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back in the saddle - 6/16/2003 8:22:07 PM   
zaremba



Posts: 104
Joined: 3/2/2003
From: Elmhurst, IL, USA
Status: offline 		Thankfully, it's like riding a bike. Pretty much picked back up where I left off three weeks ago with hovering and precision slow forward flight.

TT .39 turned right over and sounded great. It was actually the first time I was able to jockey the throttle to avoid having to restart a cold engine. The after-run oil helps (I think).

Winds were variable and gusting to 15 kts or so. I'm greatly improving altitude and heading control with wind gusts, even with the gyro in normal mode and not AVCS mode. Still need to get the mechanical rudder trim correct. More adjustments necessary.

The only incident of note was a minor blade strike (if there can be such a "minor" thing with a helicopter). Got too close to some overhang from a tree. Gust of wind hits the bird on the aft starboard side, and I compensated correctly by adding collective and starboard/aft cyclic into the wind.

However, I failed to arrest the ascent when the gust died, and the main rotor blades impacted the branch from below. There was a very loud "weed-whacker" sound (clearly audible from inside the house where my dad and bro were watching Patton), sudden drop in main rotor RPM, and she started descending rapidly.

I applied full collective, full starboard cyclic, and was able to recover, land, and inspect for damage. No alteration of flight characteristics were noted post impact before the emergency landing.

There was a decent amount of green plant debris on the outer leading edges (25%) of the main rotor blades, and surprisingly, some green discoloration on the tail rotor as well (?). When I cleaned off the debris, no impact damage was noted on the blades. The clear shrink wrap was intact. All linkages, including the swash plate and tail rotor hub were intact with no damage noted. Flybar paddles and rod were unbent/undamaged. Blade roots and holders looked OK, with no cracking or loss of the epoxy noted.

I'd imagine that if there are no dents in the wooden main rotor blades, then the feathering shaft and bearings are undamaged. There was no noticed change in sound or feel of the bird after the incident.

Probably what saved me was the bird dropping rapidly out of the blade strike area after the initial event.


_____________________________

Raptor 30 V2 - TT .39
Futaba 6XHPS
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