number of rotor blades

IN CLARIFICATION TO THE ABOVE:

THAT WAS NOT "DONALD TRUMP'S AGUSTA THAT WAS LOST IN THE ACCIDENT UP IN NEW
JERSEY. THAT AIRCRAFT WAS LEASED THAT DAY FROM PARAMOUNT AVIATION. TRUMP
HAD FIVE (5) OF HIS L A R G E HELICOPTERS SITTING IN THE HANGAR ON THE DAY
THAT THE LEASED AIRCRAFT WAS LOST.

I WAS THE CHIEF INSPECTOR FOR TRUMPS HELICOPTER OPERATIONS AT THE TIME SO
YOU CAN TAKE THIS INFO TO THE BANK. HIS AGUSTA 109 WAS IN MAINTENANCE THAT
DAY AND WAS UNAVAILABLE. THE BLADE THAT FAILED HAD A "FORGING LAP": LEFT IN
THE M/R/B SPAR SINCE MANUFACTURE WHICH CREATED A "STRESS RAISER", EVENTUALLY
A CRACK, AND THE REST IS HISTORY. For the rest of the commenters, now with
many composite blades out there a better record can probably be expected
although no great inspection methods have yet been developed for composites.
Metal blades departed aircraft many many times, hence Sikorsky's "BIM"
indicators on the blade roots. Hundreds of thousands od pounds of
centrifugal force and cracked blades will always present a problem, huh?

Forgive my ignorance, but I need some clarification on your
clarification. Describe exactly what a 'forging lap' is. What do I
look for when inspecting a blade? Can it be seen outright, or is an
X-ray necessary?

Also, I thought that composite blades still used a metal spar. Is
this not correct. If not, please describe their construction.

Dennis.

"Bob" wrote:

I WAS THE CHIEF INSPECTOR FOR TRUMPS HELICOPTER OPERATIONS AT THE TIME SO
YOU CAN TAKE THIS INFO TO THE BANK. HIS AGUSTA 109 WAS IN MAINTENANCE THAT
DAY AND WAS UNAVAILABLE. THE BLADE THAT FAILED HAD A "FORGING LAP": LEFT IN
THE M/R/B SPAR SINCE MANUFACTURE WHICH CREATED A "STRESS RAISER", EVENTUALLY
A CRACK, AND THE REST IS HISTORY. For the rest of the commenters, now with
many composite blades out there a better record can probably be expected
although no great inspection methods have yet been developed for composites.
Metal blades departed aircraft many many times, hence Sikorsky's "BIM"
indicators on the blade roots. Hundreds of thousands od pounds of
centrifugal force and cracked blades will always present a problem, huh?





Dennis Hawkins
n4mwd AT amsat DOT org (humans know what to do)

"A RECESSION is when you know somebody who is out of work.
A DEPRESSION is when YOU are out of work.
A RECOVERY is when all the H-1B's are out of work."
To find out what an H-1B is and how they are putting
Americans out of work, visit the following web site
and click on the "Exporting America" CNN news video:
http://zazona.com/ShameH1B/MediaClips.htm

Unfortunately, my clarification, specifically as to the cause of the
Agusta109 main rotor blade separation is in error. In that particular case,
I was informed that at manufacture too much bonding material was applied to
a weight that is bonded inside of the spar to achieve balance to
manufacturing tolerances. That excess bonding material was "scraped" out
leaving a tooling mark that eventually led to the crack.

Now to briefly answer your questions:
A "Forging Lap" is a flap of metal that should not be present after a
forging or hammering type of process. Those spars are not forged, they are
extruded (pushed or pulled through a die). Typically, manufacturing defects
are not as blatent as to be seen by the naked eye, and many times are inside
of the spar requiring x-ray, eddy current, or some other form of
non-destructive detection.

Composite (meaning totally composite) main rotor blades do not have a metal
spar. Some newer composite main rotor blades incorporate a carbon fibre
reinforced plastic spar and are filled with a Nomex honeycomb material. The
blades are corrosion and damage resistant. Sorry for my error.

SORRY BOB! GUESS MY MEMORY IS FAILING. HOW COULD I FORGET THAT THE
AIRCRAFT THAT DONALD'S PEOPLE WERE USING THAT DAY BACK IN 1989 WAS LEASED
AND NOT OWNED BY TRUMP. I DIDN'T REALIZE THAT THE ACTUAL OWNERSHIP OF THE
AIRCRAFT WAS REALLY THAT CRITICAL TO THIS THREAD ON M/R BLADE FAILURES. ONE
WOULD THINK THAT YOU WOULD HAVE REMEMBERED THE CAUSE OF THE FAILURE AND NOT
HAVE THROWN OUT THAT "FORGING LAP" AS THE CAUSE. huh? JC

"Bob" wrote in message
...
IN CLARIFICATION TO THE ABOVE:

THAT WAS NOT "DONALD TRUMP'S AGUSTA THAT WAS LOST IN THE ACCIDENT UP IN
NEW
JERSEY. THAT AIRCRAFT WAS LEASED THAT DAY FROM PARAMOUNT AVIATION. TRUMP
HAD FIVE (5) OF HIS L A R G E HELICOPTERS SITTING IN THE HANGAR ON THE
DAY
THAT THE LEASED AIRCRAFT WAS LOST.

I WAS THE CHIEF INSPECTOR FOR TRUMPS HELICOPTER OPERATIONS AT THE TIME SO
YOU CAN TAKE THIS INFO TO THE BANK. HIS AGUSTA 109 WAS IN MAINTENANCE
THAT
DAY AND WAS UNAVAILABLE. THE BLADE THAT FAILED HAD A "FORGING LAP": LEFT
IN
THE M/R/B SPAR SINCE MANUFACTURE WHICH CREATED A "STRESS RAISER",
EVENTUALLY
A CRACK, AND THE REST IS HISTORY. For the rest of the commenters, now
with
many composite blades out there a better record can probably be expected
although no great inspection methods have yet been developed for
composites.
Metal blades departed aircraft many many times, hence Sikorsky's "BIM"
indicators on the blade roots. Hundreds of thousands od pounds of
centrifugal force and cracked blades will always present a problem, huh?

Hey JC er...excuse me HELIMECH

If you had followed the thread you would have seen that the EXACT CAUSE of
the MRB FAILURE WAS CLARIFIED BY ME, not that I would suspect that you might
have caught it seeing that you're still mentioning a "forging lap". The
executives lost in that flight, were known by me and it was QUITE ironic
that they lost their lives in a chartered aircraft. DESPITE YOUR OBJECTION
to my clarification as to the aircrft owner I'm SURE I presented more
factual information as to the cause of that Main Rotor Blade failure, and
others, than any other contributer to that particular subject. By the
way...refresh my memory as to the contextual wisdom of whatever you may have
CONTRIBUTED.

Bob

My objection was not your clarification to the owners it was the WAY IT WAS
TYPED. Must be a QA thing. JC

"Bob" wrote in message
.. .
Hey JC er...excuse me HELIMECH

If you had followed the thread you would have seen that the EXACT CAUSE of
the MRB FAILURE WAS CLARIFIED BY ME, not that I would suspect that you
might
have caught it seeing that you're still mentioning a "forging lap". The
executives lost in that flight, were known by me and it was QUITE ironic
that they lost their lives in a chartered aircraft. DESPITE YOUR OBJECTION
to my clarification as to the aircrft owner I'm SURE I presented more
factual information as to the cause of that Main Rotor Blade failure, and
others, than any other contributer to that particular subject. By the
way...refresh my memory as to the contextual wisdom of whatever you may
have
CONTRIBUTED.

Bob

JC...
Your point is humbly acknowledged. I really have to stop HOLLARING every
one of the buzillion times somebody says sommething like "hey remember when
TRUMP's Agusta crashed?" Considering that my name is plastered all over
that lAgusta's logbook, and as far as I know it's still tooling around
someplace, you might understand why it kinda ruffles my feathers.
Bob

Completely understand. If its any consolation I will now never forget that
it was indeed a leased aircraft. (course I'm getting old and the my memory
is not quite what it used to be but I'll try) Cheers, JC

"Bob" wrote in message
...
JC...
Your point is humbly acknowledged. I really have to stop HOLLARING every
one of the buzillion times somebody says sommething like "hey remember
when
TRUMP's Agusta crashed?" Considering that my name is plastered all over
that lAgusta's logbook, and as far as I know it's still tooling around
someplace, you might understand why it kinda ruffles my feathers.
Bob