Steel Reinforced Aluminum Extended skids with SS Skid shoes

by VP, LLc

Serving the Experimental Helicopter Industry for over 20 years

In the above photo we have drawn in two lines showing where the helicopter weight is concentrated when the ship is landed with forward ground speed as in the case of a run-on landing or an autorotation landing. The red line approximates where the stock Rotorway Exec, Exec 90 and Exec 162F unreinforced left skid will usually snap off during such a landing when the helicopter rocks forward concentrating it's weight onto the front of the skid. This allows the helicopter to rock forward and over until the main rotor blades contact the surface and a dynamic rollover is the result.

Longer skids are standard on all production helicopters to allow for run-on landings without the danger of the helicopter rocking forward and over onto their noses. Doesn't your helicopter deserve the same safety margine as the certified ships?

The green line shows where the new pivot point is on the longer steel-reinforced Aluminum VPHelo, LLc skids. Both the right and left skid are internally reinforced with 4130 chromoly steel tube to carry the load of the helicopter as it slides onto the surface on their Stainless Steel skid shoes. This forward support prevents the helicopter from nosing over during forward ground speed surface contact.

The above photo shows N5251B with it's stock skids as they came with the kit. They worked fine until the time that the helicopter made an emergency autorotation landing and made ground contact with forward ground speed.

See the sad results in the photo below.

The above photos are of a Rotorway helicopter with the short unreinforced left skid and in the standard kit configuration. This ship was landed with forward ground speed at the conclusion of an autorotation. The helicopter rocked forward onto the short skids and the left skid tube snapped off. This allowed the helicopter landing gear leg to dig into the ground and the helicopter to travel forward over the pivot point. When the helicopter pitched forward the main rotor blades contacted the surface and the helicopter was destroyed in the resultant dynamic rollover.

VP is now in the process of rebuilding this helicopter for the owner and equiping it with the new VP, LLc skid system.

Don't allow your helicopter to become yet one more statistic. Install a set of VP, LLc extended aluminum and steel reinforced skids with SS skid shoes before you need to use them.

 

The above photo shows the VP, LLc Steel Reinforced Extended aluminum skids with internal steel reinforcement and Stainless Steel skid shoes.

Aluminum will grab into asphalt and concrete upon contact pulling the skids rearward to the relative motion of the helicopter as it skids to a stop. The Stainless Steel skid shoes installed on every set of VP, LLc skids provides a very slick hard surface that slides over the asphalt and concrete surface allowing the helicopter to slide along the ground during a run-on or autorotaional landing. This lower friction surface on the bottom of the VP, LLc skids transfers less force into the landing gear as the helicopter slides to a stop.

In the above photo a set of new skids is shown next to the stock skids on a Rotorway 162F. The extra support to the front is very obvious. It is even more so when you realize that the stock left skids often snap off just in front of the landing gear attach point while the VP, LLc skids have steel reinforcement through the curve at the front of both skid tubes. See the photo below that shows the steel inserts installed.

The steel inserts are installed before the skids are bent so their strength is carried forward from the landing gear shoe bolts forward into the upswept portion of the VP, LLc skids. This reinforcement provides the frontal support that is required during surface contact with forward ground speed on landing.

The above photo shows the Stainless Steel skid shoes on the underside of the new VP, LLc skids.

Below are a run of VP, LLc extended skids during production.

 

If you don't already have the VP, LLc's Steel Reinforced Aluminum Extended skids installed on your helicopter, order your set today. Just click this link:

VP, LLc has paid for the design and engineering for every component shown on this web site and holds ownership of all intellectual property for each component