A short instructional YouTube video by Kenny Keller demonstrating how to engage and disengage the rotor system on an Enstrom F28F helicopter. Keller emphasizes gentle, precise handling of the instrument rotor engagement lever, provides step-by-step motions (including specific RPM targets), and advises practicing the procedure off-aircraft or before flight to avoid difficulties.
Questions this video answers
Enstrom F28F
Kenny Keller
1500 RPM
1200 RPM
100 (rotor RPM)
Chapters
Now, right here, what I want to show you is the instrum rotor engagement lever in the instrum F28F. And the point I want to make here is I get big, strong brute men in here that want to menhandle this thing and. And they make it really difficult to engage. So if you remember a few little tips, basically, when your first check is to make sure that the rotor is disengaged, this V part will be touching the floor. So when you get ready to engage the rotor system, of course you're using a checklist. You come up just a few inches until you fill a spot where it can lock in. You can see it happens real easy. If you're manhandling it, it doesn't want to go. You got to do it nice and gentle. Once you get it in there, basically the process is we start raising this nice and slow. We'll be at 1500 on our engine RPM and we'll start raising it nice and slow till we bring the engine RPM down to 1200. Then once we're at 1200, we just hold it in place, let the rotor RPM build up to 100. Once we're there, we go ahead and fully engage the rotor system. So you got to pull it all the way back right here. You got to give it kind of a good pull. But the next trick is, once you have it there, guys still want to manhandle it. If you just pull it up real nice and gentle, it pops up out of its lock, goes back down to the floor. Now that it's engaged, the whole part of the lever will be touching the floor. That means you're engaged. So if you're ever any question about the light, is it working? Is it not working? That's how you can tell. So then to disengage it again, don't manhandle it. Just do it nice and gentle. Bring it up to the top, work it down till it clicks in, and then push it forward. Be ready for a pop like that. Comes down and catches there. And you gently pull it out, let it back down. The V's touching the floor. So again, I've seen it a million times. Guys struggle with this thing because they get too rough with it. You just gotta know how to use it, be familiar with it, and mess around with it when you're. Before you go, actually go out to fly for the day. So instead of having the stress of going through the checklist and the engines running and your instructor's watching you, just bring it up nice and gentle, click it in, bring it up until you get the rotor open where you want, engage it, take it back to the floor, then when you're done, back up all the way to the top, pop it forward, back down the floor, and there you go.