B3 Drivers?

[spinwing]

I may have the chance to fly a AS 350B3 in the first half of next year.
Warm country. ISA+20 - 30, High? 4-6000 ft.
What is the aircraft like? Do I want to this? 5000+TT 95% turbine. flown that high and in the jungle before. Also a bunch of time on an Allouette II so blades going the 'wrong'way are OK.
If you are riding one now, what do you think of it and what, if anything, should I be on the lookout for?
Thanks

 

[Hightower]

i have been driving one for over 4 years, 1 of the first two in canada. bugs are all gone now, had trouble with the start switch at first. you will like it very much. the fedec sytem and the FLI ( only have one neddle to watch) is very pilot friendly and adds to the ease of flying. 850 shp so lots of power. our aircraft has lots of add on for the type of work we do, but it is still able to sling com shells 1300 lbs up to the local hills, around 6300 ft and be able set them while staying in the green. have spoke with a couple guys that worked them in south america and they also speak very highly about how they perform.

the computer sys also has a load page, it knows temp, p alt, fuel on board and you plug in load and it will tell you if you can hover ige or oge with the load at the height.

not sure if they have that mod on the 407 yet!!!

sorry 407, i know your works well also.

have a great night and best of luck getting the new ride.

 

[407 Driver]

1,300 lbs to 6,300 feet, Oh, I only can dream of loads and altitudes like that ...... my customers give me MUCH more

We don't have any computer screens in the 407, only computer on-board is the FADEC....Old-technology, you know.

We have a day of 10,700 pinnacle work coming up with your company Hightower, are you interested, or should I do it?

 

[Hightower]

407, you could of picked a better time of year to being doing work up that high, or should i say our guys should of. glad that we are able to help keep some funds rolling your way. bc or alberta side. we can only do so much and glad to be able to have others that are able to pitch in to keep our system up and running. when a radio sys fail it becomes an officers safety issue and you know yourself that that is not a good thing for those involved in looking out for others.

as for my old b3, just over 5 yrs old now, time goes by fast, she is a little plump and weights in about 300 lbs more then a working b3. still it does many things well for us and so far has not let us down. have to send you a snap later on, just got a basket to put on the outside so we can look like a 407!!!!

have a great day, have to pack cause i am off to spend time with longranger and see if he has firgured out what all the buttons do yet, should be fun.

take care

 

[spinwing]

Hightower,

Thanks, that is just what I was looking for.
Should be fun.
B)

 

[beltdrive]

Hi, just got my B3 endorsement.. fun....was woundering any body got an idea about the run up on ice?? seems a little fast.

 

[T5limit]

Last I heard from TC is that NOBODY was getting Astar type ratings right now. Unless they got their HYD. off training done in a US aircraft, that is.

What's the word? 'Course I'm assuming you're in our great frigid land, if not disregard!

 

[beltdrive]

Canada u guys r funny.... Well no problem here. they got 2 B3 now. had a good time there.

 

[CTD]

Canada u guys r funny....

Gee, three unexplained incidents of the same problem in Canada alone, and four people dead .... now why didn't I see the humour in that?

 

[beltdrive]

unfortunate..and >I won´t got there

 

[MagSeal]

I will go there...

Unexplained is just that. Unexplained. I can't explain it, but being biased is a bad thing, no matter who's side you're on. The Maintainer I just got in the mail yesterday seems to be pointing at the belt, but they aren't sure. Glad the investigators are on top of it, don't know what we'd do without them. :down:

 

[CTD]

Who's biased? My response was an admonishment of what I thought was an inappropriate statement. A little touchy? Yeah, maybe, but I tend to get like that when people die because I can think of a squillion times that it could have been me or one of my friends. Sometimes it was one of my friends. Obviously from beltdrive's reply, he's man enough to admit that he feels the same. And that's over.

Since I had / have involvement in that accident, and the other incidents, I can't comment on specifics, but I can assure you that the AD wasn't issued because the belt broke.

 

[MagSeal]

was it issued because of the way a servo was investigated? frozen with C02, then tested on a bench with room temp oil? I see a huge flaw in that investigation...

 

[CTD]

You're not the only one frustrated by that, and many other things. But as you know, nobody has any say whatsoever in how the TSB works. I have whole B3 load of stuff to say about that, but sadly, cannot.

 

[407 Driver]

was that B3 load an "Internal load" or an "External load" CTD, there IS a difference...