This could have gone rather wrong...

[thehappyotter]

Apache brings down power lines.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-17128357

[DaveB]

Indeed mate.. heard it reported on the radio this afternoon and immediately thought 'how the heck could that happen'?? Ah well.. they walked away which is the important thing and by the looks of that footage, the Apache isn't pranged too badly
ATB
DaveB

[Garry Russell]

It's statistically almost impossible they could do that and walk away...very lucky indeed

[airboatr]

Indeed mate.. heard it reported on the radio this afternoon and immediately thought 'how the heck could that happen'??
ATB
DaveB

Well call me Mr. Obvious Dave, but I'd say it's either not paying attention to the boundaries or pushing them.


You've probably seen this vid before but it's worth mentioning as evidence of what happens when a pilot is .... a little too big for his britches.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jix7N-uT0J0

[Chris Trott]

By the looks of it, they managed to do something that almost never happens - put the line into a wire cutter. They're on all helicopters high and low to supposedly keep it from getting snagged (they're the forward raked blade antenna looking things in the video just in front of the mast and above the gun), but rarely do they work as the actual "engagement" envelope is very small. Usually they miss the cutter(s) by a few inches and tangle up the helicopter. The Russians decided that the cutters weren't worth the engineering and weight, so they just rely on the nearly indestructible rotor mast and having a "clean" belly (with nothing to snag wires) to keep helos from being brought down like that.

[airboatr]

They're on all helicopters high and low to supposedly keep it from getting snagged .

here are a few without
http://www.airport-data.com/aircraft/photo/571208.html

http://www.airport-data.com/aircraft/photo/716932.html


DART sell them .... note the heli slideshow at the top. Out of the ten helos shown,
two have wire strike devices. Also known as Cable Cutters.

[Chris Trott]

Sorry, should have said "most". Almost all (if not all) US Military (and typically also the ones sold to foreign partner nations) have them installed, including the V-22.

[airboatr]

have ya put the fire out yet Chris?

[SkippyBing]

The UK Military came to wire cutters rather late in the day, the first aircraft with them was the Griffin (Bell 412 at Shawbury) followed by the Apache the MoD for once deciding not to make something more expensive by taking things off the baseline spec. Prior to the that it was thought having wire cutters would only increase the chances of people flying into wires, in the same way compulsory seatbelt use increased the actual accident rate. For aircraft without cutters the immediate worry is damage to the main rotor controls which are far more fragile than the rotor mast itself.

Wires can be virtually impossible to see under the wrong conditions and in valley areas can also be a lot higher above the ground than you'd expect. Attempts are made to highlight them on maps etc. but that only covers so many and to some extent relies on you flying the route you've planned and studied as you don't want to be heads in looking at the map when you're 50' off the ground.

I've known two people who've flown into wires, neither had wire cutters and both landed straight away having suffered fairly major damage to the aircraft. At least one of them wasn't where he thought he was, the irony being he was in charge of the master wires map...

Incidentally I'm fairly sure no ones put wire cutters on an R-44 because there isn't enough momentum in one going at full tilt to actually cut the wires.

[airboatr]

Incidentally I'm fairly sure no ones put wire cutters on an R-44 because there isn't enough momentum in one going at full tilt to actually cut the wires.

Indeedy James. Besides where would one bolt a 17,000 tensile strength cutter, To plastic?


we could wait for Scottie to come back in time and give up the formula for transparent aluminum.
But even then as you say, it ain't got the mass to push thru. It'd be like a fly trying to punch through a screen door. BOING