another
yes we fly helicopters in the pouring rain, but the air intake is not a direct air intake, it has drain holes and turns to help remove the rain. And while rain is not that strong a stream, say spraying a garden hose in the front of that engine could damage a rotor. That is a very durable turbine as turbines go, but a turbine is still a lot more susceptable to FOD (foriegn object damage) than a piston engine. And when a turbine lets loose, believe me it is spectacular. I'm just wondering why not take a smaller turbine like from a jet ranger and use that. Still way more power than you'd need.
Last week I was on the phone with a FAA repair facility.
They do alot of work with the T53,s in crop dust application.
The FAA mechanic told me that in this application dust and the corrosive
chemical is ingested so much that they have a custom air cleaner (KN)
installed.
What really surprised me is they do exactly what you stated with a garden hose and literaly spray down the intake while it is at ground idle.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote