Hacker News Reader

Here's what happens when a Blackhawk hits one with it's rotor: https://petapixel.com/2018/01/02/dji-drone-collided-us-army-...

How much do you think that cost to replace? I love my drone as much as the next guy, but someone who flies one next to a helicopter with people in it needs to go to jail.

Edit: Here's a main rotor for an R-44 for $47,000... https://m.ebay.com/itm/R44-Robinson-Helicopter-Main-Rotor-Bl...

View on HN

That's serious damage. I'm a pilot but not an engineer, I would not fly an aircraft with that kind of damage without A&P consult, and there's a decent chance only ferry flight would be legal if it were flight worthy at all.

The centrifugal force stress at the hub (root) of a blade is thousands of times the weight of the blade. Easily there's tens to hundreds of tons of force "trying" to pull the blade apart and this not so little nick, makes that much more likely to succeed.

Also a black hawks blades are probably going to be significantly stronger than those on an r44.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com