Pilot weight does not impact CofG?

Tech Support
1

When picking up off the ground I expect the 47 to lift the right skid first and then the left, and then hang left skid low in a hover. This should be even more pronounced because the pilot sits on the left.

So I tried upping the pilot weight to 400kg with no co-pilot, and while the helicopter definitely struggles to lift off the ground there is no indication whatsoever that the weight is off-center. Both skids come up perfectly level together. The same result is observed regardless of pilot and/or co-pilot weight.

Edit: Updated attempt with the left fuel tank full and the right one empty in addition to the 400kg pilot. No change. So does fuel not impact CofG either? Or am I just misunderstanding what I am seeing?

2

Thank you for the detailed testing and getting this video together! It looks like at some point we introduced a bug in how our Cg stuff flows through, so we’ll get that fixed shortly.

3

Fuel will self balance in the 47. Granted, not instantly, but by the time the fuel truck has left and you got it started up, it’ll probably be close to level.
I did mention the left skid low issue, but was told that their pilot claims it lands flat.
(which it most certainly doesn’t).

4

Looks pretty flat to me ???

And

And

And a 14 year old landing flat at about 19.55 in.

5

I only looked at the last 2. (I’ve flown GVHA). The last one is flatter, because of the weight difference between the pilot and instructor, but it still lands left skid first. 2nd last one clearly touches down left skid. (And on the heels).
Edit:
1st one is so wobbly that you can’t really tell, 2nd one does look fairly flat, but it’s definitely not typical and it could also be the weight difference between the pilot and the guy in the right seat.
Again, this is helicopter aerodynamics 101. Look up any text book and it’ll tell that US helicopters will hang left skid low unless rigged to compensate for it.

editedit:

Page 15

6

Ahhh but we are only talking an inch or 2 not squirrel (350) low. Our does this quite well imo

Tony

7

It should be a lot more exaggerated with only pilot onboard.
Trust me, you’ll notice and even with 2 onboard you’ll notice it on sloped landings and try to land left skid downslope. (It can mean the difference between being able to land or not!).