3 hours ago
(Edited 3 hours ago by Orv Neisingh.)
In my previous article that appeared in the November issue of Experimental Helicopter magazine, I made the following statement: “I would like to state that this year I have had fewer in-flight failures than in any of the past 10 years.” Up to the time that I wrote that article I had experienced one engine failure due to a valve rocker falling off of the valve and push rod (this has been about a once a year event for me and is an issue that we solved in the new VPS engine that was very similar to Joe Huff's engine that he is now building. NO MORE VALVE ROCKER FAILURES!!!!!!!
In the case of that engine failure I was able to auto the helicopter safely to the ground, we had a short walk back to the hangar to get some tools, re-positioned the rocker and adjusted the valve lash, and then continued my student’s flight training.
I experienced another engine failure that same year while instructing in Texas when the crank sensor failed. The FADEC computers faulted from FADEC 1 to FADEC 2 which activates the secondary fuel injectors in the manifold. This is not the best design because the engine can only run for a limited time on these secondary injectors before the spark plugs foul with carbon to the point the engine looses power and quits.
In this instance I was with my phase 2 student Mike Sidler whi has recently joined us on Rotorwayforums.com. We were doing altitude training and as we turned final for an approach to a hover over a very muddy area about a mile from the airport, in fact, everything in that area of Texas was muddy with standing water due to the recent rains. When the computers faulted to FADEC 2 I told Mike that I was going to try to make it back to the airport where the ground was firm so that we would not have to try to find a way to recover the helicopter from the mire we were over. All I could think of was trying to convince a farmer to let us tear up his pastures as we would attempt to traverse his property with recovery vehicles.
Knowing that I had about 500 feet of altitude and a mile to fly to get to the airport where there was some firm ground, I thought that my student and I had a good shot at making it there safely. As we neared the airport the engine began to run progressively rougher as the spark plugs were getting fouled up with carbon. I kept the ship over open areas for the inevitable autorotation that I knew I would need to execute at any time.
The extremely rich mixture of the FADEC 2 injectors was causing quite a reduction in the engine power. I needed to maintain 70 mph so we continually lost altitude as the airport area got closer. By the time we were adjacent to the taxiway of the very busy airport where Mike’s ship is based, I informed him that we would keep the ship over the grass next to the taxiway so that when we set down, we would not block the taxiway. By this time we were down to about 100 feet AGL with full throttle, and descending.
Mike was ready, I told him to let me have all of the controls because we were about to run out of engine power as we neared our intended landing spot. We were just about 100 yards from our normal landing area when the engine coughed and died. At this point we were about 30 ft. AGL and still traveling at around 70 mph airspeed. Mike and I had been practicing quick stops for the past few days so I informed him that we were going to just do one now.
We were all set up, proper altitude, proper air speed, extended reinforced front skids with flipped front landing gear bow, what more could we ask for (other than an engine system that would not be so prone to failure)?
When the engine quit, all that was needed was to drop the collective, haul back on the cyclic for a nice 70mph flare, settle, level the ship, and slide it onto the soft grass that borders the taxiway, very nice and really not a big deal if you are all set for it. We landed successfully with very little forward speed and all was good. Following the rotor spin down, we walked to the hangar, which was just about 100 yard further than we would have had to walk if we had made it back to our intended landing spot. We got his car, a rope, the ground wheels, and returned to the helicopter. In a few minutes we were pulling the ship down the taxiway to the hangar.
It took a few minutes to isolate the problem, one of the crank sensors had failed. Mike called Rotorway and Robin sent a new set to us by overnight currier. The next morning we had the new crank sensors, installed them, and continued Mikes training with over 200 autorotations (practice ones only as his ship flew flawlessly from then on). Mike told me that those autos now had new meaning seeing that if done correctly, and if equipped with the proper landing gear and skid configuration, a touchdown autorotation was not such a big deal or something to be feared.
![[Image: MikeSwEx.jpg]](https://rotorwayforums.com/flywithorv/www.flywithorv.com/images/Student%20Groups/MikeSidler/MikeSwEx.jpg)
In the case of that engine failure I was able to auto the helicopter safely to the ground, we had a short walk back to the hangar to get some tools, re-positioned the rocker and adjusted the valve lash, and then continued my student’s flight training.
I experienced another engine failure that same year while instructing in Texas when the crank sensor failed. The FADEC computers faulted from FADEC 1 to FADEC 2 which activates the secondary fuel injectors in the manifold. This is not the best design because the engine can only run for a limited time on these secondary injectors before the spark plugs foul with carbon to the point the engine looses power and quits.
In this instance I was with my phase 2 student Mike Sidler whi has recently joined us on Rotorwayforums.com. We were doing altitude training and as we turned final for an approach to a hover over a very muddy area about a mile from the airport, in fact, everything in that area of Texas was muddy with standing water due to the recent rains. When the computers faulted to FADEC 2 I told Mike that I was going to try to make it back to the airport where the ground was firm so that we would not have to try to find a way to recover the helicopter from the mire we were over. All I could think of was trying to convince a farmer to let us tear up his pastures as we would attempt to traverse his property with recovery vehicles.
Knowing that I had about 500 feet of altitude and a mile to fly to get to the airport where there was some firm ground, I thought that my student and I had a good shot at making it there safely. As we neared the airport the engine began to run progressively rougher as the spark plugs were getting fouled up with carbon. I kept the ship over open areas for the inevitable autorotation that I knew I would need to execute at any time.
The extremely rich mixture of the FADEC 2 injectors was causing quite a reduction in the engine power. I needed to maintain 70 mph so we continually lost altitude as the airport area got closer. By the time we were adjacent to the taxiway of the very busy airport where Mike’s ship is based, I informed him that we would keep the ship over the grass next to the taxiway so that when we set down, we would not block the taxiway. By this time we were down to about 100 feet AGL with full throttle, and descending.
Mike was ready, I told him to let me have all of the controls because we were about to run out of engine power as we neared our intended landing spot. We were just about 100 yards from our normal landing area when the engine coughed and died. At this point we were about 30 ft. AGL and still traveling at around 70 mph airspeed. Mike and I had been practicing quick stops for the past few days so I informed him that we were going to just do one now.
We were all set up, proper altitude, proper air speed, extended reinforced front skids with flipped front landing gear bow, what more could we ask for (other than an engine system that would not be so prone to failure)?
When the engine quit, all that was needed was to drop the collective, haul back on the cyclic for a nice 70mph flare, settle, level the ship, and slide it onto the soft grass that borders the taxiway, very nice and really not a big deal if you are all set for it. We landed successfully with very little forward speed and all was good. Following the rotor spin down, we walked to the hangar, which was just about 100 yard further than we would have had to walk if we had made it back to our intended landing spot. We got his car, a rope, the ground wheels, and returned to the helicopter. In a few minutes we were pulling the ship down the taxiway to the hangar.
It took a few minutes to isolate the problem, one of the crank sensors had failed. Mike called Rotorway and Robin sent a new set to us by overnight currier. The next morning we had the new crank sensors, installed them, and continued Mikes training with over 200 autorotations (practice ones only as his ship flew flawlessly from then on). Mike told me that those autos now had new meaning seeing that if done correctly, and if equipped with the proper landing gear and skid configuration, a touchdown autorotation was not such a big deal or something to be feared.