On 22 JUN 16, I evaluated the LUH-72 visually on the ground and performed several maneuvers in flight for 1.4 hours. Environmental factors are as follows; winds were 280 degrees at 5 knots on the surface and aloft winds at 2000 feet MSL were 290 degrees at 15 knots. Light turbulence was found at altitude and multiple thermals were encountered throughout the flight. Sky condition was scattered and the average flight temperature was around 28 degrees Celsius.
Evaluation of the helicopter began at preflight. The Lakota is a twin engine, skid landing gear, dual hydraulic system with only the number one hydraulic system powering the tail rotor. The main rotor system contains four composite main rotor blades that are hingeless. The main rotor is …show more content…
The tail rotor system is a teetering dual bladed system that incorporates a Delta Hinge. The tail section also incorporated 3 wings for stability and a gurney flap on the number one side surface wing to increase downward force. The flight began with normal start procedures. Initial pickup required normal coordinated flight inputs with an average torque setting of 60% at a gross weight of 6,360 lbs. The aircraft used a flight management computer along with force trim to maintain a stable hover with minimum control inputs. Nap of the earth (NOE) deceleration was handled smoothly with minimal changes in altitude and no abnormal vibrations or unusual control changes. The aircraft’s main rotor design made NOE flight responsive and no unusual vibrations were found. During normal visual meteorological conditions (VMC), the LUH-72 was found to be slightly power limited, with torque read outs on the gage as high as 8 but, quickly decreased once effective translational lift (ETL) was reached. Climb and cruise flight was acceptable for the environmental conditions with the flight computer easily being able to maintain heading, trim coordination, and controls the cyclic to maintain airspeed and altitude. Rotor speed can be manually adjusted or on auto mode. The flight computer uses airspeed to automatically adjust Nr.