Linden Accident - Question about "Droop Lock"

On Tue, 04 Oct 2005 11:15:33 -0500, Darrel Toepfer
wrote:

Dave S wrote:

WHen i was a child and teen, and dad was a chopper jockey, he drilled
one point into my head. Never EVER approach an S76 from the front.
ALWAYS the sides.

I was riding them in the late 70's and early 80's when AirLog used them
in the gulf, they are sweet. I'd have to agree and add the A-Star to the
list as well, heard story once that the OAT probe was sheared from an
A-Star by blade dipping (droop)...

There is nothing the the cockpit to control the "static lock"/"droop
lock" or whatever the current name is. Because of the amount of
flexability in the longer blades of the bigger helicopters there is a
lock that automatically engages via springs at a preset RPM. It
usually will lock at a lower RPM on shutdown then on start up. If the
lock fails to engage, it is a very real possibility of whacking off
your own tail with the blades. That is one of the main reasons you
will see the crew chief outside the helicopter as he is watching to
make sure the stops do what they are suppose to. If they do not
engage/disengage, there is emergency procedures. The one for shutdown
can be pretty exciting as you have to get the rotor stopped as fast as
possible.

As far as the A-Star, that is a story. The blades would break prior to
that. I have shut down in 40 kt. winds, and although the blades droop
pretty far down, they in no way could hit the cockpit area without
breaking.