Helicopter drip pan

A drip pan apparatus for a helicopter having an access opening defined by a depending skirt having at least two straight sides connected by a corner, wherein the corner is defined by an inwardly oriented concave curve such that an extension of the concave curve intersects an extension of at least one straight side at an angle greater than zero degrees, said drip pan apparatus comprising:

• a frame configured to cooperate with the skirt, including the inwardly oriented concave curve, said frame comprising:
• an inwardly-facing first frame corner defined by a first frame corner radius, and
• at least one other inwardly-facing frame corner defined by a frame corner radius that is greater than said first frame corner radius;
• and
• a drip pan for cooperating with said frame, said drip pan comprising:
• a first pan corner defined by a first pan corner radius and configured to cooperate with said first frame corner;
• and
• at least one other corner defined by a pan corner radius that is greater than said first pan corner radius, said at least one other pan corner being configured to cooperate with said at least one other inwardly-facing frame corner.

A drip pan apparatus for covering and sealing a helicopter transmission access opening in a helicopter, the drip pan apparatus comprising:

• a frame adapted to mount to the helicopter transmission access opening, said frame having an inwardly-facing peripheral surface extending around said frame, said inwardly-facing peripheral surface having a first frame corner defined by a first frame corner shape and at least one other frame corner defined by a frame corner shape that differs from said first frame corner shape;
• a drip pan having an outwardly-facing peripheral surface extending around said drip pan, said outwardly-facing peripheral surface having a first pan corner defined by a first pan corner shape and at least one other drip pan corner defined by a drip pan corner shape that differs from said first pan corner shape, wherein said first pan corner cooperates with said first frame corner and said drip pan is configured to be selectively affixed to said frame;
• and
• a seal member operably disposed between said outwardly-facing peripheral surface and said inwardly-facing peripheral surface when said drip pan is affixed to said frame.

In combination:

• a multipassenger helicopter comprising:
• a flight deck;
• a cabin section rearwardly of said flight deck;
• a rotor transmission oriented at least in part above said cabin section;
• and
• a transmission access opening within said cabin section for providing access to said rotor transmission;
• and
• a drip pan apparatus for covering said transmission access opening, said drip pan apparatus comprising:
• a frame adapted to mount to said transmission access opening,
• said frame having an inwardly-facing peripheral surface extending around said frame,
• said inwardly-facing peripheral surface having a first frame corner defined by a first frame corner shape and at least one other frame corner defined by a frame corner shape that is different than said first frame corner shape;
• a drip pan having an outwardly-facing peripheral surface extending around said drip pan,
• said outwardly-facing peripheral surface having a first pan corner defined by a first pan corner shape and at least one other drip pan corner defined by a drip pan corner shape that is different than said first pan corner shape,
• wherein said first pan corner cooperates with said first frame corner and said drip pan is configured to be selectively affixed to said frame;
• and
• an o-ring seal disposed between said inwardly-facing peripheral surface and said outwardly-facing peripheral surface.

A method of installing a drip pan apparatus to a helicopter structure where the helicopter has a rotor transmission and a rotor transmission access opening, the drip pan apparatus comprises a frame having an inwardly-facing peripheral surface having a first frame corner defined by a first frame corner radius, at least one other corner defined by a frame corner radius, and a slot formed therein;

• a drip pan having an outwardly-facing peripheral surface, the outwardly-facing peripheral surface having a first pan corner defined by a first pan corner radius and at least one other pan corner defined by a pan corner radius that is larger than the first pan corner radius, the outwardly-facing peripheral surface having an outwardly-facing peripheral groove;
• a resilient member attached to the drip pan and adapted to cooperate with the slot;
• and a seal member disposed within the outwardly-facing peripheral groove, the method comprising:
• securing the frame to the rotor transmission access opening;
• inserting the drip pan into the frame such that the first pan corner aligns with the first frame corner and the seal member sealingly engages the inwardly-facing peripheral surface against fluid leakage therethrough;
• and
• engaging the slot with the resilient member to detachably secure the drip pan in sealing engagement with the frame.

A method of installing a drip pan apparatus to a helicopter structure where the helicopter has a rotor transmission and a rotor transmission access opening, the method comprising:

• securing a frame to the helicopter structure to define the rotor transmission access opening, the frame having an inwardly-facing peripheral surface and a plurality of frame corners each defined by a frame corner radius, at least one frame corner radius being smaller than an adjacent frame corner radius;
• and
• inserting a drip pan into the frame with a seal member disposed within an outwardly-facing peripheral groove of the drip pan for sealing engagement with the inwardly-facing peripheral surface of the frame,
• wherein inserting further includes orienting the drip pan having a plurality of pan corners, each pan corner having a pan corner radius with a first pan corner radius being smaller than an adjacent pan corner radius, with respect to the frame so as to align the first pan corner with the first frame corner.