[ Club Chachapoya ] Rotorhead

[PhrogPhlyer]

This thread is a continuation of discussions on sim helicopter flying for all sim versions. Please post questions, answers, ideas, link, complaints, suggestions, techniques, screenshots, whatever here. If it has a rotor, it belongs in this thread.

 

All comments concerning flight techniques, rules, airspace and similar, are intended for flight sim application only and are not for use in real flying. 

[PhrogPhlyer]

Some of posts from the [ Club Chachapoya ] Meigs or Bust thread.

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  On 4/3/2024 at 6:58 AM, MAD1 said:

Why do helicopter pilots sit on the right?

 

My response:

 

Because it's the "right" thing to do!

 

Actually, it has to do with history, engineering and arm strength,

The collective was developed to give you mechanical advantage to lift the swash plate, long before hydraulic or electrical actuators were used.

So with the cyclic (the stick) in your right hand as with an airplane, and placing the collective close to directly under the center of rotation/swash plates (with some cables and pullies to adjust for actual seat position), you could pull up on the collective with your left hand/arm.

The Sikorsky R-4 had a single collective centered between the two seats, and again, the pilot with a normal cyclic position (in your right hand) became to PIC.

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ViperPilot2 posted

 

Courtesy of Sergeant Harley Rumbaugh:

 

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A great source of info is Helisimmer.com

https://www.helisimmer.com/how-to-fly-helicopters

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On 4/3/2024 at 6:58 AM, MAD1 said:

Why do helicopter pilots sit on the right?

 

Ruperts respose:

 

It's because of the mechanics of the chopper.  The Collective (the lever on your left) raises and lowers all rotor blades the same amount by raising the stationary swash plate equally so it requires by far, the most leverage.  By setting the pilot on the right, the linkage from the collective lever is almost straight up to the swash plate making the extra leverage needed, more practical to apply. 

 

With all blades set at the same angle for a full rotation, the aircraft should hover. Having said that, a single main rotor aircraft would rotate in the opposite direction from the rotation of the main rotor because of the torque involved.  Thus at low speed or hover you need another force to prevent unwanted aircraft rotation.  On a single main rotor craft you often have a smaller side mounted tail rotor to cancel out the torque spin, 

 

However with a dual main rotor aircraft torque rotation isn't nearly so much of an issue because the main rotors rotate in opposite directions from each other so the torque reaction is cancelled out.

 

The Cyclic (what you might  call the joy stick) raises and lowers only parts of the swash plate(s) on the fore and aft planes and side planes to lessen or increase the blade pitch depending where the blades are in their rotation to make the aircraft go forward, aft, or sideways.  Since the Cyclic needs much less power to make these changes, the linkage doesn't need to be nearly as straight as that of the Collective. 

  

On a multiple main rotor aircraft you move the plane forward by using more rotor tilt on the aft rotor than the forward one and vice-versa.  Hover is with both rotors pulling equal load,  

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On 4/4/2024 at 2:50 PM, jgf said:

Throttle is the collective and stick the cyclic, rudder (pedals or twist grip) is the tail rotor

 

My response:

 

Absolutely correct.

For flight simming with a helicopter it is less important whether you have a throttle or collective, anti-torque (rudder) pedals or twist grip, or any of the various control peripherals that you can purchase, and more important that you move those controls SLOWLY and SMOOTHLY.

 

I recommend that you find someplace with good visual cues (straight lines are best) and lift slowly into a hover.

Pan back in VC to get the most visual width, and initially don't get hung up on RPM, torque or other details.

Just work on lifting into a low hover (3-5 ft.), maintaining the hover, landing from the hover and repeat.

 

Then progress to small forward, lateral, and back ward movements. Returning to the stable hover after each move.

 

Then slow air taxi in the area, returning to the stable hover, and landing.

 

Once you are relatively comfortable in the hover/hover taxi environment, then you can move onto translating to forward flight.

 

I suggest you do this on a long runway (the long straight visual cue helps).

Lift into a stable hover, apply slight forward cyclic (stick) and accelerate into forward flight.

Then slow down (apply back cyclic while decreasing power) and descend to a stable hover (add power as enter the hover.

Then land from the hover and repeat (longer the runway, the more times you can repeat.

 

After a few time back and forth down the runway, then take the helo around the pattern.

Airspeed will be the hardest thing to visualize, so ensure the airspeed indicator is visible.

 

I'm putting together a brief to include some pics that hopefully will help.

 

Do not get frustrated, none of us did well at this the first time, even with many real helo hours.

 

Good luck.

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Spencer NOLF (NRQ) and KNDZ NAS Whiting (South) are good places to practice helo flying.

Check to see if there are any scenery enhancements for your sim version.

Here is Spencer with FSX addon scenery.

 

 

 

 

If you want NAS Whiting and Spencer NOLF here is the link:

 

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ViperPilot2 stated:

Try the Hover Gauge; it'll give you a whole appreciation for slow speed and Hover. With it I can put the Skids on the 'X' about 70% of the time. I have Bjorn Buchtner's Hughes 500D; it has lines in the Aircraft.cfg for Turboprop, Turbine AND Jet Engine parameters, while the Nemeth MD500E-G uses Turboprop Engine parameters!

 

Like I said... all over the map. I'll tell you; sitting there for an hour and a half hand flying a Helo with no Trim, AP or stick centering is an exercise in attentiveness, eyes glued to the VSI.

[PhrogPhlyer]

ViperPilot2 said:

There's a great Helo Training Scenery for Nine that has a Tower with lots of elevated Platforms, Trailers on the Tarmac to land on, and various Helipads all over the area, along with the Hana Airport (PHHN) in Hawai'i. The folks at the now defunct HoverControl site created this Scenery for their Training program. 

I do remember having this loaded when I was running FS9.

It is a good add-on for helicopter training.

 

To all aspiring sim helicopter pilots, a word of caution, don't get ahead of yourself.

Consistency with basics, hovering, landing from a hover, small positional adjustments in the hover, air taxi, turns and side slides at low speed, all these mundane repetitive tasks are essential to be able to land with minimal visual cues.

Please, don't rush this critical part of your skill set.

Landing on various objects and platforms, on pinnacles and slopes, will make more sense and be much easier to master with these basic skills solidified.

Periodically I still go to Spence NOLF and fly basic ground maneuvers, hover turns, turns around the nose, turns around the tail, flying a square box taxi pattern, doing the same with constant heading, repeating the same IGO or OGE (in or out of ground effect). Without this practice, I can see my finer skills do diminish.

Flying a helicopter is more of a finessed art than flying a fixed-wing.

Remember, "Flying is heavenly, to hover divine."

[ViperPilot2]

Maybe I should not have recommended it then... 

[TomPenDragon]

10 minutes ago, ViperPilot2 said:

Maybe I should not have recommended it then... 

If you're talking about the HoverControl training scenery, I think it's a good recommendation.  I'm really glad to see it survive here when so much of that great library seems to have been lost.  One does not need the scenery to learn whirlybirds; neither does one need to use the platforms and everything until they're ready.  If someone like PhrogPhlyer (how many rotary-wing hours do you have in your logbooks between RL and FS, Dick?) feels the need to practice basic maneuvers from time to time, it's probably a good idea to take his suggestion to not get ahead of ourselves.  If I want to relax and have fun (at this point in my flying journey), I'll grab something fixed-wing.  I'll only get in a helicopter now if I'm ready to work and learn.  Guess what?  It's like having a whole new sim, after two decades of FS2004.

 

"It was 20 years ago today,

ACES gave us a new sim to play..."

 

(Apologies to John and Paul...)

[PhrogPhlyer]

1 hour ago, TomPenDragon said:

If you're talking about the HoverControl training scenery, I think it's a good recommendation.  I'm really glad to see it survive here when so much of that great library seems to have been lost.  One does not need the scenery to learn whirlybirds; neither does one need to use the platforms and everything until they're ready.  If someone like PhrogPhlyer (how many rotary-wing hours do you have in your logbooks between RL and FS, Dick?) feels the need to practice basic maneuvers from time to time, it's probably a good idea to take his suggestion to not get ahead of ourselves.  If I want to relax and have fun (at this point in my flying journey), I'll grab something fixed-wing.  I'll only get in a helicopter now if I'm ready to work and learn.  Guess what?  It's like having a whole new sim, after two decades of FS2004.

Yes the HoverContol training scenery is good, and has its place, but not for initial training. It is in the medium skill level range.

 

I have around 2500 real RW hours and well in excess of that between FS2004 and FSX.

I'd say flying a helicopter is more like riding a unicycle while an airplane is a Harley or Indian.

So keeping up on basic skills is essential.

And I do love the overall view I get with a Bell-47 while sight seeing around the world.

Both RW and FW have their place, Just don't try to land a 747 in your new helo-pad.

[PhrogPhlyer]

2 hours ago, ViperPilot2 said:

Maybe I should not have recommended it then.

Excellent recommendation, just not for initial training. In my opinion.

[ViperPilot2]

56 minutes ago, PhrogPhlyer said:

Excellent recommendation, just not for initial training. In my opinion.

 

I didn't think about that one iota, especially given the nature of your Thread. That was my bad.

 

Apologies, everyone!

[taoftedal]

Oh my ... 'Houston ... we have a problem ... '

 

 

[PhrogPhlyer]

7 hours ago, taoftedal said:

"Any landing you walk away from ins a good one!

[jgf]

In my case - any landing you survive is a good one.

[PhrogPhlyer]

So, you want to be a Rotorhead...

 

Step 1 - Selecting your first helicopter.

 

Some thoughts when selecting a helicopter to focus on basic helicopter skills (ground maneuvers).

 

The biggest drawback to any PC based sim helicopter, compared to an actual helicopter, has nothing to do with the programing of flight dynamics, or the number or sophistication of gauges or autopilot/FMS, it is simply the lack of visual cues when looking outside the cockpit.

 

The helicopter pilot uses so many subtle visual cues for aircraft movement. When in the hover, while hover taxiing, when transitioning from the hover to forward flight, and when transitioning from forward flight to the landing, peripheral vision plays a predominant role in acquiring those movement cues.

 

With the sim, peripheral cues are all but non-existent. The best we can do is pan back while using the virtual cockpit (VC), accepting a loss of panel detail to gain more outside visual width.

 

So, starting with the premise of "the more outside view the better" let's take a look at a wide selection of available helicopters and discuss their plusses and minuses for outside visual primarily while in ground effect (IGE). When out of ground effect (OGE) or while in forward flight, just as in a fixed wing aircraft, ground visual references play less of a role and aircraft position in reference to the horizon takes the lead. The following pictures are to give you an idea of the broad differences that exist in cockpit visibility with several helicopters.

 

Let's first look at helicopters that are often used for primary flight training. These being the Bell 47, Hughes/Schweizer 300, and Robinson R-22.

 

One can clearly see that the B-47, H/S-300, and R-22 offer exceptional visibility due to their large amount of unobstructed plexiglass surrounding the pilot.

 

 

 

When we consider helicopters that are often used for intermediate/advanced flight training we look to the Bell 206 JetRanger and the Aérospatiale Alouette III.

Both these aircraft offer good visibility in addition to good VFR/IFR instrument panels.

 

 

 

The remainder of the examples are corporate, utility, or military helicopters with much less visibility, but with other strengths such as maneuverability, payload capacity, IFR and/or icing certification, or similar capabilities. Some have strong IFR panels with FMS and/or autopilot.

 

In sim flying these aircraft allow for flying various real-world scenarios (EMS, Combat, Firefighting) an flying to destination using the IFR route structure.

Agusta Westland EC135, Agusta Westland EH101, Bell H-1 Huey, Bell AH-1S Cobra, Bell 412, Eurocopter AS332, Eurocopter EC135, Hughes OH-6, and Silorsky S-55.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My recommendation is to initially fly smaller, less "capable" helicopters that favor good outside visibility. The less systems the better. And if it is perceived as a hard aircraft to hover, stick with it. If you can master ground reference maneuvers in this, anything else becomes easy. And don't worry about reciprocating vs turbine because, with very few exceptions, these will fly the same utilizing a governor to maintain rotor RPM with increase of power.

 

Note: My comments in this thread will be used in developing an article taking an in-depth look at sim helicopter flying for the beginner.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Bossspecops]

Which particular 'Hover Gauge' works best for helicopters? Rob Barendregt does a whole heap of such gauges, most for VSTOL fixed wing aircraft or V-22 tilt rotors and I'm not sure which would be best for a chopper.

 

I've had lots of success with his stuff, particularly with FS9 Harrier GR5s and Sea Harriers, so I'd like to see what he can do with chopper flight. 

[ViperPilot2]

53 minutes ago, Bossspecops said:

Which particular 'Hover Gauge' works best for helicopters? Rob Barendregt does a whole heap of such gauges, most for VSTOL fixed wing aircraft or V-22 tilt rotors and I'm not sure which would be best for a chopper.

 

I've had lots of success with his stuff, particularly with FS9 Harrier GR5s and Sea Harriers, so I'd like to see what he can do with chopper flight. 

 

There's one Rob made specifically for Choppas; it's here somewhere but this place's File Search parameters are so bolloxed up it's a surprise anyone finds what they're looking for... Here it is at AVSIM:

 

https://library.avsim.net/search.php?SearchTerm=rcbhhc22.zip&CatID=root&Go=Search

 

I have it installed in every helicopter I have, and it works great. With it I spent a half hour tooling around the taxiways yesterday at 10 feet off the ground and 5 kts. following the lines on the Taxiway. I steer better in a Helicopter on the Taxiway than I ever did in an airplane!

 

Yes, it's sort of a 'cheat' Code, but someone in another Forum thread here once said that any enhancement that increases your enjoyment of the Sim overall is a good thing. So, I'm sticking with it.

[Bossspecops]

1 hour ago, ViperPilot2 said:

 

There's one Rob made specifically for Choppas; it's here somewhere but this place's File Search parameters are so bolloxed up it's a surprise anyone finds what they're looking for... Here it is at AVSIM:

 

https://library.avsim.net/search.php?SearchTerm=rcbhhc22.zip&CatID=root&Go=Search

 

I have it installed in every helicopter I have, and it works great. With it I spent a half hour tooling around the taxiways yesterday at 10 feet off the ground and 5 kts. following the lines on the Taxiway. I steer better in a Helicopter on the Taxiway than I ever did in an airplane!

 

Yes, it's sort of a 'cheat' Code, but someone in another Forum thread here once said that any enhancement that increases your enjoyment of the Sim overall is a good thing. So, I'm sticking with it.

 

That's great, thanks so much, I've download it now. 

 

I agree about the search function here, it's like wading through treacle sometimes!

[Sirrus]

I do not know what Alp you have been hiding behind, but the World Trade Center twin towers, as shown in your post...

...were destroyed in an infamous terrorist attack on September 11th 2001.

The fact that you choose to put these on a thread where there are people who lost friends and colleagues shows very poor taste, and you should remove them.

[PhrogPhlyer]

2 hours ago, Sirrus said:

The fact that you choose to put these on a thread where there are people who lost friends and colleagues

I spent 6 months at the WTC pit during the clean-up. One of the most humbling and solemn periods of my life.

Should one wish to include them in screenshots, please be respectful and at least state that maybe the pics are older, or that one is intending to showcase the grandeur that is now lost.

 

[jgf]

45 minutes ago, Airbasil_1 said:

my FS9 luckily provides me the possibility to do whatever the heck I want to do with

 

It is just like building models.  If you build a model of a WWII German aircraft, you put a swastika on it.  That is not an endorsement of anything, it is merely historical accuracy.

[PhrogPhlyer]

57 minutes ago, Airbasil_1 said:

(which in your mind, should be deleted immediately

I never made any such statement, nor did I say you should not post the Twin Towers.

My only point is to consider that we have people from all over the world, with all kinds of experiences and sensitivities.

jgf's example of the swastika is an excellent example. I too have it on many WWII aircraft, and personally do not display them here except with a historical context, such as if I showed Hanna  Reitsch flying the Focke-Achgelis Fa 61 inside the Deutschlandhalle. There is no way to recreate that event in FS without the correct aircraft paint scheme.

[jgf]

You might also like the old Canadian TV series "Mayday", currently being shown on Quest TV but I believe also available on DVD.  Each episode covers an airplane crash and the subsequent investigation;  the oldest I've seen is the 1955 collision over the Grand Canyon, more recent are incidents early this century.

[MAD1]

Finally found and caught up with this thread. My comments:

1. This is a very good thread, and thanks all for the tutorials on how to fly a chopper. For me, it is a totally unknown art. So have learnt heaps already from reading what's been posted so far. (Whilst for awhile I won't be active in the sim, is broken, but I do and can enjoy reading stuff.)

2. Posts that might upset people, especially historical references (textual, graphical etc.). All comments so far about this in this thread are valid in my opinion. I think the main thing guys, as has been said, is to think twice before posting something, and to preface something with a warning, as has been done, and finally, not get into a 'flame war' about any of it. If someone objects, take it on the chin, don't try and justify, and move on. The thread theme is the main thing, i.e. helicopters, RW and sim.

3. Re 'Air Crash Investigations'. I also think I've seen all episodes. As a 'systems man', i.e. computer systems (IT degree) and in my working life, the episodes are very educational about when something goes wrong. Indeed, per standard systems knowledge, it generally isn't a single, catastrophic failure of something, but mostly a series of little errors, mistakes, failures, physical breakages, that each by itself wouldn't have caused the crash, but the sequence and series of them, all stacking up, lead to the crash. I don't like the episodes where people die in the crash, I prefer the episodes where everyone survives. But I do still watch all. That is reality, it happened. The important thing is how can that type of event be prevented from happening again. (For a modern set of examples, the Boeing Max aircraft, and what has possibly deteorated in that company's corporate mindset, leading to their quality assurance and safety systems programmes, is disturbing. Re this, I've just done a Google search for an update on the 787 Dreamliner flight Mon 11 March 2024 from Sydney to Auckland that had a massive drop in altitude. It was on our TV news, but nothing heard since. Here's the latest. (Don't reply to this item, as this thread is about helicopters). https://www.voanews.com/a/black-boxes-seized-after-technical-failure-on-boeing-made-latam-plane-/7523986.html " 'Black swan event' Passenger Brian Jokat said he spoke to one of the pilots after the plane touched down. "I asked him 'what happened?' and he said to me 'I lost my instrumentation briefly and then it just came back all of a sudden'," the passenger told national broadcaster Radio New Zealand." Brian Jokat, Canadian, speaks on this YouTube video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_WLUs0wB34)

 

[PhrogPhlyer]

21 hours ago, MAD1 said:

For me, it is a totally unknown art. So have learnt heaps already from reading what's been posted so far.

 

21 hours ago, MAD1 said:

The thread theme is the main thing, i.e. helicopters, RW and sim.

 

Absolutely.

I would hope that the majority of these posts will be aimed at enhancing everyone's ability to competently fly helicopters in the PC sim world, and to understand the marked differences between RW and FW sim flying.

Take it low and slow.

Be patient and don't get frustrated.

Practice, practice, practice.

The best part of helicopter flying is the view. You can take time to stop and smell the roses.

[Bossspecops]

20 hours ago, Airbasil_1 said:

Btw. does anyone still have the Oil/Gas rig Offshore Plattform Scenery for FS9 which has been shared once on FS-ODG and is gone now? 
I'd love to have this Scenery in my FS9... so if anyone still has it, please share! Thanks a ton! 

For reference; FS-ODG Oil & Gas Rig Scenery FS9

 

I think I still have that wonderful package archived somewhere. I'll have a look see. 

 

We used it a lot in my Albion SpecOps days, flying oil rig support contracts on behalf of various organisations. 

[PhrogPhlyer]

21 hours ago, Airbasil_1 said:

Btw. does anyone still have the Oil/Gas rig Offshore Plattform Scenery for FS9

I was unable to locate this package or any other for FS9 that have oil rigs.

There are several currently available for FSX.

 

Within the intent of this thread, primarily aimed at learning to fly a helicopter, I offer a word of caution.

Helicopter flying requires much more utilization of outside references than flying an airplane.

I would ensure that one is quite competent at picking up subtle cues for position and speed in translational flight before attempting oil rig flying.

This is very similar to attempting to land on a carrier, something most do not attempt while learning to fly sim airplanes.

 

Eventually, oil rigs, mountain pinnacles, roof tops and other small locations, are what set helicopter flying apart from airplane.

[PhrogPhlyer]

FLIGHT TRAINING MANEUVERS - LOW WORK

 

Let’s start with basic maneuvers. These maneuvers form the foundation skills required of a helicopter pilot. Follow-on stages of the syllabus will build on these skills and require greater precision. It is imperative you develop a keen knowledge of the procedures and an almost effortless ability to execute the maneuvers contained in this section.

 

The first maneuvers discussed will become second nature as a helicopter pilot. You will maneuver the helicopter in close proximity to the ground. Remain ever vigilant when you are at the controls at or near the ground.

 

VERTICAL TAKEOFF

Figure 1 Vertical Takeoff

 

A vertical takeoff enables the pilot to transition from the ground to a 5-foot hover in ground effect.

 

The vertical takeoff is the most common type of takeoff and should be used whenever possible. A vertical takeoff can be accomplished whenever the helicopter is capable of hovering with the skids three to ten feet above the ground. The helicopter is lifted from the ground, without drift, to a height of approximately five feet from the skids to the ground.

 

Procedures

1.      Controls in the neutral position.

a.       Neutralize the controls, collective full down

2.      Conduct Takeoff Check before lifting. Establish the hover scan.

a.       The pilot shall check the caution panel and instruments prior to every vertical takeoff:

b.      “Nf and Nr are 100%” = check Nf and Nr are 100%.

c.       “Gauges are green” = take the time to ensure all gauges are in the normal operation range.

d.      “Caution panel is clean” = check for caution lights.

e.       “Fuel is _____ gallons” = check fuel load.

f.        “Clear, left, right and above” = clear the aircraft before lifting.

g.      Before takeoff to a hover, check carefully for any nearby obstructions forward, rearward, and to the sides.

3.      Smoothly apply upward pressure to the collective until light on the skids.

a.       When aircraft starts to tilt, or yaw it is light in the skids.

4.      Stabilize momentarily.

a.       Anticipate right yaw right due to increased torque effect.

b.      Anticipate right drift due to increased translating tendency from added tail rotor pitch.

c.       Hold the collective constant at this point.

d.      Maintain your position over the ground with cyclic, and a “down” scan.

e.       Maintain heading with pedals and an “out” scan.

5.      Smoothly raise the collective to leave the ground.

a.       Eliminate drift with cyclic and a “down” scan.

b.      Maintain a constant heading with a slight adjustment on the pedals and an “out scan.”

c.       Line up an object near the helicopter and one farther away and direct attention to the front of the aircraft to maintain a constant heading when departing the ground.

6.      Continue to raise the collective to reach hover altitude.

a.       A small collective reduction will be just prior to hover altitude to slow rate of climb.

b.      Approaching hover altitude, prioritize attitude, using light cyclic pressures and the “out” scan. Think of the whole windshield as a large attitude indicator. Scanning “down” too much degrades fine control of attitude. Peripheral vision offers depth perception and detects small movements of the aircraft.

7.      Reaching an altitude of five feet, Stabilize and Trim out control pressures.

a.       Use the hover scan to obtain the hover attitude and maintain it.

b.      Maintain position of the controls to hold a stable hover.

c.       Make small, precise applications of pressures and movements as necessary. Position over the ground is accomplished by making fine attitude changes, not by gross movements.

 

NOTES

1. In a no-wind hover, it will be necessary to set a left skid down attitude to overcome the translating tendency of the tail rotor. Because of this, the helicopter will take off back right skid first and land front left skid first.

 

2. In a transition to flight, lift is roughly equal to weight and the helicopter is very susceptible to wind gusts.

 

Common Errors

1.      Failure to maintain heading. This is usually caused by task-saturation or neglecting “out” scan.

2.      Erratic ascent due to improper collective control applications. Possibly caused by:

a.       Over controlling

b.      Neglecting down scan

c.       Improper collective friction setting

d.      Not anticipating level off

3.      Allowing helicopter to drift. Possibly caused by:

a.       Over controlling

b.      Neglecting down scan

4.      Allowing excessive roll during liftoff. Lateral cyclic inputs that do not counter drift can lead to dynamic rollover.

 

 

HOVER

 

Hovering is a maneuver in which the helicopter is maintained in nearly motionless flight over a reference point with constant heading and altitude. Hovering is the unique flight characteristic giving the helicopter its versatility and capability, and the maneuver used to perform the majority of helicopter missions.

Figure 2 Hover Scan

 

 

Procedures

1.      Use pedals “Out” scan to maintain attitude and heading.

a.       Use an object or tree in the distance as a focal point but soften your gaze to allow peripheral vision to collect as wide a field as possible.

2.      Use collective and “Down” scan to maintain altitude (five feet).

3.      Use cyclic and “Down” scan to maintain a position over a reference point.

a.       Looking too close or down for too long degrades attitude and generates overcontrolling.

b.      To remain over a certain point, you should know where the point is, but attention should not be focused on that point for an extended period.

4.      Scan “In” for Nr, and engine instruments.

 

Amplification and Technique

1.      When first learning to hover, stress the “Out and Down” scan, vice “Out, Down, and In”.

2.      All control corrections should be small pressure changes rather than abrupt movements.

a.       The most common fault is over controlling. Abrupt and erratic cyclic movements will make a stable hover impossible. A relatively constant collective (power) setting will enable smoother yaw and cyclic corrections.

3.      A hover altitude of five feet (skid height above the ground) is utilized to provide approximately six feet of tail stinger to ground clearance and ample tail rotor clearance for maneuvering at hovering and taxiing altitude.

4.      To maintain a hover over a point, look for small changes in the helicopter's attitude and altitude by scanning some distance from the aircraft, using various points on the helicopter or the tip-path plane as a reference. Make timely, small control inputs before the helicopter starts to move from the point.

 

Common Errors and Safety Notes

1.      Over controlling, (i.e., larger inputs than necessary).

2.      Allowing excessive nose high attitudes at low altitude. Which may cause the tail rotor to impact the ground.

3.      Fixating through the chin bubble or staring rather than driving “out, down, and in” scan.

4.      Failure to maintain:

a.       Altitude.

b.      Position over a reference point.

c.       Heading.

5.      Too tense on controls.

 

VERTICAL LANDING

 

A vertical landing enables the pilot to land from a hover. Land the helicopter by maintaining the hover attitude and smoothly lowering the collective until the skids come into contact with the ground and the weight is smoothly transferred from the rotor to the skids.

 

Procedures

1.      Apply slight downward pressure on the collective to begin a slow rate of descent.

a.       Begin stabilized in a five-foot hover and heading into the wind.

2.      Use pedals to maintain heading and cyclic to eliminate drift.

a.       If you have the correct attitude, the helicopter will not drift, so constantly correct to the proper level attitude.

3.      The rate of descent may slow or stop as the helicopter nears the ground. Continue the descent with slight collective pressure until ground contact is made.

a.       This tendency is due to the increased influence of ground effect with the decrease in distance between the rotor system and the ground.

b.      Do not over control the cyclic at this point.

c.       Maintain the “out” portion of your scan. Continue the descent with slight downward collective pressure.

4.       When on the ground, smoothly lower the collective to the full down position.

a.       Adjust cyclic as necessary to prevent any tendency to drift as the skid gear conforms to the ground plane.

b.      Apply anti-torque pedal as necessary to maintain heading.

c.       Do not attempt to lower the collective rapidly after the skids are on the ground. The landing is not complete until the collective is fully down.

NOTE

In a no-wind condition, it will be necessary to displace the cyclic to the left to overcome the anti-torque thrust from the tail rotor and prevent the aircraft from drifting right. Because of this, the helo will take off right skid first and land left skid first.

 

Amplification and Technique

1.      The pilot should stay as relaxed as possible. Make smooth and timely corrections.

2.      Constantly cross check all visual reference points. Hover the helicopter by maintaining a constant attitude. Fly by pressures on the controls and not a movement of the controls. A series of small corrections are better than one large correction.

 

Common Errors

1.      Over controlling collective pitch control. Do not immediately pull up on the collective after lowering.

2.      Improper use of cyclic control, allowing aircraft to slide over the ground after contact.

3.      Improper use of anti-torque pedals, allowing the nose of the aircraft to yaw.

4.      Avoid landing the helicopter with any drift. Lateral drift on touchdown can lead to dynamic rollover. Rearward drift can result in tail rotor strike. Forward drift is not desired.

5.      Failure to maintain the hover scan (i.e., allowing scan to come in too close to the aircraft and staring through the chin bubble).

6.      “Feeling” for the ground with collective. Remember, every landing should be a surprise.

7.      Anticipating ground contact and lowering collective too quickly, resulting in a firm landing. Remember, if you have done it right, you will barely feel it.

 

TURN ON THE SPOT/CLEARING TURN

 

Maneuver Description. A turn on the spot is a maneuver in which the helicopter is rotated about its vertical axis while maintaining a position over a reference point.

 

Application. Turns on the spot and clearing turns enable the pilot to clear the area prior to each takeoff, to change the direction of taxi, and to improve their control coordination.

 

Figure 4-3 Pedal Turn

 

Procedures

1.      From a hover, begin a slow turn by displacing the appropriate pedal.

2.      As the helicopter turns, adjust the cyclic as necessary to remain over the reference point and pedals as necessary to control the rate of turn.

a.       Pitch the cyclic into the wind. The turn is accomplished with pedals, however, the cyclic needs to be coordinated.

3.      Stop the turn on the desired new heading.

 

Right 90 degrees

 

Right 180 degrees

 

Right 270 degrees

 

Right 360 degrees

 

You can see using down scan that the ground painted circle remained nearly constant relative to chip bubble and door reference points.

 

Amplification and Technique

1.      Wind, gusts, and turbulence require consideration. With wind 15 KTS off the nose, to remain over a selected spot, you must tilt the rotor disc into the wind enough to counter the drag; the aircraft is flying forward at 15 KTS through the air mass, but stationary over the ground.

a.       Setting the tail into the wind, the aircraft must fly backwards at 15 KTS through the air mass to remain at 0KTS groundspeed over your selected spot.

2.      The cyclic roughly parallels the lift vector of the rotor. Consider the resultant lift of the main rotor an extension of the cyclic grip. As the aircraft turns, the tilt of the cyclic must trace a small circle at the same rate the aircraft turns, but in the opposite direction.

3.      Compared to the tip path plane, the fuselage will not tilt nearly as much. The horizon may cut through the windshield at roughly the same level all the way around in a hovering turn, on a no wind day. The fuselage will tip nose down appreciably when wind comes from the tail.

4.      Direction of turn and rate of turn are controlled directly by the pedals. A good technique is to clear the area visually for your turn, then look ahead toward the horizon before you start the turn. Accomplish the turn by applying pedal pressure in the direction desired, lightly and smoothly, with both feet on the pedals to prevent over controlling. Constant, small changes in pressures regulate the rate of turn, which is affected by the wind.

 

0

Figure 4-4 Effect of Wind on Rate of Turn

 

5.      Remember to look “out” toward the horizon to control attitude and rate of turn. Make small corrections in rotor attitude, as necessary, to hold position over the ground.

Do not rush the maneuver.

 

NOTE

As the tail of the helicopter passes through the wind line, the rate of turn will increase and the nose will tend to tuck. Utilize pedals and cyclic as necessary to control the rate of turn and prevent drift.

6.      When the wind exceeds 15 KTS avoid turning more than 90º from the wind line if possible.

7.      The more thought and planning put into it, the better you will understand the forces at work on the helicopter, and the smoother and more controlled your performance will be.

8.      To make a 45º clearing turn, stabilize the helicopter completely after finishing a 45º turn on the spot left and right of course-line. Clear yourself of other traffic. A full 360º clearing turn is performed in the same manner as the 45º turn, with additional emphasis placed on maintaining a constant five-foot hover and consistent rate of turn. Utilize the normal hover scan.

 

Common Errors

1.      Allowing altitude to change.

2.      Drifting.

3.      Excessive rate of turn.

4.      Maximum winds for 360º turns on the spot are 15 KTS from any quadrant. However, high density altitude significantly influences demand on the tail rotor as a result of increased demand on the main rotor.

5.      A common error is to rotate about the pilot’s seat instead of rotating about the aircraft's vertical axis.

 

Note on reference materials: 

This section is modeled after and uses explanation found in the CNATRA training publications for the TH-57 helicopter, edited for Flight Sim flying.