Rotorhead Forums - Helicopter Forum
July 30, 2010, 05:09:25 AM *
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
News: Welcome to Rotorhead Forums!
 
  Home   Forum   Help Contact Flight Schools Links Login Register  
* *

Pages: [1]
  Print  
Author Topic: Stuck pedals, thinking outloud  (Read 1019 times)
rodrop
Global Moderator
*****
Offline Offline

Location: Virginia
Posts: 380
Referrals: 0


Not me...but close


View Profile
« on: September 19, 2009, 10:58:26 AM »

I am going over the emergency procedures and have been focusing on stuck pedals.
This is my thought process.

If you have a stuck left pedal.  Since you need more left pedal when you raise power, you have to figure out a way to land with enough power to keep the A/C for torquring to the right.  Correct?

If the pedal is stuck to the right, you have an easy go at it.  Since you need right pedal when you lower power, you just need to make sure your power is low enough to prevent it from torquring to the left...correct?

Logged
Gary Spender
Newbie
*
Offline Offline

Location: Cornwall
Posts: 13
Referrals: 0


View Profile WWW
« Reply #1 on: September 19, 2009, 05:34:47 PM »

Without trying to give flying instruction over the internet here are some thoughts.

Assuming anti clockwise rotation when viewed from above and just talking about a stuck pedal, not loss of drive or components (like the tail rotor).

1. Its always a good idea to know how much MAP / Tq you were pulling in the hover.

2. The most left pedal you are likely to need throughout the whole flight is in the hover / during the transition at low speed and high power settings, so you are unlikely to have a failure with more left pedal than that applied  unless have hydraulically boosted pedals and the servo runs away (its not impossible just unlikely).

3. Remember there are two speeds for any one power setting where the aircraft will fly level, so know your min ROD / max ROC speed. [Power Required Curve]

4. If there is no dramatic loss of components and you have something like say a mobile phone jammed in the pedals or control run from them then you have no rush to throw the helicopter at the floor.

5. As you slow down the fin and tail rotor will become less effective and for a given power setting the nose will want to swing to the right.

6. If you are raising the lever the nose will want to swing to the right.

7. Height is your  friend, you can experiment and find out where helicopter is stable in yaw, by speeding up or slowing down and seeing were the ball is in the middle for a given power setting, this can be used to get to a place to land without flying there out of balance too far.

8. Speed is your friend until you need to land, hitting things at high speed hurts.

9. While at altitude you can see what happens if you slow down below min power required speed (see point 1) and then set hover power whilst slowing down at a constant altitude. You will see at what speed the helicopter wants to start rotating.

If stuck left this will give you an idea of a run on speed with no yaw, without needing to touch the throttle.
If stuck neutral you will likely need to roll off throttle somewhat (depends on type), not while at altitude but when you commit to landing.

If stuck right you normally have three options, autorotation as you will start spinning to the right at a higher speed on approach, a fast run on (perhaps to fast for the undercarriage), come in quick at low power, and flare quite harshly, closing the throttle as the helicopter starts to turn when you raise the lever.

You can also practice going around at low speed, while at altitude, I would suggest going for speed first before feeding in power to prevent an uncontrollable right yaw at low speed.

10. Land into wind or with the wind on your left.
11. Goto Tarmac not grass.

12. If you are in a twin alone you probably won't have the luxury or being able to tweak the throttles, if you get it lined up at a stable speed with no yaw,  once you touchdown do not lower the lever very far if at all if you are on wheels it will try and turn and may rollover.

13. If you lose control in yaw at low speed and low altitude and start turning right, roll the throttle closed, it may not be pretty but trying to go around from an uncontrollable yaw will most likely end up with you increasing the yaw rate and having a nastier accident.

All types have there own little quirks and my pointers here are generic for most helicopters.
In my opinion stuck left is easiest but uncomfortable until back in the hover.

Do not try and teach yourself to do this, do it with an instructor who is comfortable doing it.
Do not take my word for it, I am merely giving you some food for thought, I would not want to try any of these actions for the first time in a genuine emergency.

Some tail rotor events can be found here, along with videos etc.
http://www.helicoptersafety.org/genericaccident.asp?keyword=Tail%20Rotor%20Events

Most flight manuals (I've just looked at a few emergency procedures sections) advise someting like enter autorotation if in the cruise or close the throttle if in the hover, so everything here may be considered bad advice, I offer it as food for thought only.
« Last Edit: September 21, 2009, 01:44:59 AM by Gary Spender » Logged
rodrop
Global Moderator
*****
Offline Offline

Location: Virginia
Posts: 380
Referrals: 0


Not me...but close


View Profile
« Reply #2 on: September 19, 2009, 08:03:54 PM »

Thanks for the info/comments  Cheesy
Logged
WikiRFM
Newbie
*
Offline Offline

Posts: 28
Referrals: 0



View Profile WWW
« Reply #3 on: September 20, 2009, 03:17:02 PM »

This question comes up all the time on the forums. The shame is that the quality and value of the response is dependent on who replies and how many students read it. I integrated the responses from the most recent stuck pedals thread on VR.com into a project I've been developing, wikiRFM.cyclicandcollective.net. The idea is that true bits of wisdom can have an enduring place on the web rather than having a few moments on the forums. Hope you will find it useful and contribute to it. The stuck pedals procedures can be found here: http://wikirfm.cyclicandcollective.net/ground-lessons/
Logged

WikiRotorcraft Flying Manual    http://www.wikiRFM.cyclicandcollective.net   Share your experience.
Rotorhead
Administrator
*****
Offline Offline

Age: 24
Location: Plymouth, MA
Posts: 945
Referrals: 2



View Profile
« Reply #4 on: September 21, 2009, 07:56:42 PM »

I think gary had a lot of good pointers. The best way it to definitely practice these with an instructor. I don't think I agree fully with the book saying to do an auto. Seems to me it would be better to fly it the way rodrop said. I'm sure the faa is going for the less speed the better. If you get the heli to zero airspeed at the bottom of the auto, you would probably walk away.
Logged
Gary Spender
Newbie
*
Offline Offline

Location: Cornwall
Posts: 13
Referrals: 0


View Profile WWW
« Reply #5 on: September 25, 2009, 04:15:30 AM »

Whilst not stuck pedals exactly here is a a recently published accident report that involves an A109 with a driveshaft failure caused by a rag being wrapped around it.

http://www.aaiu.ie/upload/general/11816-2009018_EISBM_DUNSHAUGHLIN-0.PDF

The simulator invesitgation in the report is worth reading, just to provoke discussion around flying schools.

GS
Logged
Rotorhead
Administrator
*****
Offline Offline

Age: 24
Location: Plymouth, MA
Posts: 945
Referrals: 2



View Profile
« Reply #6 on: September 25, 2009, 08:54:57 AM »

interesting... I thought that the helicopter would be able to slow down more than 70 knots. I wonder how much that number varies for different helicopters.
Logged
Pages: [1]
  Print  
 
Jump to:  

TinyPortal v1.0.5 beta 1© Bloc

Powered by MySQL Powered by PHP Powered by SMF 1.1.11 | SMF © 2006-2009, Simple Machines LLC | Sitemap Valid XHTML 1.0! Valid CSS!