A Sad Day in the Life of a Helicopter

This helicopter was rolled..the earth shook and screamed out in protest as the rotors travelling near the speed of sound sliced mother earth...of course it scared the crap out of the pilot and all those in vicinity. Would be rescuers appeared out of the ether in a matter of seconds...the pilot
un buckled and climbed out in a matter of 10 seconds.......I stood motionless for 5 seconds in shock with disbelief









Although not immediately apparent there is 50 =60K of damage here.

Notice the blades and head are still in tack a testament to their strength..not what you see with a Robbie

The accident...not just a single mistake but a compounding of "out points"
This was part of test flying of the newly constructed craft. It had a bout 5 hrs on the hobbs meter
This was the owner pilot first solo test flight
This happened after about 25 mins of slow ground manouvering
During this 25mins I had observed a couple of occassions when pilot control was a bit out of shape.
In the pilots words..."i was a bit out of shape so I thought it would be best not to be too high...the craft was on its side in a instant facing a different direction then I was in."
The rear passenger skid was broken off consistent with the craft hitting the ground side ways which would initiated the roll.
The day prior the pilot had put in a big days work so was not feeling overly fresh the day of accident.
On the day of accident the pilot was under some time constraints to get a fly in due to other commitments happening additionally the pilot hadn't eaten as he normally would have due to other time commitments.

This is how it probably looked....a typical roll over.......this one you can hear is getting low rotor rpm...hanging low on the passenger side...the skid digs in...the pilot equivocates on the throttle..doesn't actively correct skid levels/dump collective, or lift off...the roll continues to destruction. See following link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMxTTZAHcFc&NR=1

No Chance !

No chance of escape!

Someone who didn't make it!

180+ dead

In this photo, there is a 737 passenger airliner, shortly after takeoff from Melbourne airport.



Saturday 7th February 2009

Australia see's it's worst ever bush fire ever....drought conditions years of fuel build up due to political policies enforced by "The Greenies" coupled with high temperatures and driven by 70km wind the fires screamed through the country side with the sound of a 747 turbine killing 180+ person's who had no warning and no time to escape. Government avoids its culpability by announcing investigations which will take years to report and then bury [like they did for the Canberra firer's] and finding scapegoats by blaming arsonists instead of the bureaucrats who continue to lock up our forests making them tinder boxes so fires can once again rage and kill more innocent people and personal property.

Australia's Worst disaster

Country side still burning

Home sweet home....? the aftermarth

Panic escape blinded by smoke....didn't make it..

Victoria from Space showing Smoke

Fire Truck in Full Retreat

Koala dehydrated

Marysville

Kingslake

Hazelwood Power Station in the foreground of the photo

Talon 600 October 2008

TALON A600ALR
You have heard the company line Now hear it from a 162FALR Flyer.
Company line and spec’s can best be seen at www.rotorway.com.au
The A600ALR incorporates the long ranger fuel tank for Australia’s expansive continent.
Predominate changes from the 162 are:
New fadecs much smaller with better operation
Lengthening and widening skids
New Tail assemblage with increased rigidity/weight and shaft drive mainly
Instrument panel flat screen enigma
Weight redistribution to overcome tail heaviness by placing battery up front like the old models did.
Electric water pump replacing traditional belt driven
Observation made:
After engine off run down time is considerably longer indicating reduced friction in the tail rotor system in turn meaning a power gain.
Some of the early numbers out of the box have reduced thickness fibre glass panels in an effort to reduce weight.
There is a definite weight gain in the tail rotor appendage also noticeable increase in structural rigidity
The tail assemblage functions very well with reduced vibration coming from the tail rotor ie reduced bounce at the rear tail rotor. Aluminium gear box operate smoothly but only time will tell their service life
The trimming of the Talon is still a work in progress with some owners needing to add extra weight up to 10lb at the new battery position to get sufficient forward air speed without getting into Hook’s.
The New Enigma panel is a vast upgrade but still requiring additional programming to get the best out of it. The panel is completely visible in bright sunlight and incorporate alarms for all sensors at predetermined levels. Alarms include audible voice messages such as terrain alerts, low rotor rpm etc. This is a giant step in improving safety of helicopter pilots. Included is this panel is flick through screens which are normally displayed on good GPS units. Gone are the days of carrying an add on vibrating GPS unit to the dash or cyclic, & now with a much bigger screen.
The set up of the enigma is a pretty tricky exercise at these early days, one problem being is RF splatter which interferes badly with the screen. Ferrite cores are being thrown in to try and counteract, as well as triple screened cabling and mounting of antenna on the tail boom.
As a safety factor it is advised to include a traditional dual tach and air speed indicator, but gone are the days of singular gauges for oil temp, pressure, water,hobs, secondary temp etc.
Electric water pump should reduce friction forces also, and do away with the 4min warm up. The exterior covers in this vicinity appear to get very hot with engine operating so some care may need to be exercised with the cooling in this area.
Summary
The Talon is still a work in progress but when it gets fully sorted then it will be a much safer machine then existing models, especially for the new pilot.
For more rotorway videos see Helicopter Videos
To find a helicopter see helicopters for sale

Rotorway Annual Dinner 2008 (Oz)

Kev's New Machine



3 Oct 2008 saw Australia’s annual Rotorway Awards / Dinner at The Whitsundays { Australia’s number 1 tourist destination spot. The Evening was hosted by Kev & Enid with about 30 local flyer’s spouses, hanger-on’s attending including factory Rep’s Mark and Tom.

The evening started with an awards presentation by Kev to local attendee’s for worst builder, longest build, worst pilot etc. All in good fun. Guests then moved downstairs to Arlie’s famous seafood restaurant "Fish D'vine"where gluttony prevailed for the rest of the evening.

Saturday the 4th saw attendee’s rocking up to Kev’s establishment for Talon demonstration, rides and inspections. Tom conducted briefings on the Talon and future company projects and direction.

Mark in the hanger oversaw the covers off inspection of John’s 95% complete builder assist Talon

Kev conducted the demo flights on his newly completed machine for all flyer’s and nervous spouses of present builders. {you couldn’t blame any one from being nervous after witnessing Kev’s arrival with a 79 year old builder dropping in with an auto to 50 feet the pulling up into a steep sharp pedal turn before planting it on the deck.......bloody show off!}




Enid supplied finger food and drinks for all, organised the groups, loaded the sorties and organised the days proceedings. All attendee’s left after liquid refreshments with a happy glint in their eyes. All were suitably impressed.




Rotors Under Full Engine Power




Guests In the Viewing Lounge

More Helicopters

Heli-Expo 2008

A bird of Action




To see Video of 2008 Expo click here