12-22-2025, 08:39 PM
(Skip to the 10 minute mark) This one is an interesting accident involving the downwash of a nearby hovering R22 from the aft side. It's likely this created enough of a tailwind (probably combined with a fwd CG) that our rotorways simply cannot handle due to our limited cyclic authority and horizontal stabilizer angle. Tail winds of 15 knots or greater (depending on CG) like to pick up our tail even with full aft cyclic... A good reminder for us to always pick the helicopter up slowly enough to feel any control limitations before the hover—there's always time to set it back down. Feel free to discuss.