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Pop out floats on a 206BIII
We operate floats on all our Jetrangers and our 407. For a 206BIII, I think
the weight difference compared to high skids is about 75lbs. As for an effect on airspeed I'm not so sure because I'm on the maintenance side of the company. Yet I figure 5-10 knots. If you want some precise numbers I can check for you on Tuesday. mike "Bart" wrote in message ... Anybody know how much airspeed is really affected by popout floats on a Jet Ranger, and what the weight of them is? Thanks in advance, Bart |
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We operate floats on all our Jetrangers and our 407. For a 206BIII, I think
the weight difference compared to high skids is about 75lbs. As for an effect on airspeed I'm not so sure because I'm on the maintenance side of the company. Yet I figure 5-10 knots. If you want some precise numbers I can check for you on Tuesday. mike Question: I've heard these will float the helicopter, just not necessarily right side up! :-o How stable is the helicopter while it's sitting in the water on these floats? Obviously, rough seas will pretty much doom the aircraft but will it be reasonably stable on calm water? Just curious, Fly Safe, Steve R. |
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The floats are supposed to keep the machine upright in seas up to 2
feet. According to what I've heard they may or may not keep the machine afloat for very long. The important thing is that they allow a much less scary and more orderly egress compared to the murky, oxygen deprived, upside down one you're assured to have without them. Bart Rhodesst wrote: We operate floats on all our Jetrangers and our 407. For a 206BIII, I think the weight difference compared to high skids is about 75lbs. As for an effect on airspeed I'm not so sure because I'm on the maintenance side of the company. Yet I figure 5-10 knots. If you want some precise numbers I can check for you on Tuesday. mike Question: I've heard these will float the helicopter, just not necessarily right side up! :-o How stable is the helicopter while it's sitting in the water on these floats? Obviously, rough seas will pretty much doom the aircraft but will it be reasonably stable on calm water? Just curious, Fly Safe, Steve R. |
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Yes, the cruise on our machine is about 100 knots.
I have some pictures of a 206 ditched in San Francisco and the floats held it upright. let me know if you'd like to see them. mike Hi Mike, I'd be interested in see the pictures if you don't mind sending them. Thanks! Steve R. |
#7
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In article , Rhodesst
wrote: Yes, the cruise on our machine is about 100 knots. I have some pictures of a 206 ditched in San Francisco and the floats held it upright. let me know if you'd like to see them. mike Hi Mike, I'd be interested in see the pictures if you don't mind sending them. Thanks! Steve R. 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 http://www.jeremiahlee.com/life/2003-Jan.html Scroll down to 1/10/2003 Steve |
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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. |
#9
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#10
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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. |
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