MH1FLYER Posted December 3, 2011 Report Share Posted December 3, 2011 Hi All I have lurked here for a while and have never posted here before. I finally have something worth posting and thought I would share my experience with you all. My morning started out normal as usual and I decided to hop in my highly modified Mini 500 and go up town to get some lunch come back go to work. My friend Bartly has his Helicycle here in my shop as well and he decided to go with me. Since he has the turbine and mine is piston we always put him in front of me on the pad for his start up. So he don't burn the place down.Bartley was out in front of me and we were talking to each other when the day would change drastically. I have practiced autos of all kinds but never one all the way to the ground. Let just say I had to man up and put all the training I have to the real test. When it started I went right into the auto because I had no ideal what would make that noise. Well when I rolled the throttle off I knew nothing had changed and now the noise is getting even worse so I commented to the auto and after inspection I was glad I didn't second guess it at all. Once on the ground both helicopter and I in one piece I couldn't believe what had just taken place. After inspection I found the tail rotor drive coupling had broke in half and it was just another minute and tail rotor would have been gone and I'm sure the outcome would have been much different. The real fun was retrieving it out of the middle of that field and getting back for repair so I can get back in the air and have fun doing what we do. I know what everyone is going to ask so I'll just give you the answer now. I never got scared until after I looked at the helicopter and saw what was wrong and what just had happened then I got a little scared. John 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ironranger Posted December 4, 2011 Report Share Posted December 4, 2011 Glad to see you and the ship are okay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DieselBoy Posted December 4, 2011 Report Share Posted December 4, 2011 Good job not hesitating to put it down, glad everything turned out ok. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whistlerpilot Posted December 4, 2011 Report Share Posted December 4, 2011 Thanks for sharing your experience and posting the video. Glad you were able to safely get to ground. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MileHi480B Posted December 5, 2011 Report Share Posted December 5, 2011 John, I could not tell from the video. Did you flare at the bottom to slow down your forward speed? Or did you do a run-on? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDHelicopterPilot Posted December 5, 2011 Report Share Posted December 5, 2011 Yeah he did. Look close and you can see it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MH1FLYER Posted December 5, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 5, 2011 John, I could not tell from the video. Did you flare at the bottom to slow down your forward speed? Or did you do a run-on? I started my flair at that small tree line. I should have started the flair a little sooner and been a little more agressive with it. But I made it and we are both in one piece and thats all that matters. After that happened I realized I had it on video and after watching it a few times I could think of several things I could have done different. It was the very first auto I have done in that helicopter so I'm happy with the outcome. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helicopterdan Posted December 5, 2011 Report Share Posted December 5, 2011 Glad you had that nice big field to land on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rotor91 Posted December 5, 2011 Report Share Posted December 5, 2011 NICE job getting it on the ground safely John! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SBuzzkill Posted December 6, 2011 Report Share Posted December 6, 2011 Good decision making! You got it on the ground without damage in an emergency. Sounds like a perfect auto to me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DynamicallyUnstable Posted December 6, 2011 Report Share Posted December 6, 2011 Nice job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goldy Posted December 6, 2011 Report Share Posted December 6, 2011 I should have started the flair a little sooner and been a little more agressive with it. Maybe not higher, but definitely more aggressive. Then again, I have zero time in a Mini 500!. With a run on in an open field there is a high chance of a skid digging in and over you go. Glad this turned out so well, not even a scratch from what I saw. You did a good job of keeping the skids level and light. Goldy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ironranger Posted December 6, 2011 Report Share Posted December 6, 2011 This post and video busts the myth that you can't autorotate a mini 500. I was always told that was the biggest drawback to this airframe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goldy Posted December 7, 2011 Report Share Posted December 7, 2011 This post and video busts the myth that you can't autorotate a mini 500. I was always told that was the biggest drawback to this airframe.I remember some posts saying that, and someone here on VR said that was only because they had not properly adjusted MR pitch, and that the Mini 500's auto just fine. You're right about one thing, seeing it is believing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SBuzzkill Posted December 7, 2011 Report Share Posted December 7, 2011 It looks like it autos extremely well actually. I'm surprised by the glide and looks like you had plenty of rotor inertia. What altitude were you flying at? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wally Posted December 8, 2011 Report Share Posted December 8, 2011 Good job! Points out how important it is to have somewhere you CAN go when you have to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aeroscout Posted December 16, 2011 Report Share Posted December 16, 2011 A near perfect auto in my book. Glad you made lemonade out of lemons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plumberpilot Posted December 16, 2011 Report Share Posted December 16, 2011 Nice job thanks for taking the time to post it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plumberpilot Posted December 16, 2011 Report Share Posted December 16, 2011 What kind of video camera do you use? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aeroscout Posted December 16, 2011 Report Share Posted December 16, 2011 What kind of video camera do you use? At the end of the video a graphic informs the viewer 2 go pros, 1 of which is HD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MH1FLYER Posted December 21, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 21, 2011 It looks like it autos extremely well actually. I'm surprised by the glide and looks like you had plenty of rotor inertia. What altitude were you flying at? I was at 1300 AGL when it happened. It also was the first time I had actually been at that altitude. John 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.