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Flying in a helicopter ove the Gulf in this weather?
Saw this radar image and could not believe it. A Bristow helicopter flying in IFR conditions over the Gulf of Mexico. (flightaware.com) Más...Sort type: [Top] [Newest]
In an S92 HELL YA! the G-V of helicopters, I would go anywhere in that!
Seat of the pants reply from a fixed-wing guy here: there is some amount of dampering of "turbulence" by a flexible-bladed rotary wing. HOWEVER, an up or down draft is another animal, as it is not simply a "pocket" of momentary upset, but rather a sizable column of high velocity air that the craft remains IN for the duration of horizontal traverse. You go WITH it. If it is descending at 50 fps, so are you. Now a heli MAY fair better in an attempt to counter the effects of the draft. But I cannot speak authoritatively as to the mathematical factors of whether, for example, the increase in high pressure on top of the rotor kills lift as greatly as it does to a fixed wing. In my head I picture that it would be similar, but the power-to-weight ratio of the heli is greater than that of most fixed wing aircraft and MAY be able to more effectively respond in opposition TO the draft.. I would LOVE to hear any of you who are more qualified propound on this though!("Thirsty Ignorance Knows No Pride" - Charles Fournet, 2014)
A wee bit bumpy - not as bad as the hurricane hunters out of Biloxi tho
Hey, check out the "graph" readout... VSI got a workout right about the time it went thru that cell! Wonder what manuveuring speed is in the Helibus... ;-)
Does turbulence have the same effect on choppers as fixed wing? IOW do you get the same movement due to the storm whether fixed wing or chopper? For some reason I thought choppers were not as subject to turbulence.
I can promise you that turbulence can beat the hell out of you in a helo too. Only difference is in an plane you think your wings are gonna break and in a helo you think the blades are gonna break.
Are not blades wings?
Yes, but we call them rotor blades.