Flying Videos

akscott60 · July 21, 2012

Lindsey · July 21, 2012

http://youtu.be/7qQlV5S1kMs

"Oops!"

Yamer · July 21, 2012

So it started spinning so he just dropped it? I dont get it.

Lindsey · July 21, 2012

So it started spinning so he just dropped it? I dont get it.

If the load gets out of control it can compromise the safety of the aircraft carrying the load. Appears that the crew elected to cut the load before it got to that point.

Flying with an external load is much more technical than it appears.

Yamer · July 22, 2012

I understood the ability and why but with that video it just seemed a little premature so i was asking hoping to have someone point out the serious part i missed at the point it was released.

Lindsey · July 22, 2012

I understood the ability and why but with that video it just seemed a little premature so i was asking hoping to have someone point out the serious part i missed at the point it was released.

Until a lift guy steps in with a more technical answer, here's my take on it: you can see it oscillating a bit--perhaps it looks less intense in the video than it really was from the angle of the camera, etc, plus you obviously can't feel how it's effecting the CG (center of gravity) from the video, but it seems premature because they released it before it got serious. Who knows, maybe it *was* premature, but I'm going to side on the behalf of the crew and presume that safety of the CH-53 was paramount to the movement of the -47 fuselage, and the cockpit crew decision was that it was becoming too dangerous.

SBuzzkill · July 22, 2012

That bitch was swinging completely sideways.

Lindsey · July 22, 2012

That bitch was swinging completely sideways.

I said "until a lift guy comes in," Sam! Hahaha.

akscott60 · July 22, 2012

Hey now, the 58D used to have a cargo hook.

Serious

Lindsey · July 22, 2012

Hey now, the 58D used to have a cargo hook.

Serious

S'ok, one of my R22s has a cargo hook -- also serious!

Yamer · July 23, 2012

Haha its for carrying your bicycle with you... like some people do on the front of a city bus? Lmao

UnitedWeStand111 · July 23, 2012

Anyone see this short series? Pretty good stuff, even though its the Brits

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=un3r_SKEwsE

Lindsey · July 23, 2012

Haha its for carrying your bicycle with you... like some people do on the front of a city bus? Lmao

Hmm...good idea! I mix these two up at work all the time anyway (flying when I'm not cycling, cycling when I'm not flying).

CharyouTree · July 23, 2012

Until a lift guy steps in with a more technical answer, here's my take on it: you can see it oscillating a bit--perhaps it looks less intense in the video than it really was from the angle of the camera, etc, plus you obviously can't feel how it's effecting the CG (center of gravity) from the video, but it seems premature because they released it before it got serious. Who knows, maybe it *was* premature, but I'm going to side on the behalf of the crew and presume that safety of the CH-53 was paramount to the movement of the -47 fuselage, and the cockpit crew decision was that it was becoming too dangerous.

Kind of hard to tell...at 20,000 lbs or so, that's 3+ times the weight of anything I've ever lifted, but I would guess there's a LOT of momentum behind that thing swinging like that. It probably was past the point of recovery, even if it doesn't look bad.

The most difficult thing I ever carried was a buoy, and it was actually probably the lightest load. When it would start to wobble, it was definitely having an impact on my aircraft. I had to fly at about 80kias or less. I can't imagine what a 20,000 lb load that doesn't even want to fly straight like that under it's own power would do moving THAT far out of center.

Yamer · July 23, 2012

Ah ok that makes sense. Wouldnt stopping your forward flight and letting it calm down work to fix it or would it down the aircraft first?

CharyouTree · July 23, 2012

Ah ok that makes sense. Wouldnt stopping your forward flight and letting it calm down work to fix it or would it down the aircraft first?

Well, when you get oscillations, that's part of what you're supposed to do. (It's been a while, but I believe it's... fore and aft oscillations, you make a slight turn, and lateral oscillations you slow down.)

If you look at it right before they cut it, it had a serious upswing going on. (If I remember right; I watched it last night). Any decel you do at that point is going to cause more of a pendulum effect... it's going to want to swing forward, then aft... you get the idea.

It looks like the load turned, had more drag that caused it to come aft, and when it turned again and was more streamlined, it shot forward. Hard to tell from the angles, and the camera moving right before it happened.

sikorskypilot · July 23, 2012

Until a lift guy steps in with a more technical answer, here's my take on it: you can see it oscillating a bit--perhaps it looks less intense in the video than it really was from the angle of the camera, etc, plus you obviously can't feel how it's effecting the CG (center of gravity) from the video, but it seems premature because they released it before it got serious. Who knows, maybe it *was* premature, but I'm going to side on the behalf of the crew and presume that safety of the CH-53 was paramount to the movement of the -47 fuselage, and the cockpit crew decision was that it was becoming too dangerous.

One of our guys was a 53 crew chief, he stated two things, one that if there is a difference between the two cargo hooks on the aircraft of 150lbs or more, the hooks will automatically open, two: he had a similar story form his squadron that they were flying a harrier back to base and it began to oscillate and the pilots punched it, there comment was, its better to investigate one aircraft crash instead of two, lol. From my experience, having a heavy load oscillate such as that one, can make it almost impossible to maintain directional control of the ship. aerodynamic loads suck.

Edited July 27, 2012 by sikorskypilot