Thanks Vern, I was hoping someone would explain that a little bit more to me. I may have benefited from it, but I really didn't know that much about it.

Thanks again.

John, I agree with you. I back our military men 100%. Can't say enough good things about what they do for us and how they help to keep our country free.

Hauxfan!

I spent some time at Rucker myself. On the autorotation think of one of those pinwheels we used to play with if you stick it out the car window the wind passing over the blades will make it rotate, when the engine quits the clutch disengages and allows the rotor to rotate as long as sufficient wind is flowing up through the rotor system. In those old aircraft, like the Sikorsky in your picture or Hueys, we tried to keep the airspeed between about 60 to 90 knots. 60 would give you a steeper angle of decent but slower rate of decent while at 90 you decend faster but could stretch it to go a little further. The idea was to vary rate of decent and angle to allow you to manuever to a suitable crash site. At about 75 feet the pilot would decellerate/dissipate the airspeed and rate of descent by bringing the nose up, the increased airflow would make the rotor rpm speed up a little, at about 10 feet he would increase the pitch in the blades which would slow the rate of decent and help cushion the landing. You get one shot.... a little luck and proper execution the aircraft lands with zero speed and a soft touchdown or something unpleasant. One of my favorite things to practice was autos with a 180 degree turn or simulated engine failures at low level and high speed. But that was in another life.

Gentlemen:

I thank you for your service, for the sacrifices you made in order for me to enjoy an American Way of Life. While the military was not part of my path in life, my Father, Uncles and Cousins and dear Friends have served in all branches of the Armed Services, but Coast Guard. Some family work at the Fort as civilian contractors.

When I'm in Geneva AL, rarely a day goes bye without hearing the whirling of rotors and the sight of helicopters carrying HUGE cement block overhead in multiple training exercises... comforting reminder of our military at work to ensure my grandchildrens' future freedom.

Hauxfan... thanks for starting this thread,

Jay Spitz

hey Snookassassin,

We were prob'ly at Ft Rucker about the same time, early '67. I also went to Army UH-1 helicopter maint school starting about early January, spent a few months in the summer at Ft Riley forming up a new company and arrived "in country" sometime in September '67.

John C. Saubak

CE, UH-1H 66-16245

17th Assault Helicopter Company, 1967-68

Cowboy,

I left Ft. Rucker, went to Ft. Bragg for some more training then to Vietnam,

45th Med. Co (Dust Off). My flight platoon was stationed at Lai Khe (1st Inf. Div.) but flew all over III corps.

#67-17007

Clif Adams

pduryee, Thanks for explaining the auto rotation some more.

It wasn't exactly a real smooth landing, but it wasn't real rough either. I'd say the pilot(s) did a superb job of getting us down. No one was hurt and we all walked away.

Jay, Glad you enjoyed it.

Hauxfan!

Another Fort Rucker "grad" here UH-1 mechanic (mos 67M20). Wow you guys are bringing back some memories. Auto-rotation, collective pitch, cyclic, spanwise and cordwise balance, wobble plate and last but not least, the "trailor" in Enterprize. BTW ever experience an auto-rotation at zero airspeed??

If memory server me correctly, the chopper shown above is the old CH-19 "chickasaw" (SP) THey (and the CH-34 "chocktaw") were powered by the very noisy R-985 radial gas engines. I also spent some time around the latter.

JayZap, I'm not saying it was the exact one I put in above, but it sure looks a lot like it.

Plus what you said about the noise of the engine rings true. Like I said, I was sitting right next to where the engine was and it was really loud................and then as if someone had turned it off............dead silence........

A sound I didn't want to hear.

Thanks again everyone for contributing to this thread. You've help make it complete........for me......

Hauxfan!

In an autorotation, gravity and altitude are used to keep the blades rotating (think of holding a fan out a car window - no power but the fan rotates). When you get close to the ground you give the collective a yank (changes the angle of the blades) for one last burst of lift to settle down to the ground. Of course this eats up all the energy in the rotor (blades slow down fast) so you only have one shot.

Well, perazzitms, I'd guess my pilot did it right because we were all able to walk away.

We had the door open as it was summertime, and all I could see were those big old trees down below.

I didn't know there was a fire road beneath us, as I was looking out and down.

I really thought I was a goner that day, as I could just see us hitting those big trees and tumbling to the ground with a big ball of fire finishing us off.

Thank God that never happened.

Sometimes I think someone is watching over me.

Which is perfectly okay with me, as I probably need all the help I can get.

Thanks again, everyone!

Hauxfan!

I have many good memories of Ft.Rucker that I wouldn't trade for anything. I attended the Army rotary wing flight school in 1969 and received my wings on October 21, 1969. After a tour of duty overseas I returned to Ft.Rucker and became a Contact flight instructor. My fellow instructors and I trained student pilots how to fly the Huey including the emergency procedures they might need to save their lives. As an instructor, I have performed thousands of auto rotations and once you get the hang of it you can usually land softer or just as soft will zero or little forward movement as you can with full power. The exception is when you are very heavily loaded with a high density altitude and little to no wind.

My wife gave birth to our first child at the base hospital in 1971. It was an honor and privilege to serve my country. Thanks for your support.

My daughter lives in Montgomery, where is Ft. Rucker from there. What city is it close to?? I go visit and from info in SSR understand that they shoot several registered shoots. I would be interested in attending if it isn't too far away. I shoot some at the base in Montgomery, but haven't shot any registered there yet. Herb Roach

When I travel to Geneva County, I take Hwy 231 South from Montgomery into Troy. At Hwy 167, I take that toward Enterprise...

Heading that way in a few days!

regards all,

Jay

RUCKER IS ABOUT 4 HRS SOUTH OF BIRMINGHAM ,SSW I THINK. RICK ZINO CW4(RET)