"Two rotors touched"

JohnR

JohnR

Final Approach
Joined
Jan 5, 2007
Messages
5,267
Location
Jacksonville, FL
Display Name
Grrrrrrrr
Home Airfield
CRG (Craig Muni)
From what I can piece together from the article, the two SH-60 Seahawk Helos were doing the river run (follow the St. John's River from NAS Jax to Mayport Navy Base below 1000' - a daily sight here in Jacksonville, FL and even more exciting to watch when P-3s do it), and "two rotors touched." Each landed in open spaces downtown, one on each side of the river. Everyone's fine, no big hoopla.

http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/011107/met_helicopters.shtml
 
I'd be real surprised if there was actual rotor contact -- rotor tip speeds are so high that I would expect the rotors to be destroyed on contact.
 
Yeah...what is the video of what looks like two Chinooks touching blades? Both folded and went down FAST.
 
Bob:

We had rotor blade contact many times back in RVN without the rotor coming apart. Just depended on where they hit and conditions at the time. We flew very close formation every day; blade tips maybe three feet apart--many times while under enemy fire. Never saw a helo go down afterward. Actually, I was amazed at what punishment they could take and still fly. There were critical points, but in other areas, they could take a lot of punishment. You'll have to find someone that flew the lift ships in formation to get more insight. I flew air cav and didn't insert and retrieve troops, but was there a few times providing air cover.

On one mission, we were using nails (anti-personnel fleshettes). I put them so close to the lead lift ship, he had a couple come in the cockpit. He was really mad! We were really proud; from the front of that ship forward, the airspace had thousands of fleshettes just looking to nail a bad guy to what ever he was standing in front of <g>

Best,

Dave
 
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