"Steve R." wrote in message
...
SNIP Agreed! Especially in the case of something like the Brantly. I've
only
seen a couple of them and like Dave, was struck (no pun intended!) by how
low the rotor was.

OTOH, as long as the pilot's sitting there with a firm hand on the cyclic
(keeping the disk level) and has eye contact with approaching / departing
ground personnel, it's not uncommon to load and unload passengers with the
rotor spinning. I'm not saying it's the safest thing in the world to do
but
by my admittedly limited experience, it's pretty common.


I worked as an engineer with Brantlys for ten years and went in and out of
the rotor disk many times a week. Never had a problem.
The trick - as with all helicopters - is to look for the tip path.

And as for the topic - Our guys used it for pipeline patrol and it was just
as good as any turbine. That rotor system is so smooth. - First time I flew
in another type I thought it was coming apart when it went into transition!

Slatts