Helicopter touch and go

HPNPilot1200 said:
Isn't that just a bounced auto-rotation? Hard to tell from the video and since I don't fly helicopters....?

Bob! Help!

Jason
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I couldn't tell either but the name of the video implies one thing, but it is not sourced form an aviation web site and I am not a rotorhead, so I am asking.
Yes BOB please help!!
 
The official phrase is "run-on landing" but obviously taken to the extreme.
 
If you look at the ...tail boom? You can see it flex quite a bit when he smacks the ground.

Is it supposed to do that? It looks like it stressed it quite a bit.
 
HPNPilot1200 said:
Isn't that just a bounced auto-rotation? Hard to tell from the video and since I don't fly helicopters....?

Bob! Help!

Jason
Click to expand...
You may be right, Jason. He did a cyclic flare just before touching the first time, but that wouldn't explain why he raised collective again. Also, it wasn't much of a flare and it seemed lower than I would want to start my flare (normally 50' AGL).

It was also, IMO, too steep an approach to be a running landing (5 degree glide slope is the norm), and too fast as well. So maybe he was just hotdoggin' ...
 
It looks like he was intending to just make another low level pass. Instead, he pulled out of the dive a little late and contacted the ground with the collective already up from the pullout thus the bounce.
There seems to be a rather abrupt nose up before the touchdown and the bounce motion looks more like F=ma stuff than intentional behavior. (what do I know though? nuthin') There was a fair amount of compression on the back of the skids followed by a forward pitching movement.
I think he let the momentum get away from him and had enough presence of mind to keep it moving after the bounce.

My non whoppity flopter guess anyway...
 
Hot doggin to me.

Auto rotation, as Bob said would have been steeper on the approach.
Run on landing, as we used to do them, terminated in a full stop. (We used them to come in fast if we were carrying more weight than we could hover with or if a tail rotor was stuck or failed--tried to do it on a hard surface.

I think he was sliding it in fully intending to depart again.

The tail boom did flex as did the main rotor; many problems could arise if this wasn't done properly:

Tail can flex up and main rotor down which would cause tail rotor to strike main rotor--not good.

The landing gear tubes or assembly can snag on the gound or break under stress.

An engine failure as he hit the gound or immediately after departing would make him a partially guided cannon ball headed straight forward with some ability to guide it--not good with lots of people around.

Sounds and looks like it was in Europe (Germany maybe). Definitely helo aerobatics to me.

Dave
 
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Dave Siciliano said:
I think he was sliding it in fully intending to depart again.
Dave
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You're probably right, Dave. He looked like he almost lost directional control too. He also looked like he started a cyclic flare and then immediately nosed it level again...

From here it looks like he was either a) being stupid, b) bungling the maneuver, or, c) both :dunno:
 
I don't know Bob, he may be real good! This may be part of his deal, but it's very hard on the aircraft and not a maneuver for those over 40, that pay to maintain their own plane and like having insurance should repeat!!

Best,

Dave
 
Dave Siciliano said:
I don't know Bob, he may be real good! This may be part of his deal, but it's very hard on the aircraft and not a maneuver for those over 40, that pay to maintain their own plane and like having insurance should repeat!!

Best,

Dave
Click to expand...
Dave, I passed the video on to a friend who is retired military with something like 6,000 helicopter hours, mostly in Hueys. His exact response was:

" I think he is f... crazy, that's what I think!"

:yes:
 
I agree that it was hot-dogging, not a "botched landing." And if the FAA gets that video, he's toast -- I see at least three FAR violations.
 
I say that he had a armpit full and still couldn't keep it from settling. Thats what you get when you do a RTT and decide to decend threw your rotorwash with an exceptionally high sink rate, try to arrest the decent with power, and with almost no forward airspeed apply aft cyclic in a last ditch effort to get a cyclic climb. Definatly not intended, and it probably gave the tail rotor drive shaft bearings a good workout. "this airframe is prohibited from flight into know icing and in front of crowds"
 
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