R44 Emergency Autorotation for Real.

CGameProgrammer · Apr 1, 2021

I fly a R44 and it is very obvious when it is running on just one mag (during the mag check) - it sounds and feels rough and only smooths out when both mags are working. So the pilot would have to be really oblivious to have done that. Also once during the ground mag check I accidentally turned the key too far left and killed the engine, but I turned it back to L and the engine immediately restarted. So you can (at least if quick enough) easily verify the magnetos turn off if you want to, though as mentioned it seems unnecessary to me.

Martin W. · Saturday at 10:45 PM

I speculated earlier that the R44 MAG switch may have had a faulty or intermittent ground circuit. I also mentioned painted surfaces prevent a good contact .

So with that in mind I found a similar situation recently .... (some) Boeing 737 MAX grounded again ... they have narrowed it down to about 60 planes in a production run where paint had been applied to the panel where the ground was attached .... bare metal at the screw threads would work sometimes , but then not work at other times.

No inflight problems have arisen because it is for a back-up electrical system which is not used in normal flight ... the problem showed up when testing the backup system ..... repair consists of simply removing the paint from the metal at the ground contact.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/boeing-737max-southwest/2021/04/09/df4ac0b2-992c-11eb-b28d-bfa7bb5cb2a5_story.html