Richard
Final Approach
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- Feb 27, 2005
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Ack...city life
The History Channel program, Man, Moment, Machine last night featured an amazing story about Igor Sikorsky and his R-5 helifloppter.
It was Nov. 28, 1945 and a Nor'easter had kicked up on the LI sound. A fuel barge broke loose from it's tug and grounded on Penfield Reef with two men onboard. It grounded a couple of miles offshore from where Sikorsky had his plant. Word got out that the men could not be rescued due to wx but perhaps the helo could do the job.
Just several months earlier a Coast Guard officer had developed a rescue sling and Igor had mounted it on one of his R-5 helos. The sling had so far been untested.
Sikorsky's test pilot and one crewman flew out into 60 KT gusts in +RA to attempt the rescue. Their first attempt at winching the man up resulted in the helo descending almost into the barge superstructure before the man was brought up. Several attempts later the first rescue was made and they flew back out to rescue the capt of the barge. The man fit himself into the sling and was being winched back aboard when the winch became jammed.
The man was now hanging 30' below the helo while they attempted to manuever back to shore. The gusts, the heavy rain, and a weighted pendulum below the helo conspired to bring the helo down. The rescue was successful. It was the first sea rescue ever.
The pilot had difficulty maintaining control when the weight of the man was put on the sling. The R-5 had such a narrow CG envelope that the weight threatened to tip the aircraft on it's side. Even then, the man could not fit completely inside the cabin as it had been designed to accomodate a pilot and one observer only. This side loading made the helo fly tilted at about a 35* angle.
The R-5 was powered by a P&W delivering 435HP, the same engine in the Stearman. Interestingly, the main and tail rotor blades were fabric covered wood frames. It was unknown how the blades would perform, or even survive, in the heavy rain during the rescue.
The program mentioned several times that the gusts greatly hampered control of the hlo because it required constant and significant changes in cyclic to match the gust. Here is where you rotorheads can educate your plank wing brethern.
It was Nov. 28, 1945 and a Nor'easter had kicked up on the LI sound. A fuel barge broke loose from it's tug and grounded on Penfield Reef with two men onboard. It grounded a couple of miles offshore from where Sikorsky had his plant. Word got out that the men could not be rescued due to wx but perhaps the helo could do the job.
Just several months earlier a Coast Guard officer had developed a rescue sling and Igor had mounted it on one of his R-5 helos. The sling had so far been untested.
Sikorsky's test pilot and one crewman flew out into 60 KT gusts in +RA to attempt the rescue. Their first attempt at winching the man up resulted in the helo descending almost into the barge superstructure before the man was brought up. Several attempts later the first rescue was made and they flew back out to rescue the capt of the barge. The man fit himself into the sling and was being winched back aboard when the winch became jammed.
The man was now hanging 30' below the helo while they attempted to manuever back to shore. The gusts, the heavy rain, and a weighted pendulum below the helo conspired to bring the helo down. The rescue was successful. It was the first sea rescue ever.
The pilot had difficulty maintaining control when the weight of the man was put on the sling. The R-5 had such a narrow CG envelope that the weight threatened to tip the aircraft on it's side. Even then, the man could not fit completely inside the cabin as it had been designed to accomodate a pilot and one observer only. This side loading made the helo fly tilted at about a 35* angle.
The R-5 was powered by a P&W delivering 435HP, the same engine in the Stearman. Interestingly, the main and tail rotor blades were fabric covered wood frames. It was unknown how the blades would perform, or even survive, in the heavy rain during the rescue.
The program mentioned several times that the gusts greatly hampered control of the hlo because it required constant and significant changes in cyclic to match the gust. Here is where you rotorheads can educate your plank wing brethern.
