You sound like you know what you're on about...
Do older aircraft such as this get tested regularly? (an MOT if you will...) I'm curious... If not - why not? If it's not flight-worthy surely you are endangering the lives of people on the ground too, let alone yourself/passengers.
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littlefeet - his variable is not defined, Wed 8 Aug 2012, 13:34,
Reply)
Mostly, yes they do.
Or rather should do. The CAA mandates the following check cycle for light aircraft (the FAA is probably similar but I haven't checked):
-Before the first flight of the day
-Every 50 hours
-Every 150 hours
-Annual inspection
The first in the list is a full visual inspection. Checking for panel damage, control surface operation, engine fluid levels, fuel contamination, instrument operation, lights serviceability, tyre condition etc.
The subsequent checks all go a lot deeper into things. The annual involves a full stripdown and inspection of the engine.
I don't know of any pilot who'd be comfortable getting into a plane they hadn't carefully inspected. It's a self-preservation thing...
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wheresthefish Partly filled with wrong, Wed 8 Aug 2012, 13:52,
Reply)
Well that eases my mind somewhat...
NTSB's preliminary report: www.ntsb.gov/aviationquery/brief.aspx?ev_id=20120701X65804&key=1
Thanks for detailing that for me, I guess it's even more stringent for helicopters with all those extra moving bits. I suppose things still fail sometimes.
I've read a lot of the comments regarding the crash above and it seems that it was a combination of overloading and air density. The altimeter says 6000ft before they take off.
This was one of the comments: As soon as the a/c leaved the ground effect (~Half Span of the a/c), the engine can't provide enough power to keep the a/c flying because of (supposition) High/Hot conditions or mass overloading.
As soon as they came in backside of the Power curve, there were already doomed...
Crashing straight ahead WAS the best option...
Here a footage of a similar crash which ended deadly because they went for a turn while loosing altitude/stalling: (skip to 06:00)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_8AHC9Xus0
Guess it's easy flying from behind your keynoard AFTER the event.
Thanks again.
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littlefeet - his variable is not defined, Wed 8 Aug 2012, 14:44,
Reply)