Rehab1 said:

My bad. Let me clarify. The 50 lb ballast weight is strategically placed by the pilot depending if there is a passenger is onboard. Crazy right? Experimental aircraft is just that...experimental..

Pilot and passenger onboard requires that the ballast weight be placed aft of the cockpit in a predetermined location to ballance the CG . If only the pilot is onboard then the weight is placed on the left front skid (passenger side).

The weight cannot be welded in place being  you have to physically transfer the weight based on the 1/2 passenger payload. The lead weight is housed in a cylindrical container with a special security pin.  According to the accident report the aft ballast came loose during flight causing the tail boom to abruptly angle upwards striking the mainrotor blades. Pilot error as he missed an important section of the preflight check list.   

If interested, here is the detailed, somewhat gory details http://www.uzpln.cz/pdf/incident_JAGcQGH7.pdf

Thanks, makes sense. Never forget the check list.

[fryman]

3 hours ago, Rehab1 said:

Both experimental. One was an Oshkosh Grand Champion in 2002.

Very impressive Dan!

[Rehab1]

4 minutes ago, fryman said:

Very impressive Dan!

Thank you!

[Bob Eisenman]

http://skywolverines.com/viewtopic.php?t=2016&p=26170

"Here is my guess .... and that is all it is is a guess

Safari has always had a low frequency vibration problem that transmits thru the fuselage and shows up in weird places like the tip of a skid which will bounce up and down in flight .... or a shake in the tailboom or somewhere else .... and my jaw would drop when the recommended solution was to strap a bag of lead shot to the skid to stop it from bouncing

There have been cases where the whole rotor system has broken off and departed the helicopter ... and killed the pilot and passenger .... the last one I think was an off duty sheriff and his wife out for an evening flight , 

I think it is because the 2-per-rev shake of the teetering rotor has no place to go .... the mast is too rigid ... so the shake shows up somewhere else in the fuselage"

Sounds kinda scary for Safari pilots.

14 hours ago, Rehab1 said:

Chopper started shaking violently so I dropped the collective which controls the blade pitch angle and autorotated

 

[Rehab1]

15 hours ago, Bob Eisenman said:

Sounds kinda scary for Safari pilots.

Pilots flying experimental aircraft, especially helicopters, have an increased risk of bodily injury or death. The QC standards are much greater for a commercial aircraft over an experimental version and the cost reflects it. I owned 2 Enstroms and a Bell 47 besides the 2 homebuilt helicopters.  I could perform my own maintenance including annuals on the experimentals which was a huge cost savings. Maintenance costs  on the 3 commercial ships was outrageous, but I never had to perform any unexpected emergency maneuvers in my 20 years of flying the commercial choppers.

[Pard]

13 hours ago, Rehab1 said:

Pilots flying experimental aircraft, especially helicopters, have an increased risk of bodily injury or death. The QC standards are much greater for a commercial aircraft over an experimental version and the cost reflects it. I owned 2 Enstroms and a Bell 47 besides the 2 homebuilt helicopters.  I could perform my own maintenance including annuals on the experimentals which was a huge cost savings. Maintenance costs  on the 3 commercial ships was outrageous, but I never had to perform any unexpected emergency maneuvers in my 20 years of flying the commercial choppers.

I worked as a CFI and commercial pilot (small piston twins) for a while.  I built my own ultralight airplane in my garage.  I eventually also owned and flew certified aerobatic aircraft Pitts S2B, Extra 200, and Extra 300.

2 engine failures in the ultralight, one on takeoff below 100 ft, successful landings in both cases.

Brake failure on landing in the certified Pitts S2B, that was scary but uneventful.

Aviation is dangerous, but there is NOTHING on earth that can match it for the thrills.

 

Edited February 16, 2018 by Pard

[Pard]

I hope you are healing well.  Forgot to include the most important part of the post! 

[Pard]

On 2/14/2018 at 11:52 AM, Rehab1 said:

Both experimental. One was an Oshkosh Grand Champion in 2002.

...

Outstanding work BTW!

[Demargon]

3 hours ago, Pard said:

Aviation is dangerous, but there is NOTHING on earth that can match it for the thrills.

Disagree,  earth is precisely the worst thrill for the aviation 

Edited February 16, 2018 by Demargon

[Rehab1]

6 hours ago, Pard said:

I worked as a CFI and commercial pilot (small piston twins) for a while.  I built my own ultralight airplane in my garage.  I eventually also owned and flew certified aerobatic aircraft Pitts S2B, Extra 200, and Extra 300.

2 engine failures in the ultralight, one on takeoff below 100 ft, successful landings in both cases.

Brake failure on landing in the certified Pitts S2B, that was scary but uneventful.

Aviation is dangerous, but there is NOTHING on earth that can match it for the thrills.

 

You advanced further than me. Commercial rating was my next goal. I was taking up film crews from local news stations and only charging for fuel so I wanted to obtain the commercial rating and starting making some money. The written test was complete but then I lost someone dear to my heart and it changed everything.

Your definitely a survivor and yes there is nothing in world that can match the thrills. They say once a pilot always a pilot but in my case it was easy to walk away.

6 hours ago, Pard said:

I hope you are healing well.  Forgot to include the most important part of the post! 

 

 

4 hours ago, Pard said:

Outstanding work BTW!

 Many thanks times 2. 

 

[Rehab1]

Kids and parents are always asking me “What happened?”  or “ Did you slip on the ice?”  When I tell them I fell off an electric unicycle I always get these blank looks. Now I just point to my ACM.  

 

 

[steve454]

45 minutes ago, Rehab1 said:

Kids and parents are always asking me “What happened?”  or “ Did you slip on the ice?”  When I tell them I fell off an electric unicycle I always get these blank looks. Now I just point to my ACM.  

 

 

That's so cool, you don't have to say a word.  Would work with bicycles,  motorcycles,  and skis also.  That's very creative, how did you make that?

Hoping you have a speedy recovery.

Edited February 16, 2018 by steve454

[Rehab1]

50 minutes ago, steve454 said:

That's so cool, you don't have to say a word.  Would work with bicycles,  motorcycles,  and skis also.  That's very creative, how did you make that?

Hoping you have a speedy recovery.

Thanks buddy! I actually just cut and pasted an ACM photo I found online. I then resized the photo in MS Word and printed it out. I then cut out the photo and laminatedl it. To give it a 3D appearance  I cut out some blue and black foam pieces for the side pads. Great arts and crafts therapy. 

[Bob Eisenman]

On 2/15/2018 at 5:37 PM, Rehab1 said:

Pilots flying experimental aircraft, especially helicopters, have an increased risk of bodily injury or death. The QC standards are much greater for a commercial aircraft over an experimental version and the cost reflects it. I owned 2 Enstroms and a Bell 47 besides the 2 homebuilt helicopters.  I could perform my own maintenance including annuals on the experimentals which was a huge cost savings. Maintenance costs  on the 3 commercial ships was outrageous, but I never had to perform any unexpected emergency maneuvers in my 20 years of flying the commercial choppers.

WBZ Boston takes off and returns to land on a skid. Hovering skills for sure !

[Marty Backe]

6 hours ago, Rehab1 said:

Kids and parents are always asking me “What happened?”  or “ Did you slip on the ice?”  When I tell them I fell off an electric unicycle I always get these blank looks. Now I just point to my ACM.  

 

 

This is so funny, and very cool. It's amazing how it looks like a little 3D model of the ACM. Very cool technique that you used. And you did it all with one arm 

[Rehab1]

6 hours ago, Marty Backe said:

This is so funny, and very cool. It's amazing how it looks like a little 3D model of the ACM. Very cool technique that you used. And you did it all with one arm 

Thanks Marty! I can still use my left hand in the sling so holding something is not too difficult. Amazing how you can learn to cope. Enjoy your loooong ride today and be safe!

Edited February 17, 2018 by Rehab1

[Bob Eisenman]

14 hours ago, Bob Eisenman said:

I owned 2 Enstroms and a Bell 47 besides the 2 homebuilt helicopters

That is an incredible amount of investment for one person. 

At the Westover AFB (Massachusetts) airshow several years ago I saw a restored CH34 Choctaw which also flew a demo as part of the show. The radial piston engine sits below and forward of the pilot in the bulbous nose of the aircraft. The drive shaft to the MR extends beneath the cockpit and then up via universal like links to the MR. The engine has a unique sound when revved up.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikorsky_H-34

I sort of think of herd rustling ranchers or crop dusting farmers when I look at your owned helicopters.

Locally to my apartment I sometimes see an occasional Robinson (R22 , R44).

Many years ago on the wealthy stretch of properties on Marblehead Neck, abutting property owners signed a disagreement (due to high noise) with one home owner who used his property as a landing pad. 

A V22 Osprey landed on Boston Common several years ago. The prop wash downward was so strong that several limbs from trees that were passed over broke off.

I passed along Boston Common earlier, passing the Paul Revere (is buried here) Cemetery a block away.

I don't know if your Bell 47 was piston or turbine but on the subject of turbine engine crashes the AN-148 that crashed after takeoff in Moscow was found (flight recorder) to have departed without turning on the pitot tube warmers. Several minutes onto the flight the flight system displayed an large air speed variance from expected. After disengaging the flight control system the an-148 ultimately nose dived with the pilots uttering inarticulate grunts in the final moments.? 

 

 

Edited February 17, 2018 by Bob Eisenman

[Bob Eisenman]

On 2/14/2018 at 3:11 PM, Rehab1 said:

Thank you!

Dan,

You might find it interesting that a Salem, MA native was Marine Corps One pilot for awhile

http://www.salemnews.com/archives/marine-one-pilot-is-salem-native/article_c97fffe8-3bae-5cbc-8b8b-2b64e862f0a3.html

The last name of the pilot is the same of the man who just sold the apartment building where I live. While he owned the building I asked the realtor in a text message if the pilot and he were related. The realtor did not respond to my text inquiry.