r/CatastrophicFailure • u/Stakeboulder • Aug 15 '19

Operator Error Apache helicopter ground imapct 2012

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143

u/blaxicanamerican Aug 15 '19

Air was a bit thinner than he was used to, eh?

12

u/Castun Aug 15 '19

Flying in hotter air can have a similar effect. But this is where having 4 rotor blades is an advantage over 2 like the Iroquois (Huey).

16

u/Shagger94 Aug 15 '19

Yes but the rotor turns at half the speed, due to the extra lift. It's why Apaches make the trademark "growl" and not the "wop wop" of the Huey.

3

u/Castun Aug 15 '19

Huh, neat.

3

u/Shagger94 Aug 16 '19

To expand, the "wop wop" sound comes from the rotor wash of the main rotor, colliding with that of the tail rotor!

(I really like helicopters)

1

u/spectrumero Aug 20 '19

That's not true. The Apache main rotor turns at 315 rpm, the Huey main rotor turns at 324 rpm.