I call BS on that story.
They're doing a lot more than just advancing and retreating, anyone who didn't realize that within the first week of training would have to be pretty dense.
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I call BS on that story.A helicopter blade is essentially in constant windshear (advancing/retreating): I knew a person who talked to a guy who served in the USN in the 1960's (b. 1943), and he supposedly recounted a story about a cam placed on the helicopter rotor that scared the shit out of a lot of to-be helicopter pilots. Some DOR'd after seeing it.
I call BS on that story.
They're doing a lot more than just advancing and retreating, anyone who didn't realize that within the first week of training would have to be pretty dense.
Maybe it is, after all -- it is relayed through another person. That said, the description of being in a constant state of wind-shear didn't come from the helicopter pilot, that was my take on it (As the blade is advancing, it's akin to being in a headwind, as it retreats, it's similar to being in a tailwind. Constant changes in headwind and tailwind would generally fit the definition of windshear, as I understand it), though it seems my interpretation was wrong. The thing that I considered interesting was the description of camera footage that showed the movement of the blade as it spun. It was described as being something like an angry, flailing snake.I call BS on that story.
Of course.They're doing a lot more than just advancing and retreating
I couldn't say, but that does look closer to what was described -- boy that thing flexes a lot. I know it's designed to take that (if it didn't, every flight would end up with the blade braking apart, and a crash ensuing)You are probably talking about this footage...
boy that thing flexes a lot. I know it's designed to take that (if it didn't, every flight would end up with the blade braking apart, and a crash ensuing)
Not helicopters though...Similar to aircraft wings.
Of course everyone knows that flapping the wings is how planes fly.
That's why they're inspected very often for cracks.
With the OH6 I was up there at least every day we flew looking for cracks, nicks, etc., on a few eventful days I was up there looking more than once.
More modern helicopters have pressurized blades, when the pressure drops, that's a sign there are cracks in the blades releasing that pressure maybe.
A pressure sensor detects the pressure drop and turns on a warning light, and maybe a audible warning too.
It screams " you're gonna die, you're gonna die, you're gonna die ".
Until you get used to it helicopters do make some weird noises, lucky they're so noisy in normal operation, you don't hear most of the weird stuff.
One of my pilot's form of a joke was all of a sudden coming over the intercom with " what's that noise ?", or what's that smell. ?
He didn't use the second one anymore after I told him, "probably you ".
That's wake turbulence. Another reason mother earth repels them....Helicopters may create a little wind shear as they fly along, but they're not flying in it themselves, they're leaving it behind them.
For the next guy to fly through, and I've done that when around a formation of choppers, it's a little rough.
But not as bad as the turbulence left behind by say, a low flying F-4.
And nothing like the wind shear dished out by mother nature.
That's wake turbulence. Another reason mother earth repels them....
Maybe I'm confusing wake turbulence and wind shear.
What is it considered on the downwind side of a mountain ?
I was in a Loach that flew into the turbulence on the downwind side of a mountain in about a 40-50 knots gusting wind.
The pilot was saying Hail Marys, and so was I.
That's turbulence.
Wind shear is when there is a dramatic change in wind speed or direction in a short altitude change.
The problem comes because the aircraft's momentum is related to groundspeed, but it flies by airspeed. So, you can go from an airspeed of say 100kts, with a groundspeed of 80kts with a 20 kt headwind. If that wind changes direction to a 20kt tailwind, your groundspeed remains 80kts, but your airspeed will drop to 60kts, possible below stall speed.
That's turbulence.
Wind shear is when there is a dramatic change in wind speed or direction in a short altitude change.
The problem comes because the aircraft's momentum is related to groundspeed, but it flies by airspeed. So, you can go from an airspeed of say 100kts, with a groundspeed of 80kts with a 20 kt headwind. If that wind changes direction to a 20kt tailwind, your groundspeed remains 80kts, but your airspeed will drop to 60kts, possible below stall speed.
When you go from a headwind to a tailwind your airspeed doesn't change, just your ground speed.