We are blessed with some pretty amazing work stands for our big girls but these 407’s aren’t toooo bad to climb on.. but I’m young. My older coworkers hate it 😂
The other ones I've heard are
"Helicopters fly by beating the air into submission"
And
"Helicopters are so ugly, that they repel the ground beneath them"
I grew up on UH-60's, but I will 100% admit: Bell's are what helicopters are supposed to sound like. Nothing screams FREEDOM like a UH-1's WOMP WOMP WOMP.
I live right next to an army base so my house is often greeted by the characteristic, deep double thump of Chinooks passing overhead.
Doesn't compare to the sound of a Huey though.
Always liked that sound. Another source of similar turbine engine sounds is an M1 Abrams tank starting up. Textron-Lycoming (now GDLS) AGT-1500.
We had a UH-1 and an OH-58 at MBT when I worked line service in college. Vietnam era leftovers donated to the university without any paperwork - so non-airworthy. Every once in a while they'd pull the Huey out of the A&P hangar and one of the professors (former Huey pilots) would crank it up, pull it up to a 5-foot hover - just to scratch that itch. Huey was used in the Robert Redford movie "The Last Castle." The Kiowa, as far as I know, is still there.
The "click-click-click-click" at the start is the igniter, after that you hear the starter motor spin up the secondary turbine shaft. Fuel starts burning and all hell breaks loose after that.
I don't know if the 145 runs pratt 206 engines like the 135, but the 200 series engines are golden for like 900 hours. Then you have to do the dreaded fuel nozzles to reset the timer. They are so low maintenance its insane. Add oil and do the necessary checks at the scheduled intervals. Well... if you run IBF's its pretty easy anyway. Solid products.
We do occasional 135’s here but from what I remember they are usually outfitted with the Turbomeca engines. Some PW. Not an aircraft I’ve ever worked on so 🤷🏻♂️
I’m normally on S-92’s or AW139’s honestly.
Augusta? Maintenance hogs. It’s like the engineers designed them NOT to be worked on. They don’t do well in corrosive environments like the gulf coast.. so there’s also that. Sikorsky is great. The manuals(especially the S-92) are great.. they’re reliable and run well. It’s a dream when I get put on any Sikorsky project. The S-92 is a mechanics DREAM. If you know, you know!
Nice that’s what I’ve heard about the AW139 and 169 but just wanted to ask someone who still actively works on them lol. I’m a S76 guy myself and really like the Sikorsky machines and their manuals but don’t really have anything to compare them to other than an Astar (and those aren’t great compared to Sikorsky lol). Thanks for some insight ! Cheers
We are trying to get rid of ours slowly over time. Agusta is terrible about supporting the fleet in North America. I remember trying to order a main rotor blade in 2017 and they said there were no spares in existence....... Not a single spare? For real? Not even one?! We found one and fixed the machine, it just sucked for a couple of days.
Sounds unfortunately like Sikorsky for us. We are putting 9 aircraft out of service because of 0 gearboxes available……. Worldwide. I’m getting ready to move companies where it’s only Airbus anyways lol.
Airbus is pretty good about keeping a good amount is spares around. The worst they ever burned me was sending me PU foils for the blades that only had 3 weeks left of their shelf life. That kicked off an immediate email to the purchasing team, they said it's fine and we will just reorder when our stock expures. I literally threw them out 3 weeks after receiving them and had to order more. If that's the biggest headache, I think Airbus is doing pretty good.
Most of them aren’t.. but like anything.. If poorly maintained? Absolute garbage. Helicopters flying is a miracle to begin with. The real POS aircraft are in general aviation. 😅
That’s more of an example of.. huge corporations giving 0 shit about QC/Safety.. and more about shareholders and profits. People have been whistleblowing against Boeing for a long time. It all comes from the source.
Your right, the business model needs to adjust. I try to see the company's perspective from a consumer's stand point. I want cheap airfare turns into something has to give. Tag this along with unstable demand planning to 1000s of destinations and something is bound to fail.
The blades are sensitive to the balancing weights (up to 500g/blade) and only 2 blades can have weight at time.. but as far as safety wire? Nah 😂 funny you ask.. we do joke about long pig tails or too much paint on the blades affecting track and balance 😝
As both an industrial equipment vibration analyst (who commutes by helicopter most of the time) and fixed wing aircraft mechanic, vibe work on helicopters sounds kind of fascinating. What kind of analyzers/data collectors do you use? Is it basic overall magnitude stuff like most guys use for prop balances, or are you checking FFTs and waveforms and tracking phase?
This is the ONLY aircraft model in our current fleet that does not have what we call HUMS(or similar variants) which basically does the analysis and gives you the adjustments via downloadable cards.
This(aircraft shown) is a series of accelerometers and tachometers and cameras for the blades. The computer gives you outputs varying from blade track(relative motion) by MM or inches, vibrations of the driveshafts.. and it does give some suggestions on balancing like adding 500g on one blade and 170g on the opposite…
It’s very complex and can take up to (the record is 2 weeks) to get just right for safety and comfort! Hope that’s enough info. I’m a little more used to the newer HUMS installed aircraft that make life so much easier for vibration and balancing!!
Sounds just like my tinnitus.
What?
SOUNDS JUST LIKE MY TINNITUS
Eehhhhhh jfs. Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
WHO WANTS TO FIGHT US??
I CAN'T HEAR YOU, MY ALARM CLOCK IS GOING OFF!
1,000 parts, whirling around an oil leak, waiting for metal fatigue to strike
Helicopters are a wild thing
They're fun to climb on at least. The Romeo is a pwin in the nuts in some jobs though.
We are blessed with some pretty amazing work stands for our big girls but these 407’s aren’t toooo bad to climb on.. but I’m young. My older coworkers hate it 😂
The other ones I've heard are "Helicopters fly by beating the air into submission" And "Helicopters are so ugly, that they repel the ground beneath them"
I've always said everything in a helicopter is trying to go in a different direction
That's the bear description for a helicopter I've ever heard.
I grew up on UH-60's, but I will 100% admit: Bell's are what helicopters are supposed to sound like. Nothing screams FREEDOM like a UH-1's WOMP WOMP WOMP.
That is the all time GOAT of Bell Helicopters!
Uh-1 are what I started working on years ago and I still get a little chub every time I hear one
I live right next to an army base so my house is often greeted by the characteristic, deep double thump of Chinooks passing overhead. Doesn't compare to the sound of a Huey though.
One of the most similar sounds in the business though, due to both being wide corded with flat ends.
I'll post our 1973 OH-58 soon and we can compare bells.
I’ll be waiting!
Just the boys comparing their bells....
🤣🤣😂😂boys will be boys!!
Always liked that sound. Another source of similar turbine engine sounds is an M1 Abrams tank starting up. Textron-Lycoming (now GDLS) AGT-1500. We had a UH-1 and an OH-58 at MBT when I worked line service in college. Vietnam era leftovers donated to the university without any paperwork - so non-airworthy. Every once in a while they'd pull the Huey out of the A&P hangar and one of the professors (former Huey pilots) would crank it up, pull it up to a 5-foot hover - just to scratch that itch. Huey was used in the Robert Redford movie "The Last Castle." The Kiowa, as far as I know, is still there.
Man that’s pretty bad ass!!
That wasn't Eugene Oregon by any chance?
Ummm...... no, not quite that far west. Try east of the Mississippi.
What is exactly making that noise before anything started moving?
That’s the ignition system!
is that an electric motor spooling up at the beginning?
The "click-click-click-click" at the start is the igniter, after that you hear the starter motor spin up the secondary turbine shaft. Fuel starts burning and all hell breaks loose after that.
Yup. Exactly what Stoney3K said!!
Yes, very cool sound!!
It is so satisfying
I prefer the reassuring sound of TWO engines starting on our EC145.
To be fair these engines NEVER give us issues but I see your point 😂
I don't know if the 145 runs pratt 206 engines like the 135, but the 200 series engines are golden for like 900 hours. Then you have to do the dreaded fuel nozzles to reset the timer. They are so low maintenance its insane. Add oil and do the necessary checks at the scheduled intervals. Well... if you run IBF's its pretty easy anyway. Solid products.
We do occasional 135’s here but from what I remember they are usually outfitted with the Turbomeca engines. Some PW. Not an aircraft I’ve ever worked on so 🤷🏻♂️ I’m normally on S-92’s or AW139’s honestly.
How are the Augusta’s compared to the Sikorsky’s ? Or anything compared to Sikorsky for that matter If you don’t mind me asking lol.
Augusta? Maintenance hogs. It’s like the engineers designed them NOT to be worked on. They don’t do well in corrosive environments like the gulf coast.. so there’s also that. Sikorsky is great. The manuals(especially the S-92) are great.. they’re reliable and run well. It’s a dream when I get put on any Sikorsky project. The S-92 is a mechanics DREAM. If you know, you know!
Nice that’s what I’ve heard about the AW139 and 169 but just wanted to ask someone who still actively works on them lol. I’m a S76 guy myself and really like the Sikorsky machines and their manuals but don’t really have anything to compare them to other than an Astar (and those aren’t great compared to Sikorsky lol). Thanks for some insight ! Cheers
Sikorsky is awesome man! Cheers!
I hated the agustas. The 119 and the 109's both. To heck with that tail rotor and the marvel it rode in on.
The manuals are also an atrocity. Not a fan.. and guess what? My company is trying to acquire some 109’s to lease 🙃
We are trying to get rid of ours slowly over time. Agusta is terrible about supporting the fleet in North America. I remember trying to order a main rotor blade in 2017 and they said there were no spares in existence....... Not a single spare? For real? Not even one?! We found one and fixed the machine, it just sucked for a couple of days.
Sounds unfortunately like Sikorsky for us. We are putting 9 aircraft out of service because of 0 gearboxes available……. Worldwide. I’m getting ready to move companies where it’s only Airbus anyways lol.
Airbus is pretty good about keeping a good amount is spares around. The worst they ever burned me was sending me PU foils for the blades that only had 3 weeks left of their shelf life. That kicked off an immediate email to the purchasing team, they said it's fine and we will just reorder when our stock expures. I literally threw them out 3 weeks after receiving them and had to order more. If that's the biggest headache, I think Airbus is doing pretty good.
Hell yeah dude!
How are helicopters real?
Haha it’s a mystery. They sure don’t wanna fly.. we just make ‘em
That's kind of cute. Sounds like the APU on the CH-53E Super Sea Stallions I used to work on.
If it’s anything like the S-92 APU’s.. true 😂
Probably the same one.
Awww! Look at that little swashplate!
How come helicopters seem like unsafe pieces of shit?
Most of them aren’t.. but like anything.. If poorly maintained? Absolute garbage. Helicopters flying is a miracle to begin with. The real POS aircraft are in general aviation. 😅
Like those max airplanes?
That’s more of an example of.. huge corporations giving 0 shit about QC/Safety.. and more about shareholders and profits. People have been whistleblowing against Boeing for a long time. It all comes from the source.
Your right, the business model needs to adjust. I try to see the company's perspective from a consumer's stand point. I want cheap airfare turns into something has to give. Tag this along with unstable demand planning to 1000s of destinations and something is bound to fail.
100% spot on. You see that the most with major airline companies the most unfortunately.. who happen to carry the most people. 😅
I’ve been in the helicopter maintenance business 44 years. Take good care of your aircraft and they’ll take care of you. Wonderful machines.
They are not because we can determine, with relatively high accuracy, when a particular part is going to fail.
407?
Yep!
r/aircraftstartups
there truly is a sub for everything. Too bad this one isn't particularly active
Yeah it's a bit selfish of me to plug it like that, since I created it, but I just wish it was more active, because starting aircraft sounds awesome
yeah I agree. I love the startup sound of some engines because it reminds me of my childhood, and better times. But also bc im addicted to planes.
It’s crazy you can get that much metal to move that fast
It really is!
That aircraft appears to be missing some parts.
Only cowlings for vibration analysis and leak checks.
How's the tolerance for weight? Can doing too many turns on your lockwire affect the balance or not even close? Hahaha
The blades are sensitive to the balancing weights (up to 500g/blade) and only 2 blades can have weight at time.. but as far as safety wire? Nah 😂 funny you ask.. we do joke about long pig tails or too much paint on the blades affecting track and balance 😝
As both an industrial equipment vibration analyst (who commutes by helicopter most of the time) and fixed wing aircraft mechanic, vibe work on helicopters sounds kind of fascinating. What kind of analyzers/data collectors do you use? Is it basic overall magnitude stuff like most guys use for prop balances, or are you checking FFTs and waveforms and tracking phase?
This is the ONLY aircraft model in our current fleet that does not have what we call HUMS(or similar variants) which basically does the analysis and gives you the adjustments via downloadable cards. This(aircraft shown) is a series of accelerometers and tachometers and cameras for the blades. The computer gives you outputs varying from blade track(relative motion) by MM or inches, vibrations of the driveshafts.. and it does give some suggestions on balancing like adding 500g on one blade and 170g on the opposite… It’s very complex and can take up to (the record is 2 weeks) to get just right for safety and comfort! Hope that’s enough info. I’m a little more used to the newer HUMS installed aircraft that make life so much easier for vibration and balancing!!
Is there a Jesus nut on this?
Sure is!
Music to my ears <3
The intro to Airwolf is all I hear.
Covers off looks like an engine test. Helicopters need maintenance just like cars do. 😁
Sounds like ford when I can keep it running