1510 W. Drake Drive, Tempe, Arizona USA 85283
Shipping Tips (or Don’t Toss that Crate!)
Once rotor blades have been installed, typically they stay on or very close to the helicopter. But sometimes unforeseen circumstances require the blades to be shipped to another facility for overhaul, repair, painting, or because the blades have been sold separately from the helicopter.
While we know it can be a pain to store rotor blade boxes and crates, we highly recommend that you keep at least one set of rotor blade boxes on hand in case you need to transport the blades individually. Here are a few good reasons to keep those boxes and crates around.
VHA boxes and crates provide the best protection for transporting our blades
Our in-house repair station has received many blades shipped back to the facility in various containers, and by far the VHA boxes and crates provide the best protection for transporting our blades. We ship our blades in specially-designed boxes and crates with foam inserts molded or cut to accommodate the shape and twist of our rotor blades. The Bell boxes and inserts just don’t fit our blades due to the difference in these shapes.
Replacement crates can be expensive
Our main rotor blade crates are built in-house out of sturdy wood materials. As a courtesy, VHA used to ship empty crates to customers who needed to ship blades to us for repair but hadn’t kept their crate boxes. But as the post-Covid price of wood skyrocketed, we found that we could no longer afford to ship more than one set of blade boxes to a customer. We still initially ship out new blades in our sturdy crates, but if a customer needs another crate or two for transporting blades because they threw out the first set of crates, we now charge for the extra crate(s) and shipping charge.
Empty main rotor blade crates make great tables
Ok, this one is meant to be a little funny, but it’s not too far from the truth. Our 206L main rotor blade crate dimensions are 17 inches high by 24 inches wide by 18.2 feet long (.43 x .61 x 5.5 meters). The 206B crates are about two feet shorter. Stack two crates on top of each other and the result is almost three feet high, nearly perfect table height. We often drape tablecloths over stacked main rotor blade crates and use them as tables during company parties. Just make sure the VHA logo is visible somehow so you’ll know where your blade crates are when you need them!
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For 206L LongRanger operators flying P/N 20633000-101 serial numbers A007-A009 or A012-A104, we would like to remind you that these blades are subject to AD 2022-22-08, which requires recurring tap inspections every 400 flight hours or 2,400 engine starts, whichever comes first. You can learn more about the tap test requirements and procedure in our video . These blades are likely to develop a delamination in the area of the weight pocket on the lower surface of the blade. The AD further requires removing the blades from service if the delamination reaches 6 inches in length. However, extensive company testing indicates that all blades will likely achieve their full retirement life before that occurs. So long as the delamination is monitored and does not exceed the permitted length, the blades are entirely safe to fly with no adverse effects on aircraft behavior or performance. Operators are required to report their findings at every inspection interval to VHA for tracking using the form on the last page of Service Bulletin 33000-4 . Completed forms should be emailed to info@vanhornaviation.com . Providing this data helps to ensure all operators of these blades remain safe. All of the identified blades are likely to have delaminations, so if none are detected please contact us for assistance. In addition, this AD is considered an interim action and once sufficient data is gathered it may be updated to reduce the required frequency of inspection. Refer to AD 2022-22-08 and SB 33000-4 for further information.
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