Pop out floats on a 206BIII

This might be the one Mike was referring to... In January 2003, a
heilcopter on a tour in San Francisco was forced to ditch into the bay.
Jeremiah Cohick, who was one of the passengers in the helicopter, is
one of the people that was featured in Apple Computer's Switch
campaign. The first link has a few wide-angle pictures of the
helicopter sitting in the bay, and the second is Jeremiah's account of
what happened. There used to be some much better pictures on the web,
but I can't find them right now.

http://www.macobserver.com/article/2003/01/14.7.shtml


Steve

Mike was kind enought we send me a couple of jpegs from the story in the link
above. Thanks, Mike!

The helicopter sits much lower in the water, relative to the floats, than I
would have thought. While the water conditions aren't that rough compared to
what San Fransisco Bay is capable of, there is some wave action and the Jet
Ranger looks like it's sitting there just fine.

I noted the reporter writing the article refered to the incident as a "crash."
All I can say is, if that's a crash, then any landing a helicopter makes also
qualifies as a crash. Looks to me like the pilot did a first class job
handling the emergency.

The "vast" majority of emergency autorotations (I'm assuming that's what this
was?) that I've seen on the news over the past 20 years ended in a roll over,
seperation of the tail boom, or some other significant damage to the aircraft
whether there were any injuries or not. This Jet Ranger looks to be completely
intact. Cudo's to the pilot!

Fly Safe,
Steve R.

(Rhodesst) wrote in
:

The helicopter sits much lower in the water, relative to the floats,
than I would have thought. While the water conditions aren't that
rough compared to what San Fransisco Bay is capable of, there is some
wave action and the Jet Ranger looks like it's sitting there just
fine.

The floats are on top of the skids, & inflate up to the doors, so it sits
lower than it does on the ground. This is essential, since the CG is still
pretty high, & the helicopter is rather unstable in the water. It rolls
fairly easily.

The "vast" majority of emergency autorotations (I'm assuming that's
what this was?) that I've seen on the news over the past 20 years
ended in a roll over, seperation of the tail boom, or some other
significant damage to the aircraft whether there were any injuries or
not. This Jet Ranger looks to be completely intact. Cudo's to the
pilot!

Soft autos to the water are easier than to the ground. Properly done,
during an auto to the water it's difficult to feel when you touch down.
There may be a big splash, but you don't feel the impact that much, because
the floats absorb the impact more slowly, and the water parts as you go in.
I've done innumerable practice autos to the water on fixed floats, & it's a
lot of fun, much easier to do than on skids on concrete. If the seas are
up, though, you'd better get out, because the thing will turn turtle in a
heartbeat. We've had lots of cases of engine failure in which the pilot
put the helicopter in the water with no damage at all, but the helicopter
was almost destroyed during the salvage attempt.

--
Regards,

Stan

Interesting thread.

I've got a few helicopter pics showing the machines on these pop out
floats and wondered a few times what would happend if they were needed.

My curious question is how come operators don't use the old permanent
floats. You know, the ones that looked like cigar tubes, nice and
plump, etc.

I presume it would have to do with performance, speed, etc.

Would those types of floats be safer compared to the pop outs or
would still be iffy on roughish water.

Bernie the Bunion wrote in
:

Interesting thread.

I've got a few helicopter pics showing the machines on these pop out
floats and wondered a few times what would happend if they were needed.

My curious question is how come operators don't use the old permanent
floats. You know, the ones that looked like cigar tubes, nice and
plump, etc.

I presume it would have to do with performance, speed, etc.

Would those types of floats be safer compared to the pop outs or
would still be iffy on roughish water.


They have been used, but they're unstable on land, you can't autorotate
successfully to land with them, they slow the helicopter down dramatically,
and you have to carry a hand pump around & pump for a long time when they
lose air (and they lose air regularly). Plus they mount rather low, and
the CG is higher than with popouts, so they'll roll on you even though
they're usually mounted further outboard than the regular skids. PHI has
one, for use in training, but they just aren't practical for everyday use
offshore.

--
Regards,

Stan

Stan Gosnell wrote:

They have been used, but they're unstable on land, you can't autorotate
successfully to land with them, they slow the helicopter down dramatically,
and you have to carry a hand pump around & pump for a long time when they
lose air (and they lose air regularly). Plus they mount rather low, and
the CG is higher than with popouts, so they'll roll on you even though
they're usually mounted further outboard than the regular skids. PHI has
one, for use in training, but they just aren't practical for everyday use
offshore.

Thanks Stan...... I never knew they had so many bad things going
for them.

I can imagine that fixing a slow leak in the field ( so to speak ) and
then having to pump it up by hand would be a little tedious.

Bernie the Bunion wrote in
:

Thanks Stan...... I never knew they had so many bad things going
for them.

I can imagine that fixing a slow leak in the field ( so to speak ) and
then having to pump it up by hand would be a little tedious.

That's why A&P's were invented. However, they aren't always available and
if they are, they can often be surly about doing actual physical labor.

--
Regards,

Stan

P.S. That's a joke. I wouldn't want to insult anyone of that religious
persuasion. Some of my best friends are A&P's............

Fixed floats are always in the way when you enter and exit the aircraft.
Serious loss of cruise speed. Memory is 90 kts IAS vs 100, 105 on six-pack.
Reduce max gross, 3000 vs 3200 for B3.
Exaggerate pitch and especially roll when you're on boat, rig, or any
surface with motion. Especially boats.
Wally