spitfire 36 Posted June 3, 2007 Report Share Posted June 3, 2007 looking for information regarding "Gas being added to S58 rotor blades" ? advised that "a change of colour apparatus indicates blade serviceability" sounds odd ? could it be that gas was added to the dampers not the blade itself. Have had some scary experience/s with Enstrom F 28F (dog of a ship) some years ago had to bleed dampers every few hours after Mustering/feral animal shooting but that was with silicone fluid not gas.Any comments appreciated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pokey Posted June 3, 2007 Report Share Posted June 3, 2007 (edited) Not sure what ships Sikorsky used these blades on, but this type of blade makes use of a blade crack indicator system. The system is referred to by Sikorsky as BIM, or blade inspection method. The spar is pressurized with an inert gas. An indicator is placed at the blade root. The indicator is really just a pressure switch, that moves a striped tube up & down w/ pressure changes, if there is a crack in the spar & the pressure leaks out?,, it will be evident by the stripe having moved to show depressurization. appears even the blackhawk uses this system. Here is alot fo good reading: (about Sikorsky blades & construction--& how they 'come apart') http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:PRjsw...cd=17&gl=us Edited June 4, 2007 by pokey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nuke Posted June 4, 2007 Report Share Posted June 4, 2007 Some blades use Nitrogen in there BIM system. Some just use air. When there is structural failure, the gas or air leaks out causing the indicator to pop! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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