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Originally Posted by Seahawk
Here is a good explanation: Settling with power - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In the case of these two idiots, the combination of density altitude (high in Tahoe, fairly hot and humid - all of which impact the power required to hover) and the weight of the aircraft (the MH-60 is heavy due to the electronics on board) means that the actual power required to hover was 120% torque available - a huge number. I made sure I calculated the power required to hover in ground effect (near the ground where the main rotor is most effective) and out of ground effect - saw 40 feet above the ground and up) for every section of the flight.
You can see in the video that the helo on the right is in a slow yaw, meaning at the really high power setting he has lost tail rotor authority, or the capability to overcome the main rotor torque...not by much, but it would suck to be him.
The Class C/B simply means a dollar level to repair damage...and both helos hit the water! |
A good friend of mine is in that squadron, he said something to the effect that as soon as the fuselage hit the water it basically relieved the torque from the tail rotor allowing 100%+ to the main rotor allowing a takeoff / transition to forward flight. Both birds went in, only one got videoed.