H-60 cockpit seat well question

[hawkwrench]

I'm getting ready to cut out and make my seat well boxes for the cockpit floor.

This question us for you guys that already have made some. What is the depth of the boxes you guys made?

MM's preferably but standard will work also.

Thanks!

Tim

[HeavyArty]

I don't have the measurement handy, but it should basically be the same depth as the cargo hook well. Any deeper and it will make the floor sit too high.

Edited April 28, 2016 by HeavyArty

[anvil6]

uhhh... measurements? haha i didnt measure mine i just kind of eyeballed it so that they fit when the parts are assembled. after i covered it with the FOD covers, and with the seats blocking out the rest of the light, i cant see much inside there anyways. i can only just make out that there IS an avionics well under there. however, if you are uninstalling the FOD covers and exposing whats underneath, that would be really cool to see!

in summary, i have no answer and i think i just stole forum space for an editorial...

-Ramon

:)

[salvador001]

Hi Tim,

Mines are 8mm depth. They fit perfect when the fuselage is closed.

Rod.

Edited April 28, 2016 by salvador001

[hawkwrench]

Thanks guys for the help. Hopefully I get to work on it this weekend!

Tim

[Rotorman]

Eyeballed mine too

[hawkwrench]

MK1 eyeball it is.

Tim

[adrake83]

I asked one of the 160th crew chiefs about that. He said they always have the covers in place. Without them, the bird is deadlined (isn't allowed to fly).

[anvil6]

I asked one of the 160th crew chiefs about that. He said they always have the covers in place. Without them, the bird is deadlined (isn't allowed to fly).

Yup, we only ever took the covers off if we needed to get in there to mess with the brake cylinders, or to inventory radios and avionics. Otherwise they stayed on. It's silly though because it's not like they sealed off the well. It just kept big FOD from getting in there, like Coke cans, cans of Copenhagen or candy wrappers.

-Ramon

[hawkwrench]

IIRC there are no flight control cables or linkages in there. Just brake mixer stuff and avionics. Just makes you wonder why w/o the covers, the a/c is red x'd.

The 160th flies w/o ceiling soundproofing, but if ours wasn't installed, we couldn't fly.

Go figure!

Talking about red x, I had a MX test pilot come out one day and actually red x the helo for dirty pilots seats. He was a jerk anyway everybody said.

Tim

Edited April 29, 2016 by hawkwrench

[Don]

...Talking about red x, I had a MX test pilot come out one day and actually red x the helo for dirty pilots seats. He was a jerk anyway everybody said.

Tim

Should have offered his highness one of these:

;)

[anvil6]

We had one particular test pilot who was testing the tensile strength of his flight suit on a daily basis. He got on the wrong side of this one crew chief (not me) by writing up stupid stuff like that and breaking his bird regularly, so the crew chief shortened the seat belts on the pilot's seats so he couldn't buckle in. That made the test pilot appear even fatter than he was, and also that pilot eventually avoided flying that crew chief's airplane!

Edited April 30, 2016 by anvil6

[salvador001]

I will build mine without the cover, so ill have to detail all the avionics and electronic boxes and wiring inside the box.

Rod.

[Clinstone]

Air Force H-60's do not fly with the FOD covers in place. Many a map and/or pencils have been dropped down there during flight.

[Par429]

Hey-

The FOD covers can be a safety-of-fight issue (depending on each services' requirement, which can be different). The wells are there in part to provide room for the seats to stroke in a crash landing. If there is FOD in the wells, the seats won't stroke correctly which could adversely affect survivability.

Sometimes the link between the engineering side and the operational side isn't as robust as it should be.

Phil

[CW4 Erick Swanberg]

the depth is to the bottom of the fuselage there are ribs that the equipment sits on it really isnt boxed in at all.

Edited May 2, 2016 by CW4 Erick Swanberg

[Evilspyderman]

Ya we have ours installed but when I was a TI I would never red x the bird for it, with the new seats if you move it the velcro comes un-done so its a futile effort.  They mount in the front with the kick panel so its always there just never actually hooked in the back.  Most pilots stuff all their crap in the seat well anyway because we don't have any radios down there. 

[torchf4]

On ‎4‎/‎30‎/‎2016 at 0:49 AM, hawkwrench said:

IIRC there are no flight control cables or linkages in there. Just brake mixer stuff and avionics. Just makes you wonder why w/o the covers, the a/c is red x'd.

The 160th flies w/o ceiling soundproofing, but if ours wasn't installed, we couldn't fly.

Go figure!

Talking about red x, I had a MX test pilot come out one day and actually red x the helo for dirty pilots seats. He was a jerk anyway everybody said.

Tim

Hahaha we had a test pilot that was way worse! He would cancel test flights for the slightest slights like the line crew not lined up to welcome him or there was the slightest noise on the flightline while he was there i.e. everyone else had to shut down while he was doing his brief until after he took off! God help you if even a single switch was in the wrong posit or the elevator trim wasn't exactly at 8degon the gauge.

 

We would be starting up for low power or comp wash or some other shoot and suddenly the test line crew would bomb burst out of their trailer, cut throating everyone. A couple of times you would see the staff car turn around and head back cos somebody got the signal late or was too slow and he already heard the noise!

 

Granted he was a LT Col and head of the test unit but still... We nicknamed him Emperor. Even his own AF guys don't like him much, famous service wide. USNTPS grad, even used his own personal USN spec flight gear. Must not have much friends the SOB!