Your tax dollars at work... splish, splash!

[TheSoccerMom]

I bet these boys wish there wasn't video evidence....   

http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/military/article_75f3a555-c478-5a67-ac23-50cf2d21c6e6.html

[4X-NTY]

Extreme skinny dipping!

[G-man]

This has to be one of the ALL time classic quotes ever made by a military pilot......

“Somebody has to be a total moron to do it in total view of tourists and in a recreational area, when everyone has a camera these days. We don’t really have morons flying naval aircraft,”


Read it in full Here

Two Navy helicopters from North Island Naval Air Station were  damaged, and their pilots are now grounded, after some bizarre flying  over Lake Tahoe last week.
  A Navy spokesman confirmed Thursday that a video posted on YouTube is  genuine footage of two MH-60 Romeo helicopters from North Island’s  Helicopter Maritime Strike 41 squadron.
  The video shows the $33 million helicopters flying low over the lake.  One seems to lose control, spinning and crashing into the water. The  pilot then regains control and pulls the craft back into the air.
  The Navy wouldn’t identify the pilots or say whether the helicopters  were supposed to be hovering over Lake Tahoe, only saying that the  entire Sept. 13 flight is under investigation.
  The pilots are not flying until the Navy wraps up an aviation mishap  board investigation, said Lt. Aaron Kakiel, spokesman for the Naval Air  Forces command at North Island.
  Lake Tahoe is not a normal training area for Navy pilots, he said.
  The pilots could face administrative action — and even lose their  flying qualifications — depending on the outcome of the investigation.
  Though the YouTube video only catches one crashing, both helicopters  hit the water because they didn’t have sufficient power to hold their  hovering positions, Kakiel said.
  The damage suffered by the two aircraft is estimated at between  $50,000 and $500,000. They had to land at Lake Tahoe Airport to be  repaired.
  Watching the video made retired Navy jet pilot Steve Diamond think  the helicopter crew may have had a legitimate reason to be hovering over  Lake Tahoe.
  Somebody out hotdogging probably wouldn’t do it in view of another  aircrew, or over a popular tourist destination, said Diamond, who  retired in 2002.
  “Somebody has to be a total moron to do it in total view of tourists  and in a recreational area, when everyone has a camera these days. We  don’t really have morons flying naval aircraft,” he said.
  “It’s possible they were troubleshooting a problem; you don’t know,”  Diamond said. “It’s easy to make a snap judgment, but there are other  possibilities.”
  A different set of pilots flew the aircraft home, Kakiel said.  HSM-41, which trains new pilots, dispatched another crew on a commercial  flight to fly the helicopters back Sept. 16.
  The MH-60 Romeo is the Navy’s newest helicopter and is considered  state of the art. Its usual missions take it over the open ocean for  anti-ship and anti-submarine warfare.
   The MH-60s were flying home from Mather Air Force Base near Sacramento where  they had taken part in an air show. Needing to refuel, the pilots were  headed to Lemoore Naval Air Station when the incident happened.
  A typical crew for the MH-60 Romeo is a pilot, co-pilot and crewman.

[Mike]

 

Wow!

Looks like LTE to me. What do you think, G-Man?

Kinda amazing though that he pulled out from that and flew away. I don't think that would have worked with LaFonduh or Jane......

[G-man]

Looks like LTE to me. What do you think, G-Man?
Kinda amazing though that he pulled out from that and flew away. I don't think that would have worked with LaFonduh or Jane......

Yep---looks like they were goofing off and had not planned on the elevation.

Definite LTE, and as luck would have it, the splash in the water probably saved them by stopping the spin. I suspect that is about when they discovered the adrenaline is BROWN...

And nope...I doubt we would have faired as well...however I suspect that neither one of us would have gotten into that situation in the first place.

[4X-NTY]

What exactly causes LTE?

[Ragwing]

What exactly causes LTE?

Loss of Tail Rotor Effectiveness (LTE) is a critical, low-speed aerodynamic flight characteristic which can result in an uncommanded rapid yaw rate which does not subside of its own accord and, if not corrected, can result in the loss of aircraft control.

Conditions Under Which LTE May Occur
Any maneuver which requires the pilot to operate in a high-power, low-airspeed environment with a left crosswind or tailwind creates an environment where unanticipated right yaw may occur.

There is greater susceptibility for LTE in Right Turns. This is especially true during flight at low airspeed, since the pilot may not be able to stop rotation. The helicopter will attempt to yaw to the right. Correct and timely pilot response to an uncommanded right yaw is critical. The yaw is usually correctable if additional left pedal is applied immediately. If the response is incorrect or slow, the yaw rate may rapidly increase to a point where recovery is not possible.

That is assuming US manufactured aircraft which the rotors turn counterclockwise.  Some European and Russian turn colockwise.

LTE example http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIWk88Gn9NM

[Mike]

Ragwing is right. What I want to add is that some helicopters also have what we call "a weak tailrotor". The L3 in the video is a prime example.
It usually happens when the manufacturer puts in a bigger engine and doesn't beef up the tailrotor quite yet. On the next Longranger, the L4 (Lafawnduh), you have a bigger tailrotor and not as many problems anymore.

I am not proud of it but I had LTE once. (Tell you over a beer, G-Man). But I don't believe in hiding my mistakes and usually tell everybody so they can learn from my experience:
Was at 8500 ft when I tried to got straight up and over and obstacle. Was ok in ground effect but when I got into the OGE envelope, we started turning left and went for a ride until I was back in ground effect. Scared the crap out of me but I was able to recover. Same deal, big aircraft, small tailrotor, at max gross weight, hovering right at the edge of what the machine can do, then a slight windshift, ......

[YawningMan]

This discussion reminds me of a video I saw. There was this guy who just bought his helicopter, and decided he'd give it a spin before he had any instruction. He just didn't mean to do it literally. The helicopter was a twisted mess.

[Winnie]

I Tell all of my students on the first day: "Everybody has a cell phone, Every cell phone has a camera! and YOUTOOBE is only a click away..."