I turned on the tv a few minutes ago to watch a show called Wings over Afghanistan. (Discovery channel) During the opening scenes there was a clip of a full scale Apache heli doing a roll. It was amazingly smooth with little loss of altitude, better than I can do with one of my helis. I had heard they could get inverted but I figured it was only theory, no one had really tried it.
Now I want to see one do a tic-toc!
Later,,,basmntdweller

Full scale military combat helicopters, such as the Apache, are generally equipped with the (r.c. helicopter) equivalent of positive 10 degrees pitch, and negative 8 (Per U.S.A.F. maintenance guidelines).... Yes, theoretically, inverted flight should be possible, but has only been attempted once...With fatal results. Heidrich Glucauss, a German military helicopter pilot, and part time air-show pilot, attempted an inverted hover in 1976. Unfortunately, he became severely disoriented and crashed. But, his helicopter MAINTAINED an inverted attitude for 18 seconds, thus proving that it is physically possible, albeit difficult.

This information comes from:

Military & Civilian Helicopters; The Impossible Machine
1980, West & Moore Publishing

I have been looking for books just like that for some time now with no luck. I just did searches for the title you mentioned and can't find it anywhere. Any idea of where to pick it up?

Thanks!

Sorry, inverted flight such as rolls have not been attempted only once. Maybe sustained inverted but not something such as a roll.


I've seen a Sikorsky S-65 'Jolly Green' do a roll. Incredable for such a heavy weight(aprox 33,000 empty!) It was on Discovery Wings one time. Just amazing.

I've also seen a S-76 rolling upside down and diving down to the opposite direction.

Go ahead, look it up, it's gotta be on the web somewhere!

I picked this particular book up at a yard sale. I have no idea where one would buy it. The inside cover shows the publisher as "West & Moore Publishing, Luxembourg." I have no idea where Luxembourg is........

Is that in Florida???

Luxembourg is a city in Germany if my geography and my memory are both working together. Since that book was published in 1980,,, technology and flight systems have evolved tremendously. I would not be surprised if apaches and the like have far greater flight capabilities than we might ever know. I just thought it was cool to see a full scale in a roll. On the closing clips of the show there was a shot of an apache doing a vertical down roll and then a smooth pullout. That was pretty cool as well. It just isn't something you expect to see everyday.
Later,,,basmntdweller

dernit I can never find this stuff. If anyone has any tapes of these shows or copies of this book they might wanna part with drop me a pm.

Thanks

I think they'd settle for being near Germany, but never *in* Germany since they are a soverign state in their own right

http://www.luxembourg.co.uk/nutshell.html

Mark

My wife and I actually discussed this as I was posting it. She convinced me it was a city, I thought it was a country. Even when I'm right I'm wrong!
basmntdweller

Just FYI for my fellow heli fans..I have a bud thats a flopper(heli pilot) for the army.I had the MOST INCREDIBLE EXPERIENCE when he managed to take me on a short flight.I can attest they can and will roll.Basically a high spped approach and a little finesse' with the stick and youre looking at dirt.Something Ill never quite forget:-) As always,Dustin