From: former USMC AH-1J pilot. I would like to know where the maneuver was started. Altitude loss in dive recovery was something we had to keep in mind. Location and temperature ... density altitude. It would be interesting to know how much torque they were pulling. The crew was fortunate, no two ways about it ... hate to see the airframe destroyed. The Snake was fun to fly ... good bird ... had to respect it, like any other aircraft. (MD11 Capt.)
First, if the tail rotor had not been turning, no way would they have been going straight ahead. And you would be able to see the stationary tail rotor blades. Second, as to the cameraman. You have no way of knowing how many people were there to help. Plus, there was still a huge dust cloud in the air when he initially stopped shooting. He later resumed well after the crash. Do you know what he did in between? Only an idiot would make a judgement like that based on this footage.
Well I agree and am corrected with my judgement of this man.He did stop filming and that is admirable of him in itself plus alot of things are learned from footage such as this.I know the tail rotor funtcion Joseph but my curiousity was this could they hsve had a problem just seconds before this all happened.At 100 knots or even less things happen very quick.Thanks for your critisim of my judgement and I promise I am all for his actions as he stated that he thought there were fatilities so he did not continue.That says something and it is very respectful.
Actually if the helicopter had a loss of tail rotor efctiveness (LTE) it could very well still fly straight. In fact, most helicopters are designed to fly straight ahead at a certain speed without a tail rotor. At flat pitch there is very little torque moment applied to the airframe. Torque is also aerodynamically countered by the vertical stabilizer, but only when forward airspeed is maintained.
Glad no one was hurt, if someone showed me this without the article I would have been sure someone was for sure.I'm not sure of this but weren't they designed for heavy impact.I know they have a certain amount of armor plating to protect them from enemy fire and wounded did this help in the accident?
Don't know about the Cobra in regards to the armor plating, but I know for sure the AH-64 does. I worked in the Supportatility Department at McDonnell Douglas and that was a big issue in the department with regard to survivability. Many many tests were conducted with the ship crashing straight down to ensure occupant survivability.
The crew was lucky. When I was a flight operations NCOIC with the 101st in 1975 we had a Cobra doing a "pop & dive" during training when the main rotor snapped. I closed the flight records of those two. There was little left to identify after the fire. These pilots were very lucky.
Possible loss of hydraulics. That can cause a problem. No coning of the rotor system noted, as would be expected if the crew was applying a lot of power to arrest the descent. No nose up attitude, as would be expected in an attempted recovery from a dive. Possible engine failure immediately before the cameraman started videoing also could create this, given the average response time from engine failure to initial reaction time of around 1.5 to 3 seconds.
Blades are turning. No real attempt at a flare evident. Could be as simple as a few seconds of inattention. I've seen several smack the ground practicing autorotations by being late on the flare.
the rotors were spinning well which rules out engine failure. The craft was moving straight so the tail rotors were good. it looks like he just came in straight and hit the ground.
Maybe that's the point people have been making. Were the tail rotor motionless, it would have been visible. Since it wasn't, and a circular blur was seen, it's a pretty safe bet it was working.
C'est le cas d'avoir de la chance !!!!!! Heureusement que les deux pilotes soit vivant, beaucoup d'erreurs dans ce vol, beaucoup de débris, mais il volera bien un jour, à moins qu'il serve de pièces détachées.
(Video) Top Gear stunt goes horribly wrong as helicopter crashes into ground
THEY were supposed to be filming a speeding Corvette, but instead two pilots from Top Gear Korea's film crew found themselves careering towards the ground as they lost control of their helicopter.
Ah, that answered by prior question ... if the crew was active military or perhaps National Guard reservists. Hadn't seen that it was being shot for Top Gear. Mea culpa.
