Citation

Arnold J, Pollard FB. SAFE J. 2004; 32(1): 29-31.

Affiliation

Aircraft and Missile Consultants, Manhattan Beach, CA, United States

Copyright

(Copyright © 2004, SAFE Association)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The survival and recovery techniques to save helicopter crews and passengers from the fatal mid air emergencies, are discussed. when these techniques were applied to small helicopters, the system operation requires that the stabilization boom be disengaged from the crew/passenger module. This is achieved by using small explosive cutting charges which sever the aircraft tubing much the same as a cutting torch would, only the cutting is achieved in microseconds after receiving the system activating signal. The release of the tail boom assembly provides for aerodynamic stability of the remaining crew/passenger module and prevents the anti-torque rotor from spinning the helicopter during emergency descent.

Language: en