In Flight Malfunctions and Emergencies

Hi Larry
The compensating weights are sticking up on metal bands that are about
1" wide and have square weights on the end. They are located on the
forward upper right of the engine area and nearly directly above and
behind the right seat. They are for easing the weight necessary for
the collective/cyclic input. The thru bolts on them are hard to
inspect except when they are removed. One sheared off and threw the
weight against the bubble and bounced down into the cooling fan
causing one helluva racket and a big puff of white smoke. I was in the
middle of a spray turn-around over walnut trees when it happened and
my first thought was I had taken a rocket hit! I did an autorotation
into the walnut orchard not knowing what had happened. Fortunately I
landed in the only area in the entire orchard that allowed it. The
rest of the story is kind of ho-hum.
Lateral weight and balance is of course an issue with nearly any
helicopter and is not necessarily restricted to wider helos. In the
Hiller I think the middle seat is the best in the house! Probably have
in excess of 2000 hrs sitting in it!
Happy New Year
Rocky

Rocky, thanks for giving me something else that will be very interesting
to look for the next time our local helo guy has his bird out for us to
admire. I try to look at all the details on these great old aircraft but I
don't always know what I'm looking atG Some homebuilts like the Rotorway
Exec require the pilot to move a weight depending on whether the aircraft is
being flown solo or with a passenger. I know much of your work was with very
heavily loaded helos under
extreme density altitude conditions. Did you ever have problems with tanks
not feeding properly that would throw the aircraft dangerously out of
balance? That was really exciting to read about your emergency and how well
you handled it.
Please keep up the interesting experiences if you have the time and thanks
again. Larry