I expected the article to talk about getting to the surface without getting beat up by the rotor blades. I guess the rotor stops fairly soon after hitting the water, or else the downdraft would push you safely away?
How to escape a sinking helicopter
11–13 of 13 posts
Re: How to escape a sinking helicopter
#12Does anyone else feel compelled to read any article with a headline like this? I know if I don't read it and then for some reason find myself on a sinking helicopter the only thing I will be thinking about is why didn't I read that article! As it turns out, this article only talks about specialised training and special devices and the dangers of crashing in cold oceans. Probably not many handy hints for the casual he…
Takeaway for us in the real world: locate an exit before you start moving.
Re: How to escape a sinking helicopter
#13I expected the article to talk about getting to the surface without getting beat up by the rotor blades. I guess the rotor stops fairly soon after hitting the water, or else the downdraft would push you safely away?
With my rudimentary knowledge of physics, I would assume that helicopter blades and a rotor, although designed to hold the weight of the aircraft and its occupants, are not designed to slice through water. Given the level of resistance water provides, the speed with which the blades slice through the atmosphere, and the fact that a falling human hitting water at terminal velocity ends badly for the human, it's not really possible for a helicopter to push water the way a water propeller is designed to do.