Wednesday, April 28, 2010

What if the Helicopter has Engine Failure?


Don't crash your helicopter! Full Down Engine Off Landing - Autorotation in a Robinson R22

Friends are always asking what happens if your engine quits? You do an autorotation to the ground. In the event of engine failure helicopters can and do glide in what we call an autorotation. In effect we become gyrocopters during the autorotation phase of flight. Have you ever seen a Sycamore leaf spin to the ground? Instead of the engine driving the main rotor the wind drives the rotor. Through tons of practice we develop the skills required to land the machine without engine power. It's an exciting and quick maneuver; a definite test of concentration and reflexes.  Now that I'm going for my CFI (certified flight instructor) rating, I am learning how to do these full down autorotations, which is a required maneuver for the CFI check ride.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Autorotation in the Robinson R44, West of Birchwood, Alaska April 2010


This video seems to run best in 360p or 480p format; you can change this on the bottom right of video panel after you start the video.

I added another video to "My Videos" on You Tube. We were doing a training flight in order to get my PIC (pilot in command) sign off in accordance with SFAR 73 of the FAR in the Robinson R44 Helicopter. I'm doing an autorotation with power recovery West of Birchwood, Alaska.

High Power Job - Arcs and Sparks!


High Power Job - Helicopter Lineman

I like this video - Arcs and Sparks! Being that I was a high-voltage power Lineman in my day, it only makes sense now that I am a helicopter pilot, that I would be flying these linemen up high to do their job. We'll see what the future holds...

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Helicopter Pilot, will travel by Keith Gill

Helicopter Pilot, will travel by Keith Gill
How many ways to say goodbye can one man fit in a nomad life?” – Bruce Cockburn

Okay now here’s a guy you can learn a whole hell of a lot from! Keith Gill. His blog proves it doesn’t have to be a Vietnam helicopter memoir to be interesting. He has a humorous and interesting writing style. Keith started flying helicopters in 1975 and has flown just about everything in the helicopter inventory, and has flown as a civilian pilot throughout his career. He’s had almost every possible helicopter type job to fly; right now he’s helicopter firefighting - flying what they term I.A. (initial attack) using the Erickson Air Crane (helitanker) and in Greece no less. As they say, “It’s a simple program, get to the fire and put it out.”

I just spent the last couple of days reading through Keith’s blog site, and there are still quite a few posts I haven’t read. I know I should be studying for the CFI check ride, but this stuff is interesting. There’s a wealth of knowledge here for aspiring and seasoned helicopter pilots. Keith has tons of stories one can learn from; I wished I would have found Keith's blog site sooner! His blog Helicopter Pilot, will travel is a must read. I would not have known about Keith, or his blog, if he hadn’t commented on one of my last posts - Thanks Keith!


Helicopter Fire Fighting in Greece
Erickson Air Crane
Sea Snorkeling


The video cuts out about 1/2 way through, but still pretty cool to watch - from Michael Miller's page

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Why don't helicopters go straight up and down vertically?


In Chickenhawk by Robert Mason starting on page 169 Mr. Mason brings up a scenario where he and Riker fly an approach to a forward command post on the top of an isolated hill covered with tall brown grass and a few small trees. They circled once and then made the approach. As they came in over the edge of the sharp drop off a pup tent flew away in their rotor wash. After shut down Mason went back to see how the kid who lost his tent was doing. “Sorry about that, we didn’t see you when we came in.” “Oh, that’s okay, sir.” The kid smiled and threw the tent down near a bush and said he’d build it stronger next time. “Well that’s a bad spot for you” Mason said. “You’re downwind and you’ll be on our approach path every time we land.” “I never thought of that, how come you don’t come in like this?” The kid made his hand stop in midair and drop straight down. Mason said “Vertically?” “Yea vertically, can’t a helicopter do that?” Mason said “We can in a pinch, but it’s dangerous. We like to keep some forward motion so we’ll be able to autorotate in case we lose power."





And that my friends is a question I get asked all the time by my non-flying friends when we discuss helicopters.

If you watch helicopters you will notice that they usually take off and land very similar to airplanes, not vertically straight up and down. Why you ask, aren’t helicopters meant to go straight up and down? Well yes they can but only when we have to and we only stay in that flight regime for a minimum amount of time because it’s not safe and within the dead man’s curve (shaded area of the height/velocity diagram); in other words the helicopter won't be able to autorotate and land safely in case of engine failure. Not sure I like the term “dead man’s curve” but it is what it is.

I think now is a good time to bring up the 5th commandment of the 10 commandments of helicopter flying:

V. Thou shalt maintain thy speed between ten and four hundred feet, lest the earth rise and smite thee. (Complete recovery is doubtful in case of power failure at slow speed within the dead man's curve of the height/velocity diagram.)

So what does this mean? The ability to autorotate is handy but unfortunately there are some configurations of flight, airspeed and altitude, that won't give you time to autorotate safely and avoid a crash.

Here's a typical height/velocity (H/V) diagram that we can take a look at, and talk about what the chart means. Every manufacturer of helicopters is required to provide an H/V diagram for each model.



                     Bell JetRanger 206B HV curve

Like the 5th commandment of helicopters states, airspeeds between 10 and 400 feet AGL (above ground level) should be at 45 MPH (indicated airspeed does not mean ground speed) for the chart above. In the R-22 we stay approximately 10 feet above the ground until we hit 40 knots then let the nose come up and climb out at 60 knots; we are basically staying below the shaded area and flying out and up. Between 10 and 400 feet AGL we don't like getting slower than 53 knots in the R22. Again you can go slower it's just not a good place to be and should be kept to a minimum.

So, at 300 feet with zero airspeed you'd be in the shaded area and in an unsafe configuration. Also medium to high zero airspeed hovers will put you between a rock and hard place.

AND REMEMBER when the engine fails LOWER THE COLLECTIVE...

And that my friends is why we normally avoid vertical up and down zero airspeed flight configurations.

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Introducing the VTOL Helicopter Blog

I found these videos on the VTOL Helicopter blog. I might add this is a very good site for all things concerning helicopters such as, All Helicopter News; Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS) Operations; Incidents and Accidents; and the Videos Worth Watching Series. Also included are insights, and viewer comments involving choppers. There’s a lot of good stuff here - Check It Out!

The videos below show the versatility of the helicopter, it's uses are endless. What a great invention!

A feature on power line work using N138TX, a 1979 MD500D operated by Air2. This particular video is near and dear to my heart. I was a high voltage power lineman in the Air Force for 15 years. Back in 1982  I got out of the Air Force for about 8 months, and for a few months I worked outside of Dallas, Texas working on high voltage transmission lines like the ones you see here in this video. What they are installing are wind dampeners - what we lineman affectionately called “dog bones".




Wind turbine utility work in a 2002 EC135 T2. Helicopter Hoist Offshore Windturbines

Friday, April 9, 2010

Intoducing wikiRotorcraftFlightManual and Things to Ponder: Scud Running and Crew Resource Mgmt (CRM).

I found these videos on the Better Helicopter Flight Training forum also known as wikiRotorcraftFlightManual hosted by Chris Fischer.  "This is primarily for the Robinson R-22. For better or worse, this is the most commonly used trainer, even though the R-44 and 269/300 may be more agreeable training platforms." ~Chris

Chris's biggest motivator for creating this forum!
The Least Experienced Pilots Train New Pilots

This was the biggest motivator. Probably 90% of my first 200 hours of flight training was with CFIs who had less than a year of teaching experience. If you’re new, there’s a good chance that your instructor will only have a few hundred hours more experience flying than you. But I’ve spent some time flying with and talking to high-time instructors and high-time pilots (many on the VerticalReference forums). Per hour with these guys, I’ve learned more than with any other instructor that I’ve flown with. This isn’t a criticism of anybody I’ve ever flown with; it’s the reality of learning to fly helicopters in the US. But for those of you trying to learn, wouldn’t you want access to the most knowledgeable instructors and their methods? For those of you who want to be great instructors, why not have a resource where you can learn from others’ experiences. ~Chris

This first video is a good example why YOU should never get caught in the clouds while in the mountains or scud running any time for that matter . The GPS terrain display was never meant for flying blind in mountainous terrain. In general scud running is dangerous.



This second video is a good example of Crew Resource Management (CRM) and Aeronautical Decision Making (ADM). It's really not a GOOD example but what can happen when not thinking through a situation. When you have two pilots use the extra resource to your advantage, listen to each other!

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Beautiful Flight today in the R44 to Palmer and Wasilla Alaska


Knik Arm near Eklutna Alaska
Jeff training in the left seat, working on SFAR 73 PIC sign off in the R44 Raven II

Preflighting the R44 Raven II at Birchwood Airport, Alaska
  Corey and Jeff

Doing a Run-On Landing at Palmer Airport Runway 09, Corey my instructor on the right

The Knik Arm just off Birchwood Airport NE bound with the Eklutna Flats on the right

The Butte, Palmer Alaska, pinnacle landing practice

Beautiful flight last week end (3 April) with Mary in the R22 Beta II, Turnagain Arm on our way back to Birchwood. Bird Point just ahead.

Last week end 3 April, Same beautiful trip up the Turnagain Arm on our way back to Birchwood Airport in the R-22 Beta II. Beluga whales can be seen along here when the salmon are running.

Photo credits go to my wife Mary