High skids or Low skids?

Fully Articulated · Post by **Fully Articulated** » Tue Mar 13, 2007 12:30 pm

Boy oh Boy, everyone in the helicopter world must be too busy working their butts off to have time to post.

Here's one for you Chevy 2 pilots out there. High skids or low skids? I have heard all sorts of pro's and con's for both but thought it might start some healthy debate.

Cheers

sky's the limit · Post by **sky's the limit** » Tue Mar 13, 2007 2:54 pm

The answer of course is:

Depends..... Lol.

And it does depend. If you're here in the Mtns, flying into deep snow in winter, or very rocky "off-levels" in the summer, then it's LOW gear all the way. Lower centre of gravity, and a better In Ground Effect Hover is a big advantage.

If you're stuck in N. Alberta landing in swamps and tall shrubs/grass, then HIGH gear is much more friendly - particularly to your tail rotor.

I personally like flying the Low Gear better, but I suppose that's personal preference.

STL

The Mole · Post by **The Mole** » Tue Mar 13, 2007 3:36 pm

It all depends, like comments above. For training and full-on auto's low gears the way to go. Less stress on the landing gear. lower center of gravity. If you have low gear and farings and no cargo hook or mirror the old jet box moves pritty good.

Peronally i like high gear. Hey im paid by the hour.

rotorfloat · Post by **rotorfloat** » Tue Mar 13, 2007 4:02 pm

If you have to put a 206 on low gear to get that additional performance out of it, you should have taken an astar

Aside from having to pick landing spots more carefully, I really enjoyed my time on 'low feet'.

During the takeoff and landing, I noticed there is not a lot of attitude/control input change

Ever noticed on a high-skid jetranger, coming into a high hover for landing, and the closer you get to the ground, the more the machine will tend to drift...especially rearward? Not as noticeable on low-gear.

Cruise and hover was smoother, without the longer crosstubes jiggling away. Especially if the high gear has flite steps, large bear paws, or those large 'overkill' shackles joining the crosstubes to the skid tubes.

Slight weight reduction don't hurt-some jetrangers could stand to go on a diet.

Also a smidgen less drag gives you a few more knots at cruise too.

Lower cg is always nice. Dynamic rollover odds slightly reduced.

That's all off the top of my head...

custom100 · Post by **custom100** » Sun Mar 18, 2007 2:31 pm

i think as said before it all depends on what you are doing and where. as maintenance high gear has a less chance that i will have to fix a hole in the belly from a rock, stick, or stump. i have only heard that the aircraft with low gear are faster.

rotorfloat · Post by **rotorfloat** » Sun Mar 18, 2007 2:43 pm

Yes, in some areas it would just be impractical. You would just spend your whole day rejecting landing areas. Perhaps Hedley could give us a cost/benefit analysis

bandit1 · Post by **bandit1** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 11:09 am

Hey rotorfloat, where did you get the avatar? I like it!

rotorfloat · Post by **rotorfloat** » Thu Mar 22, 2007 11:37 pm

Right-click it, and it's yours