Rigging a Helicopter

[Footer]

The entire thing was designed to be picked up at the main rotor when in flight... so why not rig from there.

Adam Savage did a whole thing on how they do it with one of the people that does it... not a ton of info but interesting none the less.

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[Jay Ashworth]

Man! Talk about a point load!

Seems worth pointing out here that the Jesus Nut on a helo *is* the point-load spot; all the non-spinning weight hangs from that spot.

 

[Jay Ashworth]

The above said, yearly inspections and maintenance should catch all of this. I don't know what the protocols are at the Udvar. Especially if they were closed for a couple of years.

Well, if they were closed for a couple years, and did *not* precede the reopening with a complete set of rigging inspections, I'll want heads on my desk on Monday morning.

 

[Benjamin Fink]

Woah, I'd only ever heard "Jesus Nut" in the c-clamp context (and it's not even a nut). I wonder if the term was borrowed from the helicopter context. Not very appropriately as the Jesus Nut on a c-clamp is not a single point of failure. But it does tend to make people blaspheme.

My guess is that it’s a parallel construction, especially since I’ve also heard it affectionately referred to as the F*** nut (I.e. what you say when you skin your knuckles instead of who you pray to when it gives out.)

Although that wouldn’t be the first thing stagehands picked up from the navy. I’ve heard theories that’s where the taboo on whistling came from.

 

[Jay Ashworth]

My guess is that it’s a parallel construction, especially since I’ve also heard it affectionately referred to as the F*** nut (I.e. what you say when you skin your knuckles instead of who you pray to when it gives out.)

Although that wouldn’t be the first thing stagehands picked up from the navy. I’ve heard theories that’s where the taboo on whistling came from.

It's not a parallel construction... We are talking about a helo here, are we not?

It appeared to me that that hoisting point was fastened to the rotor assembly, did I misread the photograph?

 

[Benjamin Fink]

Oh no, parallel construction of the two uses of Jesus nut. (I.e. the phrase was developed by helicopter pilots and lighting techs separately.)

To take the thread even further from the original topic, it’s like how nature evolved crabs about five separate times.

 

[gafftaper]

It appeared to me that that hoisting point was fastened to the rotor assembly, did I misread the photograph?

Maybe. From my point of view my thought was that the cable was secured to the chopper internally and then routed around and through the rotor. But I was far from close up.

 

[videographer]

I'm right there with you on the need for redundancy in our work, but helicopters are no strangers to single points of failure: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_nut. (I much prefer the Jesus nut on a C-Clamp that just skins your knuckles when it gives out.)

I've heard it put that airplanes want to fly, but helicopters are just so loud and ugly that the earth repels them.

Or: You can trim an airplane to fly itself, but a helicopter is always trying to kill you.