Flight Americas Editor John Croft gets a preview of the new Bell 429 medium-twin helicopter from Bell Canada experimental test pilot Leo Meslin on 20 May 2009 at Bell Canada's Mirabel plant - Part 2 of 3
@Elhombresombra It's most likely the altimeter. They have a little vibrator in them so they don't get stuck. They are annoying as hell in the KC135 I work on while I'm doing crap upstairs. I usually pull the circuit breaker so it will shut up.
All that electronic equipment like automated FADEC's etc are nice, but it's just that much more stuff to be affected, or knocked out, from electromagnetic interference. I heard rumors that the Russians have created an EM warfare system that they tested on a US destroyer that entered their waters in the Black Sea. It was in pods mounted on two Sukoi Su-24 fighter planes and supposedly jammed the destroyer's AEGIS radar while the Su-24's did twenty minutes worth of simulated attack runs on the destroyer. The destroyer could not lock the fighters on radar to use surface to air weapons on them in defense if they really had been attacking. The only option would have been to use shoulder launched Stingers, but at that close of a range the Russian fighters would have already sank the destroyer with anti-ship missiles. Of course radar jamming is nothing new, and the reports of the incident, as well as reports that several navy officers from the USS Cook, I believe it was, resigned because the incident shook them up too much, were most likely exaggerated. However, it may not be long before EM weapon systems may be developed that can knock out electronics by neutralizing their transistors. The wonderful, but flawed, transistor that makes integrated circuits and CPU's possible, but extremely sensitive to EM radiation, especially gate capacitor dependant field effect transistors. EM weapons, and EMP's both natural and nuclear weapons caused pose a major threat to all of the electronics that we have become so dependent on. I dread the day an EMP, or nuclear war ever happens. The Russians have been working on shaped, directional nuclear charges from the Orion propulsion system that, when aimed at the outer atmosphere, can create EMP's far more powerful than an omnidirectional nuclear device. We would go insane without our PC's, tablets, and cell phones. Teenagers would be committing mass suicide without their cell phones and constant texting.
I agree. The 222 had nice lines, but the 429 is a very nice helicopter. I was thinking not long ago about a new Airwolf. Would the 430 be the obvious choice, or something different? Perhaps the Airbus H-155, or the amazing new H-160 with the new, quieter Blue Edge rotor blades, along with the quieter asymmetrical Fenestron for a more stealthy approach. Then I saw the Airbus X3. No tail rotor. It uses props to counter torque and increase it's speed along with lift provinding winglets, and slowing the main rotor RPM's in high speed flight for greater efficiency, prevent advancing blade supersonic airflow and asymetry of lift, and provides a smoother ride. Just replace the props with turbojets. The pusher prop version is nice, and makes ingress/egress of passengers with blades/props turning possible. If we're talking about high speed flight, where retreating blade stall and asymetry of lift would be a problem, then perhaps we use a coaxial rotor arrangement like the Sikorsky X2, and the Kamov Ka-52 use. No asymetry of lift when two contra rotating rotors are used. Each side has an advancing and retreating blade. But maybe we keep Airwolf in the Bell family and make the 429 be it. I am a fan of the safer, and quieter, Fenestron tail rotor. Perhaps we could put one on the 429, along with some Blue Edge blades, more powerful engines, a stronger main gear box, lift providing winglets, and main RPM slowing system for high speed flight. The 625 shp, 730 takeoff shp, Pratt & Whitney Canada PW207D1is a nice engine choice, but perhaps something with a little more power. How about extending the cowlings a bit and putting the 1,600-2,000 shp PT6C-67 engines in, along with the main gear box from the 412? They'd sure give you the power to lift speed boosting turbojets, machine gun pods, missile launchers, two pilots, people being rescued, and extra fuel for those thirsty PT6's and the turbojets.
@FunktasticLucky ...just remember to push it back in, after... ;-) In the airport where I work, there was a guy who, from time to time, pulled the C/B of the engine hour meter to cheat on overhaul hours... UNFORTUNATELY, one day he pulled the "retracted landing gear" warning horn C/B instead, and was a little distracted during the approach, too... SSSSSCRRRRRRRRATCH!!! 8-P
This is what you call "Information Overload" - no question about it. What ever happened to a few "steam gauges"? Probably the designers, over cocktails, said: "Hey, what about doing this and doing that, and doing this, then we will have ALL of these pages on the MFD's, et al". WAY to much information - but, hey, maybe it's needed (?). And, like someone else has alluded to: Was there a checklist somewhere in the cockpit; I must have overlooked it.
I believe it is an indicator that the battery power is on, but neither of the engines are generating power to charge the batteries. When a turbine helicopter is started you are limited to how long you can use the starter. The starter on a turboshaft engine must be used until the N1 speed is high enough for the flame in the combustor to be self sustaining. An RPM that varies with engine design. For example the starter on the Allison/Rolls Royce 250 in the Bell 206 Jet Ranger has to be spun until N1 is 58%, the start of the green arc on the N1 gauge. After that it is self sustaining and you can release the starter and engage the generator to charge the batteries. That has to happen before you reach your time limit on the starter otherwise the startup must be aborted and you have to wait until another startup attempt can be made. If the engine has been ran recently, and the turbine outlet temperature gauge is above 150 degrees, you have to use the starter to circulate air through the engine to cool it below 150 before you can throttle fuel to the engine which uses more time on the starter. If you fire the engine up above 150 you risk a hot start which can burn up your engine, and that's a lot of money in your hands. Around $320,000 for an Allison/Rolls Royce 250 C20B, and $265,000 for a 250 C30R. Interesting to note that the C30R is more powerful, 650 shp as opposed to 420 shp in the C20B, but costs less. Anyway, the less time you spend on battery power without generators the better.