• Hey Guest!
    British Car Forum has been supporting enthusiasts for over 25 years by providing a great place to share our love for British cars. You can support our efforts by upgrading your membership for less than the dues of most car clubs. There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Upgraded members don't see this banner, nor will you see the Google ads that appear on the site.)
Tips
Tips

11 presumed dead in Eglin AFB helicopter crash

Share this page

Just saw that on the news about 10 min ago. Sad, very sad. We'll just have to wait and see if any are found alive.
 
It is always so sad to see a story like this.
 
Helicopters.... engineered to KILL you.
 
DrEntropy said:
Helicopters.... engineered to KILL you.
Click to expand...

First time in my life I ever rode in a Chopper (Bell 212) was when I spent 3 months up on Baffin Island and Labrador flying from mountain top to mountain top. We were doing sight surveys to determine where to place a bunch of unmanned radars for the North Warning system (I was a Radar Engineer at the time). Anyway, on our very first flight which was out of Cape Dyer, we had to make an emergency landing about 3 minutes after takeoff due to a blown oil seal.

After the company mechanic sprayed all the oil off the bird with a solvent, he replaced the bad seal. An hour after the emergency landing, we were off again, heading out over some of the most rugged terrain you have ever seen! I had to fly on that bird every day for the next three months. Needless to say, I maintained a healthy level of apprehension every day and always looked forward to the landing after returning to the home base each night.
 
Was in Marines at Camp LeJune and hated helicopters. You almost kissed the ground after every flight. Especially when you were with one of the Viet Nam combat pilots. But they are excellent medivac pilots, can put them down anywhere.
 
Funny, I like them. I've had a commercial Rotary license since 1980. Yes I was in a wreck once in a Bell 206. 10 feet off the ground I had a confirmed rotor link failure. Bell tried to get out of their responsibility, but it didn't work! Lucky, yes very. A blade cut the chopper in half right behind the cabin. No fire thank God! Got out through the windshield opening, in a hurry! Just a scratched hand was all I got. Next day jumped back in another and went flying. Observers said it looked like parts were flying 100 foot in the air. If you get thrown off a horse, you get back on and give it another go! Never say Never! PJ
 
Basil: "After the company mechanic sprayed all the oil off the bird with a solvent, he replaced the bad seal. "

Somehow I have the image of a guy cleaning up birds after an oil spill - then being attacked by an angry seal.

OK - back to the topic. At the air museum we often say the only reason helicopters can fly, is that they're so ugly the Earth pushes them away.


 
Rotor craft not my cup of tea either. With engine out they fly like a phone booth (remember them?)
I know they are SUPPOSED to disconnect from the transmission but :scared::scared::scared:
 
When something goes wrong, helicopters are much like a yard dart.
 
My favorite one is the old Bell G model! Put quite a few hrs in them. The Mash TV series used them. With a little altitude, you could glide one of those auto rotating for quite a ways and set it down so easily. We used to do auto rotations in circles just for the fun of it. PJ
 
Speaking of rotorcraft:

gyrocopter.jpg


A modern gyrocopter. The large horizontal rotor isn't powered; just rotates when the pusher engine moves the craft forward. Kill the engine - nothing changes. Just glides back down. Thank you, Juan de la Cierva.
 
Back in the day, we just returned from a formation spraying job, and on landing we noticed a crowd milling around the end of one of the hangers. Immediately found out a gyrocopter crashed minutes before we landed. Looked like he stalled it around 60 feet and with no time to recover, he died on the scene. His wife and two children saw it happen. Devastating to say the least. Biggest problem with them were, a lot were home built and most people had no training in them or knowledge of aerodynamics. Some were even put together with non approved parts. Since that being my first encounter with Gyros and knowing the principal is a very safe one, I still never gave it any thought of flying one. PJ
 
Paul - what a horrible tragedy for that man's family, especially that they watched it happen.

Probably wasn't a "stall" in the airplane sense, as the spinning rotor never loses lift. But if the pilot somehow gets the nose up into a steep angle, the lift isn't enough to keep the gyro from going down. And as you say, if it's at low altitude - recovery may not be possible.

Like many small trainer aircraft, gyros are essentially stable, and will recover to level flight by themselves, even if the engine quits. But they need altitude to give them time to recover.
 
Yeah your right Tom. But I will say this, here's one I'd fly without hesitation. The old Pitcarin built in the 30s. Looks like my old Stearman in the back ground! Only kidding, that's not it.:highly_amused: PJ

 
Paul - here's a bit of history. First airmail from Philadelphia to Camden NJ, 1939. Johnny Miller flew a Kellett autogiro for Eastern on that inaugural flight, which departed and returned from the roof of the post office building. Capt. Miller was still flying when he was nearly 100 years old, and only died a few years ago.

(background music isn't exactly my cup of tea for a film like this!)


Note the first few minutes showing the arrival of the mail via DC-2.
 
NutmegCT said:
Speaking of rotorcraft:

gyrocopter.jpg


.
Click to expand...


You mean speaking of lawn darts, right? :lol:

I see a market for aircraft that comes with it's own funeral plan. The only thing missing from that thing is you name, date of birth and date of next flight written on the rudder :jester:
 
Thanks for the video Tom, very nice. Never saw that before. My son, who we lost a couple years ago, worked for Eastern for a few years. He went to American in Tulsa just before Eastern went belly up. PJ
 
Back
Top