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Jbb
05-08-2004, 09:37 AM
And He Walked Away! (http://www.capitalnews9.com/shared/video/buildasx.asp?vids=34785&mswmext=.asx)

Mandelon
05-08-2004, 09:46 AM
Wow. that is crazy. What happened to it to make it lose control like that??? :confused:

Jbb
05-08-2004, 09:49 AM
spinning copter usually means either the tail rotor hit something and broke a blade...or the driveshaft snapped...

JAM
05-08-2004, 10:18 AM
Preliminary reports (which include statements from the vetren pilot) say loss of tail rotor effectiveness, but probably due to a component failure and not due to a tail rotor strike.
From what I've heard, he first looses T/R effectiveness (not on video) then begins his emergency response. He begins with dropping the collective, which results in the steep descent depicted on the begining of the video.
At the bottom of the decent, he regains some T/R effectiveness and is able to stabilize somewhat. However, the problem resurfaces and he does the best with what control he has left.
An exceptional job by the Vietnam-era pilot setting down in such a dense area. You can see after the initial descent, he appears to be setting up for a landing on the street. But he aborts this, most likely because of risk to people on the ground.
I'll report back as I hear more.

Cheap Thrills
05-08-2004, 11:06 AM
Awesome Piloting ! absofackinlutely Amazing .:D
I bet he takes a vacation after that ride .
C.T. sitting here in awe :eek:

fourspeednup
05-08-2004, 11:18 AM
That's what it looked like the first time I backed a trailer:D
Aside from the crashing part of course;)

Dr. Eagle
05-08-2004, 04:13 PM
I'd bet he lost a transmission component or a drive shaft. But that was a perfect emergency response by the pilot. Many would have never recovered and dropped like a rock, spinning all the way.