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rotorwrench · 10-05-2019, 03:43 PM

Most of my cowboy customers trailer their helicopters to and from jobs. The flight time is just too valuable to waste for long ferry flights and their customers don't want to pay for that. They have fold down blade holding set ups so they don't have to de-blade.

I've seen at least three incidents over the last 35-years. One was a deer that tried to jump over and it was hit by the helicopter. That one did some minor damage but it could have been worse. The other was a rock kicked up by a passing truck that busted out one of the plexiglass windows. The worst one was a hitch failure that caused the trailer to disconnect. The operator only noticed when the trailer started to pass him as it was leaving the roadway. He watched in horror while the trailer continued off the road, down through a fence and into the side of someones home. It did some damage to the forward main rotor blade on the helicopter but the house was damaged a lot worse.

Most of them use goose necks now days with air ride suspensions and all sorts of bells & whistles but none of then can use an enclosed trailer. They don't use tarps either. They have to be able to take off and land back on the trailer so an enclosed set up is out of the question. The front of the goose neck protects the helicopter from nearly all strike damage.

10-05-2019, 03:43 PM	#18
rotorwrench Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: San Antonio, Texas Posts: 16,428	Re: Trailering tips for protection Most of my cowboy customers trailer their helicopters to and from jobs. The flight time is just too valuable to waste for long ferry flights and their customers don't want to pay for that. They have fold down blade holding set ups so they don't have to de-blade. I've seen at least three incidents over the last 35-years. One was a deer that tried to jump over and it was hit by the helicopter. That one did some minor damage but it could have been worse. The other was a rock kicked up by a passing truck that busted out one of the plexiglass windows. The worst one was a hitch failure that caused the trailer to disconnect. The operator only noticed when the trailer started to pass him as it was leaving the roadway. He watched in horror while the trailer continued off the road, down through a fence and into the side of someones home. It did some damage to the forward main rotor blade on the helicopter but the house was damaged a lot worse. Most of them use goose necks now days with air ride suspensions and all sorts of bells & whistles but none of then can use an enclosed trailer. They don't use tarps either. They have to be able to take off and land back on the trailer so an enclosed set up is out of the question. The front of the goose neck protects the helicopter from nearly all strike damage.