Model Forum / Radio Controlled / Helicopters / September 2003

It was a REAL 500 (Hughes 500) flown by an ex Vietnam vet. There was another
distinctly similar crash just recently involving a Hughes heli where the
machine exhibited the same "flight path" (Up and backwards, then down)

The latest one was apparently caused by the collective yoke breaking, but
the result of THAT one is the pilot died.

I saw the one on TV last night a long time ago and the clip was a lot
longer. As the heli descended, it looked REALLY unflyable as it was jerking
up and down instead of just "descending" as it normally would. The pilot
took GREAT care to slide it on gently, but as you saw, the last few feet
never happened.

It's a total and complete pile of shite. It's a single seat, Rotax 2 stroke
powered heli that had/has more problems than it needs. There've been at
least 7 people killed with it, and the majority through the engine seizing
and the subsequent problems associated with getting the thing  to enter
autorotaion successfully. The Mini drops it's nose when the donkey quits and
of course the pilot tries to pull it back up, but it's more common for the
blades to slice the boom in half before it lifts it's snotbox.

Another ex mini, and another occasion where Dennis Fetter can leap about
screaming "Pilot error".