Helicopter BRS

Velocity173

Velocity173

Touchdown! Greaser!
PoA Supporter
Joined
Jul 3, 2012
Messages
15,222
Display Name
Display name:
Velocity173
Not sure about flight envelop but it’s a start.

 
I thought that there was already a system that shot out sideways.
 
Any good when you lose the tail rotor?
Thinking, no kicking out those twists.
 
What if you need the parachute because the rotor separated from the aircraft?
 
Looks like It landed relatively soft and the chute was relatively small.
 
Bell206 said:
Curious. What failure with a helicopter could a brs save you from that an autorotation wouldn't?
Click to expand...

Flight control failure. A midair. Pilot incapacitation. IMC spatial D.

An engine failure over dense forest or urban areas (night), you’d have less chance of injury/ damage descending vertically under canopy vs auto.
 
Last edited:
of course, the natural instinct is to want an answer to the largely irrelevant question; how much damage is done to the helo in such an arrival? (small cloud of dust, did the main rotor strike the ground and if so does that mean a new mast?)
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
of course, the natural instinct is to want an answer to the largely irrelevant question; how much damage is done to the helo in such an arrival? (small cloud of dust, did the main rotor strike the ground and if so does that mean a new mast?)
Click to expand...
Just my humble opinion, but any time I would need to use something like that (or, as I tell my wife, any time I would need to do an emergency landing on my plane) I don't care. It's not my airplane any more anyway. It's the insurance company's airplane, and it only has one job left to do before it gets recycled -- get me on the ground alive.
 
DaleB said:
Just my humble opinion.
Click to expand...

Absolutely, Dale - I think we are all on board with that.
That is why I refer to my thought about it "largely irrelevant".
However, like all the Cirrus a/c that have dropped in that way, someone has to scrap or repair the remains and I wonder about the Zefhir; is it damaged beyond repair or what happens to them?
 
Velocity173 said:
An engine failure over dense forest or urban areas (night),
Click to expand...
I can see engine out over hostile areas but the others doubtful especially the midair/incapacitate as who pops the chute afterwards? As i recall a brs has been looked at in years past particularly in the test aircraft side. But every instance I can remember elected to use explosive blade bolts and parachutes due to the blades always snagged the brs chute.

Let'sgoflying! said:
, like all the Cirrus a/c that have dropped in that way
Click to expand...
Any comparison to the cirrus system is not valid as an airplane is a stable platform. Whereas in my experience the only thing that keeps a helicopter upright and level is the pilot on the cyclic/collective/pedals. If the "sloppy link" between the seat and controls looses his bearing or a control output, a helicopter tends to roll or invert rather quickly. So which side or end would you mount the brs chute?
 
Bell206 said:
I can see engine out over hostile areas but the others doubtful especially the midair/incapacitate as who pops the chute afterwards? As i recall a brs has been looked at in years past particularly in the test aircraft side. But every instance I can remember elected to use explosive blade bolts and parachutes due to the blades always snagged the brs chute.


Any comparison to the cirrus system is not valid as an airplane is a stable platform. Whereas in my experience the only thing that keeps a helicopter upright and level is the pilot on the cyclic/collective/pedals. If the "sloppy link" between the seat and controls looses his bearing or a control output, a helicopter tends to roll or invert rather quickly. So which side or end would you mount the brs chute?
Click to expand...

Just this year a HAA B407 pilot was partially incapacitated and a flight paramedic had to crawl up on the litter and help the pilot land. If things got out of control, or if the pilot went completely incapacitated, having a jettison handle that the medcrew can pull could save the day.

Take a tour helicopter. I’ve seen a vid where a pilot is trying to brief pax on how to land the helicopter in the event he becomes incapacitated. With no helicopter experience, no way they’ll land it safely on their own. If altitude permits, a chute would be a much better option.

Obviously this company isn’t claiming this system will work for all conditions. No guarantee if you’re tumbling end or end or failures at low altitude. But, neither does an auto work for all occasions either. What the system does, is have potential at reducing injuries and damage for several types of scenarios.

Whether the added safety benefit is worth the $ and X number of lbs is beyond my pay grade.
 
Question: if a heli pilot becomes incapacitated and a passenger pulls the red handle to use the chute... what happens?

Does the rotor downwash suck the chute into the blades? Or would the engineers design an engine cutoff or blade ejection into the chute pull?
 
Mtns2Skies said:
Blade departure :)
Click to expand...
I hate when that happens, but it's nearly always preceded by contact with something that's probably too close to the ground to make the parachute anything other than a death shroud.
 
woodchucker said:
Question: if a heli pilot becomes incapacitated and a passenger pulls the red handle to use the chute... what happens?

Does the rotor downwash suck the chute into the blades? Or would the engineers design an engine cutoff or blade ejection into the chute pull?
Click to expand...

In forward flight, there’s very little induced flow coming down through the rotor system. It would be no different than a Cirrus.

This system is in its infancy and the helicopter in the vid isn’t even certified yet. I’m sure they’re be flight envelope restrictions just like in a Cirrus BRS.
 
The important question: what radio was that?

edited to add: FrSky Horus.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top