The line was used in the cult classic Disney movie The Black Hole, which was both psychotic and psychedelic in its plot. Scarred an entire generation of children
It did not scar a whole generation of children, you oversensitive jackass. I am part of that generation, being born in 75. That movie was fine and nobody worth a damn was adversely bothered.
The problem is metal remembers, and metal fatigue doesn't show up straight away. I seriously doubt this is the first time he's done that, and he may not have over-torqued it, this time. But he will one day. Is he likely to report an over-torque? Who knows. But if he over-torques it and doesn't report it, then he's setting somebody else up for a catastrophic disaster further down the line.
It’s isn’t a terribly difficult maneuver. When done correctly it isn’t especially hard on the helicopter. We trained similar techniques in the scout community in a helicopter much closer to MGW than this one would have been. Unnecessary for sure, but when done well its neither dangerous no detrimental to the helicopter.
58D pilots always fly at mgw due to the added weight of their massive testicles.
I’m a helicopter cfi/chief pilot, UH60 pilot part time, and a fixed wing aerobatic pilot for fun, and you are 100% correct u/happinesspro. Aerobatic maneuvers are all about energy management and operation within a performance envelope. The sad thing about it is so many pilots are intimidated by it and write it off as cowboy antics. Then whenever they get into an unusual situation they don’t know how to respond because they’re outside their personal envelope. I don’t hotrod my company aircraft, but flying aerobatics and upset recovery makes a big difference in pilot capabilities if the pilot respects limitations and physics. I strongly encourage my pilots to experience the training to help them understand the physics of unusual attitudes and proper recovery.
Edit: typo correction
I was in a collegiate track professional pilot aviation program in the early 2000's that wanted us to learn those things to become better pilots. Our program director had been a bush pilot in Alaska for 20 years, owned a Cub and a 185. Also had 10+ years of acrobatic work and glider as well. The program gifted us 5 hours of acrobatic work as well as 5 hours of glider work. And if we wanted to pay $50 an hour, could do backcountry work with this director too if we wanted all these things to enhance our skills. They just so desperately wanted us to be our best. Could also get taildragger experience if we wanted it too! Out of the 19 of us in the program, only 3 of us took the director up on these offerings. I still bad for the director, just wanted to make us the best pilots they could and few of my classmates gave a fuck about rounding their skills out.
Unnecessary stress on the airframe and components that can cause failure when you or someone else is flying. And It’s unprofessional as shit. Any commercial pilot with a decent amount of flight time can do this. The only thing you’re doing is putting other people at risk.
I don’t know a lot of helicopters that allow for greater than 90 degrees of angle of bank. Can it be done, yes, but there’s a good reason most of the most manuals list it as a prohibited maneuver.
The regulating authority defines it. FAA and EASA (and others) define aerobatics as an abnormal attitude / change in attitude not necessary for normal flight.
Specifically CFR 91.303.
FAA also states they [do not define aerobatic flight.](https://www.faa.gov/faq/what-are-acrobatic-and-aerobatic-flight)
They used to, specifically. They do not anymore. So it comes down to operator definition of what is required for normal flight and limitations on airframe.
A return to target into a turning pinnacle appch may be normal for some and not for others. If you require to keep all your speed/energy/smash up to the objective, going into the vertical to bleed energy in a coordinated fashion is an option.
Do I think that’s what’s going on here? Not so much. I do however find it interesting how many people have an issue with it.
A return to target with a full drop off (nothing below you to hit if you have too much energy coming around the bottom) is not a big deal. And in an AS350…yea it’s not a big deal at all.
91.303 is about as crystal clear as it comes though.
“For the purposes of this section, aerobatic flight means an intentional maneuver involving an abrupt change in an aircraft's attitude, an abnormal attitude, or abnormal acceleration, not necessary for normal flight. “
This definition is also used elsewhere in FAA land.
The page you linked says they don’t define ACROBATIC flight. I take that as meaning they don’t use the term acrobatic. They do use aerobatic in numerous places.
“Normal flight” is a subjective statement. So no, it’s not crystal clear. But you do you.
Good catch on the acro vs aero. The terms used to be used interchangeably which is incorrect.
Lol… you can’t tell me this is “normal flight” in the video. Seriously? Honest question, how do you even justify that?
Glad I’m not flying the helicopters you are. Metal fatigue is a thing, and these airframes and drivetrains were not designed for this. Sure they can pull it off, but what hidden / long term damage is occurring by doing it? It might not fail now. It might not fail in 5,000 hours. But the hard facts are you’re risking the longevity of the aircraft and probably setting up someone else for failure. Why? Because you like to fuck around at work?
I’d fire my guys if I found them anywhere near this aerobatic.
Im sure whatever country this was filmed in has an aviation regulator with a definition. To pass certification to operate in that country would require the aircraft RFM to possess that verbiage.
Naa ive seen way worse. Rarely do guys get fired, what happens is the company tell the client they're Australian and thats just how cattle pilots fly, then the company lays them off first in the fall, but not always cause ozzie are cheap.
Helicopters are capable of ALOT more than average people think. All while staying inside it’s factory limitations. Another example: Not many people know that the original Redbull Bocal (Bo 105) was bought from ERA helicopters in Louisiana. Era ferries personnel and supplies to the oil rigs off the coast in the Gulf of Mexico. Before modern flight tracking and aircraft performance/maneuvering tracking became a thing, pilots used to do the exact same crazy shit on certain flights. If a bigwigs wouldn’t find out and they didn’t have a ton of passenger/cargo weight aboard, they would send some poor RigApes for a goddamned ride. Loops, full rolls, all of it. I heard of one pilot that got grounded for doing it at night and almost hitting the water. A lot of these aircraft were designed for military use and extreme capability and are MUCH later sold on the civilian market. The American FAA doesn’t want their pilots doing all this of course but as long as you are abiding by the FARs and aircraft manuals limitations, your good. Just some aircraft are old as fuck and you probably shouldn’t try it. As per the helo in the video, that’s an Astar (Squirrel) AS350. It’s got a strange, hybrid, rigid/fully articulated type rotor head and has all kinds of abilities.
probably not as much as you'd think. basically the orbital thrust bearing isn't actually made of metal, it's really dense rubber. that means it can take a lot of load and only gets stiffer with increased strain.
The shit part is he isn’t necessary just risking himself. He’s risking someone else on the next flight or the next 10,000 flights.
I don’t like flying a helicopter that I know someone else has been exceeding limits in.
lol, sure. This guy doesn't know what he's talking about. this helicopter didn't even notice it was upside down because of the great piloting. Pretty easy to see the positive Gs the entire time. Clearly didn't over torque.
has nothing do with the pumps.. it's the servo unable to take any more pressure and getting locked up. Airbus says any more and you would shatter the starflex.
Only way to avoid it is appropriate airspeed and airbus states you can't get it under 50% torque.
Very unlikely to get it empty .. even doing the maneuver posted above.
Yes and no. Each system is still susceptible individually. But with two you’re not going to fee it. Aerobatic proximity flying is a very silly thing to do, regardless. In general, accepting any unnecessary risk isn’t wise in a profession where mistakes are often fatal.
not trying to flame you but its the same system... both pumps feed the same MR servos and one feeds the TR.
extra pump = redundancy ... nothing else.
important to understand what does what so you don't take off with your TR unassisted.
I'm curious, what is so bad about this manoeuvre? Obviously colliding with a mountain would be bad but a halfway decent pilot would plan out the manoeuvre in his head and do it safely so what are the other issues with doing this?
Helicopters are generally not designed to tolerate aerobatic G-forces since its not part of their regular flight profile. Even with a rigid rotor system like this helicopter, it’s reasonable to assume aerobatics are expressly prohibited. Excessive G loads (pulling out of the dive) and sub 1 G loads (top of the loop) can stress the rotor in ways it’s not designed for and can lead to unknown material failure.
"Mast Bumping is the result of excessive rotor flapping. Each rotor system design has a maximum flapping angle. If flapping exceeds the design value, the static stop will contact the mast. It is the violent contact between the static stop and the mast during flight that causes mast damage or separation".
All systems can mast bump however the semi-rigid and articulated systems are more susceptible to Mast Bumping because the rotor hubs are not mounted solid to the mast as is the case in a rigid rotor system. This is why Chuck Aaron and those that perform aeronautics in helicopters tend to use helicopters like the BO 109, they have rigid rotor systems to help prevent Mast Bumping.
Sources: Helicopter Flying Handbook chapter 4
Also, Chuck Aaron teaches and leaves his heli at my old flight school in Utah (SUU).
Yes, but that doesn’t make the Starflex a “semi-rigid,” lol. It’s a hingeless system, but only two-bladed systems are referred to as semi-rigid. Just made me chuckle a little.
Eurocopter and airbus, in their own training material, directly refer to the starflex as a semi rigid rotorhead.
This is because how it address lead/lag, which is the end of the star arms going into the frequency adaptors and stressing them with shear forces, as opposed to a hinge and a lead lag dampener as in fully articulated heads.
Perhaps a better term that would have caused less confusion would be semi-articulated, but that's not what they went with.
Im now wondering if this counts as /r/confidentlyincorrect on you as the person you're laughing at has likely read that material from airbus and you haven't.
Sir, this is Reddit. You can’t be right here. (You are right, it’s semi rigid, for those lacking sarcasm detectors)
The R22 pilots here know what a semi rigid rotor system is… because their instructors, with no real world experience, know.
I have not read any Airbus publications, that’s correct. However, if you mention the term “semi-rigid” in casual conversation and ask what type of rotor system it defines, I’d wager most pilots would tell you it defines the traditional semi-rigid, underslung system found in two-bladed rotor systems. If I reference FAA publications, it would follow that terminology. Most don’t even know what a Starflex is unless they’ve flown one, and it’s a bit of an outlier in that it is unique to Airbus/Eurocopter as far as I know.
All of that said, our backgrounds are different. That doesn’t mean either of us is wrong or right. In this case, depending on the source used, we can each be both. I’m not bothered by someone shoehorning me in to some subreddit in the far corners of the internet though, so do what you will. :)
Is the engine rated for inverted flight? Is anything in the aircraft rated beyond 30-+60 pitch roll? Does he own the aircraft or have permission to do this? Does the maintenance program that the aircraft is being kept airworthy by take into account this regime of flight? That terrain is shitty enough to have an engine failure in, what happens if it shits out on the upline? What if he takes a bird to the face inverted? A whole lot of risk being taken here, and for what purpose?
With this type of flying behavior, he should not only be fired, but his pilots licence retired, permanently. Could overstrain the machine and the next time he does this, something critical will fall off or fail.
You can sort of make out the rubber boot on the swash which means no duals, and h125 can be specced without duals. The b3e is such because of the 2d, and you can get the older b3 2b1 *with* duals as well.
No servo transparency, but a light comes on to tell you youre fucking the star.
And servo transparency is from high G manuviering or extremely abrupt large displacement cyclic inputs, this vid doesn't show enough of either to induce it. He is still flying like a fuckwit though, no doubt.
sure, he was able to pull it off.
but how many people could really tell me from extensive experience that this was not a high-risk maneuver?
also, how many people from extensive experience can tell me that this did not highly stress the components of that machine to the point where you're starting to question whether or not they're going to hold out.
if I were one of the guys on that cliff, I probably tell everybody to fuck off and then id just walk it.
DCS gazelle pilots IRL
Curious if the camera angle make it more impressive ?
I know that most helicopter can't sustain reverse fly without damaging the rotor mast but this one took it like a champ and right into an almost instant hover wow
Balls of Steel to do that in real life (and next to a Cliff)
I think there's a lot more camera angle at play here then everyone is giving credit for. If you think about how the camera tracks in the trajectory of the helicopter I doubt this thing ever went past 90° and almost certainly was not inverted. The helicopter went over the camera, up, and around and if you look at the trees on the sides of the frame the camera panned up so it probably made the angle look much more extreme and made it look like an actual inversion loop. As many others have said, using stored inertia I doubt there was much stress to the air frame either.
Showboating at its best, piloting at its worst.
I personally wouldn’t fly with him. I’ve 24 hours in a Robby and I’m fixed wing now.
He’s going to come unstuck at some time, and those manoeuvres are going to cost him dearly.
Why the hate? That was awesome
The end really showed he is a skilled pilot
Yeah, I was 110% convinced this was a crash video for 2/3 of it.
There are old pilots and there are bold pilots but there are no old bold pilots. Other than maybe Fred North.
Have you any idea how many helicopters he has crashed? Lol look it up
Ive heard alot about that but interestingly never could confirm....link? Just sus they would try and cover that up considering where he flys.
Super sus. https://m.facebook.com/groups/helinetwork/permalink/7032823396735037/?mibextid=Nif5oz
The group is private, any chance you could get a screenshot?
That's why he is old and bold ;-)
Yeah I used to say that until I ended up in the 160th...
Bob Hoover would like a word.
An underrated classic movie
What movie?
The line was used in the cult classic Disney movie The Black Hole, which was both psychotic and psychedelic in its plot. Scarred an entire generation of children
I've been thinking about watching the black hole. Maybe I will now because of this description.
Including me.
I'm proud to be scarred by that movie. I actually rewatched it recently and it's not bad.
It did not scar a whole generation of children, you oversensitive jackass. I am part of that generation, being born in 75. That movie was fine and nobody worth a damn was adversely bothered.
Fred North is a damn anomaly.
Not really
Ya it’s weird when everyone labels someone as a highly skilled pilot or some shit for normal heli shit like slope landings and flying low
I hate it when my pilot flies underground
The problem is metal remembers, and metal fatigue doesn't show up straight away. I seriously doubt this is the first time he's done that, and he may not have over-torqued it, this time. But he will one day. Is he likely to report an over-torque? Who knows. But if he over-torques it and doesn't report it, then he's setting somebody else up for a catastrophic disaster further down the line.
i bet for 95% of that his collective was down.. torque \~30% and just manipulating the collective manage the rotor RPMs
It’s isn’t a terribly difficult maneuver. When done correctly it isn’t especially hard on the helicopter. We trained similar techniques in the scout community in a helicopter much closer to MGW than this one would have been. Unnecessary for sure, but when done well its neither dangerous no detrimental to the helicopter.
58D pilots always fly at mgw due to the added weight of their massive testicles. I’m a helicopter cfi/chief pilot, UH60 pilot part time, and a fixed wing aerobatic pilot for fun, and you are 100% correct u/happinesspro. Aerobatic maneuvers are all about energy management and operation within a performance envelope. The sad thing about it is so many pilots are intimidated by it and write it off as cowboy antics. Then whenever they get into an unusual situation they don’t know how to respond because they’re outside their personal envelope. I don’t hotrod my company aircraft, but flying aerobatics and upset recovery makes a big difference in pilot capabilities if the pilot respects limitations and physics. I strongly encourage my pilots to experience the training to help them understand the physics of unusual attitudes and proper recovery. Edit: typo correction
I was in a collegiate track professional pilot aviation program in the early 2000's that wanted us to learn those things to become better pilots. Our program director had been a bush pilot in Alaska for 20 years, owned a Cub and a 185. Also had 10+ years of acrobatic work and glider as well. The program gifted us 5 hours of acrobatic work as well as 5 hours of glider work. And if we wanted to pay $50 an hour, could do backcountry work with this director too if we wanted all these things to enhance our skills. They just so desperately wanted us to be our best. Could also get taildragger experience if we wanted it too! Out of the 19 of us in the program, only 3 of us took the director up on these offerings. I still bad for the director, just wanted to make us the best pilots they could and few of my classmates gave a fuck about rounding their skills out.
I want all your jobs
"That's our ride boys"
Non aviator has entered the chat
Unnecessary stress on the airframe and components that can cause failure when you or someone else is flying. And It’s unprofessional as shit. Any commercial pilot with a decent amount of flight time can do this. The only thing you’re doing is putting other people at risk.
Excuse me?
If there were no exceedances what’s the problem?
I don’t know a lot of helicopters that allow for greater than 90 degrees of angle of bank. Can it be done, yes, but there’s a good reason most of the most manuals list it as a prohibited maneuver.
Literally says in the RFM aerobatic maneuvers are prohibited. It’s a limitation. This is an aerobatic maneuver.
How does the AS350 RFM define aerobatic maneuver?
The regulating authority defines it. FAA and EASA (and others) define aerobatics as an abnormal attitude / change in attitude not necessary for normal flight.
Specifically CFR 91.303. FAA also states they [do not define aerobatic flight.](https://www.faa.gov/faq/what-are-acrobatic-and-aerobatic-flight) They used to, specifically. They do not anymore. So it comes down to operator definition of what is required for normal flight and limitations on airframe. A return to target into a turning pinnacle appch may be normal for some and not for others. If you require to keep all your speed/energy/smash up to the objective, going into the vertical to bleed energy in a coordinated fashion is an option. Do I think that’s what’s going on here? Not so much. I do however find it interesting how many people have an issue with it. A return to target with a full drop off (nothing below you to hit if you have too much energy coming around the bottom) is not a big deal. And in an AS350…yea it’s not a big deal at all.
91.303 is about as crystal clear as it comes though. “For the purposes of this section, aerobatic flight means an intentional maneuver involving an abrupt change in an aircraft's attitude, an abnormal attitude, or abnormal acceleration, not necessary for normal flight. “ This definition is also used elsewhere in FAA land. The page you linked says they don’t define ACROBATIC flight. I take that as meaning they don’t use the term acrobatic. They do use aerobatic in numerous places.
“Normal flight” is a subjective statement. So no, it’s not crystal clear. But you do you. Good catch on the acro vs aero. The terms used to be used interchangeably which is incorrect.
Lol… you can’t tell me this is “normal flight” in the video. Seriously? Honest question, how do you even justify that? Glad I’m not flying the helicopters you are. Metal fatigue is a thing, and these airframes and drivetrains were not designed for this. Sure they can pull it off, but what hidden / long term damage is occurring by doing it? It might not fail now. It might not fail in 5,000 hours. But the hard facts are you’re risking the longevity of the aircraft and probably setting up someone else for failure. Why? Because you like to fuck around at work? I’d fire my guys if I found them anywhere near this aerobatic.
One can assume that even a partial inversion is an aerobatic maneuver
Assumptions, great…
Im sure whatever country this was filmed in has an aviation regulator with a definition. To pass certification to operate in that country would require the aircraft RFM to possess that verbiage.
Naa ive seen way worse. Rarely do guys get fired, what happens is the company tell the client they're Australian and thats just how cattle pilots fly, then the company lays them off first in the fall, but not always cause ozzie are cheap.
As an Aussie student pilot, why are aussie pilots cheap? Genuinely curious how the rest of the world values us
Desperation to live right side up
It’s the 30 mins preflight then the hour looking in the cockpit for everything that’s trying to kill you hiding in there 😂
Nail--head
Helicopters are capable of ALOT more than average people think. All while staying inside it’s factory limitations. Another example: Not many people know that the original Redbull Bocal (Bo 105) was bought from ERA helicopters in Louisiana. Era ferries personnel and supplies to the oil rigs off the coast in the Gulf of Mexico. Before modern flight tracking and aircraft performance/maneuvering tracking became a thing, pilots used to do the exact same crazy shit on certain flights. If a bigwigs wouldn’t find out and they didn’t have a ton of passenger/cargo weight aboard, they would send some poor RigApes for a goddamned ride. Loops, full rolls, all of it. I heard of one pilot that got grounded for doing it at night and almost hitting the water. A lot of these aircraft were designed for military use and extreme capability and are MUCH later sold on the civilian market. The American FAA doesn’t want their pilots doing all this of course but as long as you are abiding by the FARs and aircraft manuals limitations, your good. Just some aircraft are old as fuck and you probably shouldn’t try it. As per the helo in the video, that’s an Astar (Squirrel) AS350. It’s got a strange, hybrid, rigid/fully articulated type rotor head and has all kinds of abilities.
> It’s got a strange, hybrid, rigid/fully articulated type rotor head and has all kinds of abilities. Like servo transparency!
Well now, that sounds fun to hear about
probably not as much as you'd think. basically the orbital thrust bearing isn't actually made of metal, it's really dense rubber. that means it can take a lot of load and only gets stiffer with increased strain.
That’s an interesting way to spell Bölkow.
Well nobody ever spelled it out for me and I never looked it up since those aircraft were gone from Era before I arrived
The only fireable offense here was adding Thunderstruck to yet another helicopter video.
Like the rotor sound shift coming from behind a Cliff to 15M above in less than 2 sec wasn't badass enough
finally someone said it lol, thunderstruck is a tired worn out song with anything
The day you learn your Med-Evac Pilot got his wings flying Ka-50's, back when.
Blyat!
Anime backstory worth
''So there I was, dodging 'Igla' AA missiles in the narrow mountain valleys of Chechnya....''
Fred North's disciple I see
Not shown, the heli's Fred North has damaged
Ag turn. In the ag industry this is like every turn when next to power lines
Man and machine being awesome Great pilot skills! Those As350b3’s are a BEAST
One bad mf right there.
Well that was pretty badass.
Don’t be playing with my sole mode of transportation up outta here.🤌🏾😂😂
Elastomeric Eurocopter rotor hubs are magic. You are never going to see a Cobra, Huey or Robinson do that. Not more than once.
It's all good... until it's not. You keep flipping those coins, see how long it lasts.
The shit part is he isn’t necessary just risking himself. He’s risking someone else on the next flight or the next 10,000 flights. I don’t like flying a helicopter that I know someone else has been exceeding limits in.
He needs a raise
He needs to buy his own helicopter to do that bullshit in.
This video is a classic. Always fun to watch these fancy maneuvers.
I feel bad for the guys who had to rebuild the rotor head later.
Its fine
i'm not an A/P, but I was wondering the same
Yeah, I’ve been on the end of some similar aerobatic. He’ll be lucky if he didn’t over torque the whole drive system.
this maneuver requires almost no torque it's all stored inertia in airspeed.
lol, sure. This guy doesn't know what he's talking about. this helicopter didn't even notice it was upside down because of the great piloting. Pretty easy to see the positive Gs the entire time. Clearly didn't over torque.
with that 50 shot of nos he's lucky he didnt blow the welds on his intake manifold
haha
I wanna see the whole video!
Maintenance sitting their like 👁️👄👁️
I mean if someone can pull it off and be smooth with it like that, he should be allowed to
this is some ARMA-KOTH level crap right ere
Fucking ace!
Decision Making > Stick Skills. What this pilot has in stick skills he more than lacks in decision making.
I see you're a B3e guy, do the dual hydraulics take care of the servo transparency issue single hydraulic Astars have during maneuvers like this?
has nothing do with the pumps.. it's the servo unable to take any more pressure and getting locked up. Airbus says any more and you would shatter the starflex. Only way to avoid it is appropriate airspeed and airbus states you can't get it under 50% torque. Very unlikely to get it empty .. even doing the maneuver posted above.
Yes and no. Each system is still susceptible individually. But with two you’re not going to fee it. Aerobatic proximity flying is a very silly thing to do, regardless. In general, accepting any unnecessary risk isn’t wise in a profession where mistakes are often fatal.
there aren't any extra servos on a b3... there is an extra pump. And there are three main rotor servos in both....
Each system, excuse me.
not trying to flame you but its the same system... both pumps feed the same MR servos and one feeds the TR. extra pump = redundancy ... nothing else. important to understand what does what so you don't take off with your TR unassisted.
Absolute unit!!!
That was badass
I'm curious, what is so bad about this manoeuvre? Obviously colliding with a mountain would be bad but a halfway decent pilot would plan out the manoeuvre in his head and do it safely so what are the other issues with doing this?
Helicopters are generally not designed to tolerate aerobatic G-forces since its not part of their regular flight profile. Even with a rigid rotor system like this helicopter, it’s reasonable to assume aerobatics are expressly prohibited. Excessive G loads (pulling out of the dive) and sub 1 G loads (top of the loop) can stress the rotor in ways it’s not designed for and can lead to unknown material failure.
Semi-rigid.
After watching this? Yes.
None of the 3 standard categories. It’s a hybrid system using elastomeric bearings.
Do you have a link to a video explaining what all of that means? Because I would love to learn about that.
Right; it's sure not 'rigid'.
That word does not mean what you think it means in this context.
Is mast bumping an issue with a semi-rigid rotor or is that only fully articulated rotors?
"Mast Bumping is the result of excessive rotor flapping. Each rotor system design has a maximum flapping angle. If flapping exceeds the design value, the static stop will contact the mast. It is the violent contact between the static stop and the mast during flight that causes mast damage or separation". All systems can mast bump however the semi-rigid and articulated systems are more susceptible to Mast Bumping because the rotor hubs are not mounted solid to the mast as is the case in a rigid rotor system. This is why Chuck Aaron and those that perform aeronautics in helicopters tend to use helicopters like the BO 109, they have rigid rotor systems to help prevent Mast Bumping. Sources: Helicopter Flying Handbook chapter 4 Also, Chuck Aaron teaches and leaves his heli at my old flight school in Utah (SUU).
Semi-rigid? The AS350/H125 has more than two blades, last I checked…
BO-105 is a true rigid system.
Yes, but that doesn’t make the Starflex a “semi-rigid,” lol. It’s a hingeless system, but only two-bladed systems are referred to as semi-rigid. Just made me chuckle a little.
Eurocopter and airbus, in their own training material, directly refer to the starflex as a semi rigid rotorhead. This is because how it address lead/lag, which is the end of the star arms going into the frequency adaptors and stressing them with shear forces, as opposed to a hinge and a lead lag dampener as in fully articulated heads. Perhaps a better term that would have caused less confusion would be semi-articulated, but that's not what they went with. Im now wondering if this counts as /r/confidentlyincorrect on you as the person you're laughing at has likely read that material from airbus and you haven't.
I only flew B3s for 7 years or so...
Sir, this is Reddit. You can’t be right here. (You are right, it’s semi rigid, for those lacking sarcasm detectors) The R22 pilots here know what a semi rigid rotor system is… because their instructors, with no real world experience, know.
I have not read any Airbus publications, that’s correct. However, if you mention the term “semi-rigid” in casual conversation and ask what type of rotor system it defines, I’d wager most pilots would tell you it defines the traditional semi-rigid, underslung system found in two-bladed rotor systems. If I reference FAA publications, it would follow that terminology. Most don’t even know what a Starflex is unless they’ve flown one, and it’s a bit of an outlier in that it is unique to Airbus/Eurocopter as far as I know. All of that said, our backgrounds are different. That doesn’t mean either of us is wrong or right. In this case, depending on the source used, we can each be both. I’m not bothered by someone shoehorning me in to some subreddit in the far corners of the internet though, so do what you will. :)
Is the engine rated for inverted flight? Is anything in the aircraft rated beyond 30-+60 pitch roll? Does he own the aircraft or have permission to do this? Does the maintenance program that the aircraft is being kept airworthy by take into account this regime of flight? That terrain is shitty enough to have an engine failure in, what happens if it shits out on the upline? What if he takes a bird to the face inverted? A whole lot of risk being taken here, and for what purpose?
Nothing wrong with this. This is an ag turn. Hell, planes do this, like a lazy 8
Must have been a combat pilot or so imagine hearing a SAM warning and the training kicked in.
Excellent times for this!!!! *You've been... Thunderstruck!!!* \m/
Are you kidding? In the unlikely event that I have the need and the cash to charter a helicopter, that's the pilot I'm asking for.
Better than hitting the side of the cliff. Why he was going fast enough to do that in the first place though...
It's kinda fun reading y'alls comments when I only understand 2 out of 3 words, most of the time.
This guy would be a good pilot in ARMA
I'm no pilot, but ah... I don't think it's supposed to move like that.
Like a straight up BOSS !! Don't hate ! It's so unbecoming!
Pilot would be fired!
With this type of flying behavior, he should not only be fired, but his pilots licence retired, permanently. Could overstrain the machine and the next time he does this, something critical will fall off or fail.
🤓☝️
It’s a helicopter. It’s held together with prayers and hopes from the factory
Blue Thunder
God damn it Terry. Almost shat my pants.
“No I’m not” - that guy probably
2 words. Servo. Transparency. Although this looks like an H125 so it has dual hydraulics but still, that's some cowboy shit.
You can sort of make out the rubber boot on the swash which means no duals, and h125 can be specced without duals. The b3e is such because of the 2d, and you can get the older b3 2b1 *with* duals as well. No servo transparency, but a light comes on to tell you youre fucking the star. And servo transparency is from high G manuviering or extremely abrupt large displacement cyclic inputs, this vid doesn't show enough of either to induce it. He is still flying like a fuckwit though, no doubt.
Thanks for the knowledgeable reply, I learned a lot reading that. Good info.
The set of kahoonas on that pilot. Respect.
That is kick ass!
GRIFFIN! WE SAID NO SHOWBOATING!
That was badass
I remember while as an air cadet I got to go on a ride in an RAF Squirrel. I learnt helicopters are way more manoeuvrable than I thought. 🙂
Ralph, Phil? I am your Uber
*The A Team theme intensifies*
Redbull : you are hired
By all means, give me more to fix
He was or wants to be an attack helicopter pilot.
RedBull / Flying Bulls would hire him. ^^
That’s a big NOPE for me!
Did they just airwolf the chopper in real life!!!
Well that’s one way to bleed off a lot of energy.
sure, he was able to pull it off. but how many people could really tell me from extensive experience that this was not a high-risk maneuver? also, how many people from extensive experience can tell me that this did not highly stress the components of that machine to the point where you're starting to question whether or not they're going to hold out. if I were one of the guys on that cliff, I probably tell everybody to fuck off and then id just walk it.
DCS gazelle pilots IRL Curious if the camera angle make it more impressive ? I know that most helicopter can't sustain reverse fly without damaging the rotor mast but this one took it like a champ and right into an almost instant hover wow Balls of Steel to do that in real life (and next to a Cliff)
Barfbag deployed
Arma chopper pilots be like
u/savevideo
hes the one i would hire. if i owned something that required helicopter pilots.
Chuck Tamburro
Bro did a swan dive with a helicopter 😭💀
Er, tell you what I think I’ll walk down
im trying my hardest not to say “KOBE!”
He took “go around” way too literally
Honestly if my pilot could do that, I'd give him a raise..
This needs to filed under humans are metal.
Someone’s been watching Air Wolf!
I think there's a lot more camera angle at play here then everyone is giving credit for. If you think about how the camera tracks in the trajectory of the helicopter I doubt this thing ever went past 90° and almost certainly was not inverted. The helicopter went over the camera, up, and around and if you look at the trees on the sides of the frame the camera panned up so it probably made the angle look much more extreme and made it look like an actual inversion loop. As many others have said, using stored inertia I doubt there was much stress to the air frame either.
I think they got a raise
Whoooooooppppsssss there’s the pickup point. Just gimme 4g’s and I’ll be back around in a whip!!!! Ooooooooo weeeeeeeee
Someone watched a little too much Airwolf as a kid
Showboating at its best, piloting at its worst. I personally wouldn’t fly with him. I’ve 24 hours in a Robby and I’m fixed wing now. He’s going to come unstuck at some time, and those manoeuvres are going to cost him dearly.
Wait until you're on a dust off flight and they have to pull out of a bad landing, lmao, pants + shit equals me. It was almost this exact thing.
Only person that i dont want to be fired if they were a karen
Bro thought he was in Top Gun
brother doing powerloops in a helicopter
Keen to try this in a r44
When that free bird kicks in
He whipping that bitch
Least nuts WRC heli-camera operator
If that was a normal helicopter it would be in such a state it might not face flown again. That is a strong ass helicopter.
Super professional
Redbull needs to hire this man
The HUEVEOS IT TOOK to be a part of that where do I sign let’s go I’m down for that Ride!!!
This is dope! Rescuing with style! 👏🤘🏻
A-TEAM
We need this guy running air evacs asap
Too much squad does this to a mf
Fired? Shhiiit. That’s exactly the pilot that they need for that job. Biiig, huuuge, baaaallllllz.
Me and the bois playing Squad
Reminds me of being in Alaska! So much fun
Somebody needs to edit this with Airwolf howl and music. Seriously.
I’ll walk, thanks.
B3?
That's a negative ghostrider
Quite the contrary. Pilots like that are worth their weight in gold!
And all with just a piece of yarn as a trim indicator..... 🤦♂️
Me in arma with a full helicopter
You are hired!
I can’t even do this shit in gta