Does any one know of an aftermarket rotor assembly to build the CH-46 with the rotors folded? Or, some useful pics so I can see how the rotors folded for carrier stowage. Thanks.
Cobra Company makes an interior detail set but nothing exterior rotor related.
Go to the primary user to get the best pics! Search on CH-46…more that 600 images available download the ones that work best for your needs.
http://www.navy.mil/view_photos_top.asp
I found this one in just a few seconds…the hi res version is even larger and clearer
Also try search for CH-46 Maintenance…
Thanks Hawkeye…I’ll do that.
The rotorheads of the the CH-46 and CH-47 are very similar. To fold the blades the outboard retaining bolt of the lead/lag dampener is removed and then the blade is folded at the vertical hinge pin.
Actually the rotor heads on '46s and '47s are somewhat different.
Hookdriver is correct concerning the blade fold on '47s but on CH-46s the blade dampers have a slightly different set up. The rotor heads on CH-46s are equipped with blade fold motors and “gearing abosorbers” mounted inside the vertical hinge pin.
Blade folding on CH-46s is accomplished by activating a switch in the cockpit that results in the blade folding sequence that takes a little more than a minute (actually there is more to it than that, such as the rotor positioning motor located on the aft vert shaft and a series of micro switches in the flight control closet and segment lighting in the cockpit)…Unless of course there is problem with the wiring harness on the rotor head, or problems with the gearing absorber or balde fold motor. For that reason, I used to use the feature as much as possible to make sure that it worked. It seemed that if it was not used for long periods of time, it wouldn’t work when it was needed.
Man, that’s cool. I had no idea the 46’s had that…pretty neat. Thanks for the info.
Your welcome.
It was quite the eye opener transitioning from working on / crewing CH-46s then going into CH-47s. (And a big difference going from Navair publications to TMs)
There are similiarities between the two such as SAS amps but they are in different places, and none of the hardware, alvionics or dynamic components are interchangeable. The APU is the only item that comes to mind as being common to both aircraft but they are configured differently between the two aircraft.