Bird strike?

[BEN S]

Refer to post 25....not a boolit.
Also the raised portion indicates something of enough mass and slow enough to push it up. Speed does funny things.
Once saw a Sabot round test that punched clean through 4 inches of Rolled Hard Armor, the aluminum fins were going so fast they cleanly punched right through the steel as well!
Kevin in like post 3 suggested a drone, I think this is the best guess if your birds not missing any nuts or bolts.
The drone idea also has merit as someone on the ground that did that would definitely NOT take credit for it.....and I'm fairly certain you would have noticed a weather balloon.

 

[bryancobb]

Just a word or two about the batch of drones that are out there. The FAA has demanded, yes, demanded that all drones except the tiniest ones under 250 grams be equipped as follows:
The flyable machine must be GPS tracked in a way that creates a permanent record of every flight as well as documents the GPS coordinates of the person holding the controls and the owner's identification and contact info. Part 107 of the FAR's is pretty strict on operators and manufacturers.

 

[WaspAir]

I had mentally discounted the drone possibility because there is a single visible narrow contact point with extreme damage and no sign of any scratching or other damage anywhere else. Imagining a drone that would do that proved difficult for me.

 

[13brv3]

I also doubt it was a drone. Aside from the lack of scratches as you mentioned, there are too many plastic, CF, an painted parts of the drone that would have been embedded into the damaged area. It does seem like a single hard object with no paint or other coating. While softer metals like copper and lead would be expected to leave traces, I wonder if a steel object would leave enough behind to find? It makes for an expensive, and thankfully non-fatal mystery.

Rusty

 

[bryancobb]

I have laid awake two nights imagining the picture you posted. I just can't imagine a scenario that fits! I wish I had it in front of my face. Is there a chance that the initial damage/impact took place while starting up and hover taxiing for takeoff, then to be ripped in flight by air opening up the skin and setting off a near catastrophic failure event?

 

[WaspAir]

Startup and hover were entirely uneventful.

Sorry about the lost sleep!

 

[bryancobb]

Have you found out if if a blade Repair Center will condemn it or be able to fix it?

 

[WaspAir]

It's just an art piece now. I'm told the spar damage is too deep.

Maybe an aviation themed diving board, if I put in a pool by my hangar?

 

[Tyger]

I've heard the term "blade runner", but "blade diver"??

 

[Martin W.]

P.S. early Bell 47 blades had wood content but these are a much later design, non-rebuildable, with 5000 hour life before mandatory retirement.

Completely unrelated to WaspAir's metal blades .... but because I came across a picture of the earlier Bell47 - Hiller12 type wood blade I wanted to post it somewhere .... front is laminated birch and spruce , rear is balsa , not shown is fiberglass skin and leading edge metal protector.

They were no life limit based on inspection.

EDIT TO ADD:
The oval shaped object embedded in the front of the wood spar was a steel balance weight which pretty much ran the whole length of the blade.



.

 

[500e]

Just a way out suggestion a lump of ice from a high flier, See what was flying over at your time slot

 

[WaspAir]

Hmmmm - don't think I'd hold that without a latex glove.

 

[Sv.grainne]

Yes, know where that came from!

 

[500e]

Well there you go

 

[WaspAir]

Finally got a replacement blade. Check out the shipping box - built like a submarine!

 

[DavePA11]

Do you return the box to them? Let me know if you need any help! I’m just at 18v.

 

[Tyger]

I would say that's definitely a well-used shipping box!

 

[Doug Riley]

For that price, you ought to be able to keep the shipping box and USE it as a submarine.

 

[Aerofoam]

WOW!, Just saw the blade pic!
My $0.02 is a bullet, maybe even tungsten core armor piercing. (there is a lot of Russian surplus out there.)
I would definitely do a lead test, but check with FBI because you would screw up the evidence if they wanted to examine it.
Lead has a tendency to just explode into powder when it hits hard objects at mach+, but it usually leaves a lot of trace.
I think a copper jacket would have left obvious trace too, but it may have been doing the shearing ...
I seriously doubt lead would would leave those clean shear marks in the AL core after passing through SS skin,
but stranger things can happen under extreme force.. (Recall photos of a piece of straw through a palm tree in a hurricane)
A question, which direction is the tip? Left, or Right? also, is the rotor upright in the photo?
Assuming it is upright:
The clean upper edge (By the fingernail) suggests that the trajectory was from the upper left and as the object
slowed to the lower right, it started tearing, slowing and turning outward rather than punching.
A meteorite maybe? many of them are iron.... That could explain it, but what are the chances?
Whatever it was had to be moving very fast, just tossing a bolt into the blade, even at cruise speed, would not
in my opinion create the shearing at the upper left of the photo.
The other main reason I think maybe a bullet, is a conversation I had with a Goodyear blimp pilot
who said almost EVERY time they do a long cross country hop, they have to repair bullet holes.......
Good thing all is well except your pocket book....

 

[Michael Perdue]

Did you have any lead weights in/on the blade for balancing purposes that came loose? I know on model aircraft and I think even on the helicopters you would drill and insert weights into the ends. Maybe a weight came loose and then you struck it?