Flight #: 025
CFI: Kristie H.
Aircraft: Robinson R22 Beta II
Aircraft ID: N8340S
Duration: 2.4hrs
Cumulative Time: 27.0hrs
We had a double block (2 x 2hr) of flights today. That affords you so much more time to practice and enjoy yourself. So, we flew on up to Scapoose, OR and did our patterns there. Was great since it was a 7am flight and we were the only people in Scapoose until about 9am.
Got in another first today. Refueling away from home. Sounds silly and trivial, but it was a milestone for me. Felt like getting gas on a long road trip. Get to stretch your legs, check out new scenery.
Just a fun day.
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Saturday, December 15, 2007
(Autorotation)^5
Flight #: 024
CFI: Kristie H.
Aircraft: Robinson R22 Beta II
Aircraft ID: N7155W
Duration: 1.2hrs
Cumulative Time: 24.6hrs
Ok, so I already told you that aurorotations were incredibly cool maneuvers. They are. What's cooler? Well, rather than doing them at 2000AGL (above ground level), try them at 500ft AGL. WOW! All the same maneuvers, but this time you just have the ground coming up at you rather quickly. The engine is idle and the governor is inactive until you reach about 40ft AGL.
Man, my heart was pounding. But, after the 4th or 5th time, you start to get the feel of it all and if just comes to you. Which, is the point, of course. That day will come, when you need it for real... might as well be overly prepared for it when it happens.
There are different classifications of engine/power failures; >500ft AGL, <500>8ft AGL, and <8ft AGL. The first introduction at autorotations we did were at 2000ft AGL, this set was at just over 500ft.
Obviously, the lower you are, the less time you have to react.
CFI: Kristie H.
Aircraft: Robinson R22 Beta II
Aircraft ID: N7155W
Duration: 1.2hrs
Cumulative Time: 24.6hrs
Ok, so I already told you that aurorotations were incredibly cool maneuvers. They are. What's cooler? Well, rather than doing them at 2000AGL (above ground level), try them at 500ft AGL. WOW! All the same maneuvers, but this time you just have the ground coming up at you rather quickly. The engine is idle and the governor is inactive until you reach about 40ft AGL.
Man, my heart was pounding. But, after the 4th or 5th time, you start to get the feel of it all and if just comes to you. Which, is the point, of course. That day will come, when you need it for real... might as well be overly prepared for it when it happens.
There are different classifications of engine/power failures; >500ft AGL, <500>8ft AGL, and <8ft AGL. The first introduction at autorotations we did were at 2000ft AGL, this set was at just over 500ft.
Obviously, the lower you are, the less time you have to react.
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Mapped and Aware
Flight #: 023
CFI: Kristie H.
Aircraft: Robinson R22 Beta II
Aircraft ID: N8361N
Duration: 1.1hrs
Cumulative Time: 23.4hrs
Well, I was determined not to be that "idiot helicopter student who keeps getting lost." So I made myself a map to print out and keep on my knee-board until I figured things out. It worked like a charm. I'm sure it was mostly a confidence issue... but having a backup map to know where I was made a big difference:
View Larger Map
Same maneuvers as the past few times... and I am definitely getting better. Now I'm just not lost.
CFI: Kristie H.
Aircraft: Robinson R22 Beta II
Aircraft ID: N8361N
Duration: 1.1hrs
Cumulative Time: 23.4hrs
Well, I was determined not to be that "idiot helicopter student who keeps getting lost." So I made myself a map to print out and keep on my knee-board until I figured things out. It worked like a charm. I'm sure it was mostly a confidence issue... but having a backup map to know where I was made a big difference:
View Larger Map
Same maneuvers as the past few times... and I am definitely getting better. Now I'm just not lost.
Monday, December 10, 2007
Lost...
Flight #: 022
CFI: Kristie H.
Aircraft: Robinson R22 Beta
Aircraft ID: N8340S
Duration: 1.1hrs
Cumulative Time: 22.3hrs
We continued with Low RPM Recovery, VRS / Settle With Power and Autorotation practice. I think I'm getting better bit by bit. But...
...I got really flustered today and made a lot of stupid mistakes with my radio communications. When we are in the west practice area we are in an uncontrolled airspace with a lot of other helicopters. As such, we have to spend a lot of time telling everyone in the area where we are, what we're doing, and the like.
This is normally not an issue for me since Kristie has been telling me, "make your call and we're over the turning tree". At which point I say, "West practice area traffic, helicopter 8340-Siera at the turning-tree operating at 1500ft and below, west practice area." Now, since I'm further along in my training, all she tells me is, "make your call." Which means that I need to know where the hell I am at all times. Sounds pretty basic, but you'd be surprised how difficult it is to know where you are; especially in WPA since it is so large and covers parts of Forest Grove, Banks, Gaston and Cornelius, OR. Not only that, but after doing circles looking for landing spots and doing controlled falls out of the sky... I just get all turned around.
I hate being lost. It gets me flustered and throws me off my game. I get annoyed when driving on roads... imagine what it feels like to be lost in 3D space. Sucks.
Anyway, I get flustered, overly critical and I fumbled each and ever radio call I made. First I would forget to tell them I was a helicopter. Then I would say "over Forrest Grove"... which is useless since there are 2 other helicopters over Forrest Grove at the same time. I was supposed to say "2 miles west of Gaston", but I stammer out "NE of Banks". Why? I have no idea. Just making stupid mistakes.
Not only did I get my location wrong, I always forgot my current heading.
Stupid mistakes. I spent so much time thinking about what I was doing wrong, that I started doing other things wrong.
Ugh! Totally off my game.
CFI: Kristie H.
Aircraft: Robinson R22 Beta
Aircraft ID: N8340S
Duration: 1.1hrs
Cumulative Time: 22.3hrs
We continued with Low RPM Recovery, VRS / Settle With Power and Autorotation practice. I think I'm getting better bit by bit. But...
...I got really flustered today and made a lot of stupid mistakes with my radio communications. When we are in the west practice area we are in an uncontrolled airspace with a lot of other helicopters. As such, we have to spend a lot of time telling everyone in the area where we are, what we're doing, and the like.
This is normally not an issue for me since Kristie has been telling me, "make your call and we're over the turning tree". At which point I say, "West practice area traffic, helicopter 8340-Siera at the turning-tree operating at 1500ft and below, west practice area." Now, since I'm further along in my training, all she tells me is, "make your call." Which means that I need to know where the hell I am at all times. Sounds pretty basic, but you'd be surprised how difficult it is to know where you are; especially in WPA since it is so large and covers parts of Forest Grove, Banks, Gaston and Cornelius, OR. Not only that, but after doing circles looking for landing spots and doing controlled falls out of the sky... I just get all turned around.
I hate being lost. It gets me flustered and throws me off my game. I get annoyed when driving on roads... imagine what it feels like to be lost in 3D space. Sucks.
Anyway, I get flustered, overly critical and I fumbled each and ever radio call I made. First I would forget to tell them I was a helicopter. Then I would say "over Forrest Grove"... which is useless since there are 2 other helicopters over Forrest Grove at the same time. I was supposed to say "2 miles west of Gaston", but I stammer out "NE of Banks". Why? I have no idea. Just making stupid mistakes.
Not only did I get my location wrong, I always forgot my current heading.
Stupid mistakes. I spent so much time thinking about what I was doing wrong, that I started doing other things wrong.
Ugh! Totally off my game.
Friday, December 7, 2007
Autorotation, Settling with Power and Off Airport
CFI: Kristie H.
Aircraft: Robinson R22 Beta
Aircraft ID: N8361N
Duration: 1.1hrs
Cumulative Time: 21.2hrs
Wow. Just plain wow.
Today we finally made it to the next flight lesson; and it included some of the most interesting and exciting helicopter maneuvers to date.
Off Airport Landing:
This was just a test run, as we did not actually get to land, but there is a lot to have to think about before you actually land off-airport. As you might expect... and acronym. PAWOTFEEL:
- P: Power check.
- A: Altitude of potential landing spot.
- W: Wind direction
- O: Obstructions in/around the landing spot
- T: Turbulent air in/around your landing spot
- F: Forced landing areas, within your glide path.
- E: Entry point for your landing.
- E: Exit point for your takeoff.
- L: Landing Spot
Autorotation:
Autorotation, or the state powerless flight.
A well done YouTube video of an autorotation; a few differences in what I learned, but essentially the same maneuver.
Very little lift, in a helicopter, comes from the wind being deflected down by the rotors. The majority comes from the rotating airfoil (main rotor) producing lift via a low pressure area above the main rotor disk. This is summed up nicely with Bernoulli's Principle. So, what does this mean... well, simply put, if the helicopter blades are turning, you are going to get some lift. In normal flight, the main rotor blades are given energy from the powerplant / engine. In autorotation, you are using the kinetic energy from your forward motion and the energy stored to the helicopter due to it's height (gravity pulling the helicopter to the ground). By altering the pitch of the rotor blades, and the attitude of the helicopter you force air up and through the disk, causing them to rotate; and generate lift.
That's it. You glide gently, and most importantly - safely, to the ground.
The creepiest part of it is the sound... then engine is put into idle and essentially noise drops to zero. You don't drop like a rock, you don't spiral to the ground... you glide back to the ground. There is quite a bit of adjustment in the cyclic, collective, and pedals during this time, but it is essentially a normal approach.
There is a slight dropping feeling when you drop the collective to full down, but that goes away rather quickly. The whole experience is utterly amazing. Clearly there is going to be a lot of practice going forward, but the point is to make this almost a second nature move... so that when (not if) you need it again, you are familiar with the move.
Settling with Power:
Next, we tried Settling With Power (SWP). This is a condition where large rotor-tip vortices (turbulence) occur and the lift generated by the main rotor disk is eliminated. Essentially, the helicopter is "chopping up it's own turblence" and can no longer maintain necessary lift. If you try to increase the blade pitch, what you normally do to get more lift out of the blades, you just make the condition worse. The only corrective action is to, 1) reduce pitch, and 2) push out of the turbulent air to get into "clean" air. Once you have forward motion, you can then again, raise collective and start slowing your descent.
This is a very easy condition to get into as you need three, very common, things to happen:
- a descent rate >= 300ft / minute
- an airspeed < ETL (Effective Translational Lift)
- power in use
After another test, Kristie gave me a shot and recovery, and I must say... I did quite well. Lower collective, forward cyclic, and you gain forward speed. Then, once you have speed, you raise collective and you are back to normal flight.
One hell of a day.
View Larger Map
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Over and over and over and over and over...
Flight #: 020
CFI: Kristie H.
Aircraft: Robinson R22 Beta II
Aircraft ID: N8340S
Duration: 1.4hrs
Cumulative Time: 20.1hrs
First flight in a long time... and I'm thrilled to say that it came back fast. We did a few approaches in Alpha pattern and then moved over to Bravo and did about 25 sets of lift-off, hover/air taxi, and quickstop. I'm really glad we did that, because it was a very good way to tweak my skills.
One thing than Kristie mentioned a while back is that flying a helicopter requires constant input and control changes. The faster and more smooth you are at this... the better. Today's flight was a big step for me in this understanding.
CFI: Kristie H.
Aircraft: Robinson R22 Beta II
Aircraft ID: N8340S
Duration: 1.4hrs
Cumulative Time: 20.1hrs
First flight in a long time... and I'm thrilled to say that it came back fast. We did a few approaches in Alpha pattern and then moved over to Bravo and did about 25 sets of lift-off, hover/air taxi, and quickstop. I'm really glad we did that, because it was a very good way to tweak my skills.
One thing than Kristie mentioned a while back is that flying a helicopter requires constant input and control changes. The faster and more smooth you are at this... the better. Today's flight was a big step for me in this understanding.
Simulated Autorotations
Could not get a pattern today, so we opted to get simulator time and do an introduction to auto-rotations. Last time I was in the simulator I actually enjoyed it. This time, now that I understand the feel and motion of flying a helicopter it was really annoying. The simulator is nothing like a real helicopter.
Only thing that I thought that was helpful was the beginning of muscle memory. I'm not going to try to explain it yet... because it wasn't real.
Patience.
Only thing that I thought that was helpful was the beginning of muscle memory. I'm not going to try to explain it yet... because it wasn't real.
Patience.
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Squawk, trend, trend
While today was probably the least fulfilling flight-wise,
it was interesting none the less.
I was lucky enough to get two flight slots today, and even got two patterns to top it all off.
During the run up procedures before a flight, there is a safety check for the altimeter. The reason this check is in place is that you need to accurately know your altitude throughout the flight. The field altitude of airports is generally known, but since helicopters can land almost anywhere, you can't always know how high above ground level (AGL) or above mean sea level (MSL) you actually are.
The test consists of adjusting the Kollsman knob to calibrate the device to actual air pressure, right now, and then read the altitude. In our case, the altimeter read approximately 100ft. HIO is 208ft MSL. The test just showed us that when set to the actual outside air pressure the helicopter sitting at 208ft thinks it is at 100ft. Thats pretty bad. The limit for mis-calibrated altimeter is 75ft.
Now, when our altimeter is calibrated to have less than 75ft error, we then re-calibrate it to actual field elevation... since we know that for a fact and choose to trust that more. When it is more than 100ft, well, we just don't know what is wrong. Question is... do we need our altimeter? Is is required equipment for VFR Day Flights?
Glad you asked. Yes. Like in every field, there are mnemonics and acronyms to help you remember required lists. In this case, the mneumonic for VFR Day Required Equipment is: CAMALSFOOT.
Later on in the day we had another flight. During the pre-fight check I came to the clutch actuator. This is the component that tightens the V-Belt that transfers engine power to the rotors. This one was leaking grease, not just a little, but significantly. Now, there is no rule or acronym here... just common sense. If your clutch bearing is leaking grease... don't fly it.
Trend it.
Just to be a good citizen I finished out the pre-flight check... plus it had been a while since I completed one and I wanted to keep on my game. I also found that he white position light on the tail was burned out.
Trend it.
At this point, it was too late to transfer to another helicopter. So, I headed home.
it was interesting none the less.I was lucky enough to get two flight slots today, and even got two patterns to top it all off.
During the run up procedures before a flight, there is a safety check for the altimeter. The reason this check is in place is that you need to accurately know your altitude throughout the flight. The field altitude of airports is generally known, but since helicopters can land almost anywhere, you can't always know how high above ground level (AGL) or above mean sea level (MSL) you actually are.
The test consists of adjusting the Kollsman knob to calibrate the device to actual air pressure, right now, and then read the altitude. In our case, the altimeter read approximately 100ft. HIO is 208ft MSL. The test just showed us that when set to the actual outside air pressure the helicopter sitting at 208ft thinks it is at 100ft. Thats pretty bad. The limit for mis-calibrated altimeter is 75ft.
Now, when our altimeter is calibrated to have less than 75ft error, we then re-calibrate it to actual field elevation... since we know that for a fact and choose to trust that more. When it is more than 100ft, well, we just don't know what is wrong. Question is... do we need our altimeter? Is is required equipment for VFR Day Flights?
Glad you asked. Yes. Like in every field, there are mnemonics and acronyms to help you remember required lists. In this case, the mneumonic for VFR Day Required Equipment is: CAMALSFOOT.
- C: Compas
- A: Altimeter
- M: Manifold Pressure Gauge
- A: Airspeed Indicator
- L: Lights, for night
- S: Safety Belt
- F: Fuel Gauge
- O: Oil Pressure
- O: Oil Temperature
- T: Tachometer
Later on in the day we had another flight. During the pre-fight check I came to the clutch actuator. This is the component that tightens the V-Belt that transfers engine power to the rotors. This one was leaking grease, not just a little, but significantly. Now, there is no rule or acronym here... just common sense. If your clutch bearing is leaking grease... don't fly it.
Trend it.
Just to be a good citizen I finished out the pre-flight check... plus it had been a while since I completed one and I wanted to keep on my game. I also found that he white position light on the tail was burned out.
Trend it.
At this point, it was too late to transfer to another helicopter. So, I headed home.
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Friday, November 30, 2007
Success!
I passed! 90%Actually the test was rather easy... but I'm sure that has to do with a lot with the training and studying. The test consisted of 20 questions taken from the "Test Prep - Private Pilot 08" manual. I missed 2 questions. One of them I had no possibility of answering as it was not a rotorcraft:helicopter question - it was mis-selected for the test. But, it was on the test, and I guessed and got it wrong. The other one - well, I got sucked into the classic standardized test question trap - while I selected the correct answer, I did not select the most complete correct answer. Pfft!
What did I win? I get to move on to the next portion of the Stage 1 test... the take-home. This part consists of 58 questions relating to questions about flight, airport operations and other tidbits of information that one would have gained coming this far in the course and paying attention. The test was really well written - mainly because none of the questions were direct... they required taking learned facts and applying them to real world situations. Really had to think. Took much longer than I expected.
Taking it in to be graded Sunday morning... we'll see.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Ground training & Stage 1 written test
Weather had been really windy over the past few days and we've opted to get well ahead of the curve with ground training lessons. It's cool and interesting... but no where near as fun as the flights themselves.
With the end of today's lesson, I'm ready to take the Stage 1 written test. Basically this is one of the two events that need to happen before we can move to Stage 2 of the training. So, I'm going to spend some time studying.
With the end of today's lesson, I'm ready to take the Stage 1 written test. Basically this is one of the two events that need to happen before we can move to Stage 2 of the training. So, I'm going to spend some time studying.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Gobble-gobble, not thup-thup
Happy Thanksgiving.
Been a while since a flight, but had the chance to take my Dad to the airport to give him a bit of tour of the school an the helicopters. We happened to get there just at student-change-over... and got to see a good number taking off.
Still love the sound.
Been a while since a flight, but had the chance to take my Dad to the airport to give him a bit of tour of the school an the helicopters. We happened to get there just at student-change-over... and got to see a good number taking off.
Still love the sound.
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Repetition...
Flight #: 017
CFI: Kristie H.
Aircraft: Robinson R22 Beta II
Aircraft ID: N2548S
Duration: 1.1hrs
Cumulative Time: 18.3hrs
Today's flight was really good. I can tell that I'm really starting to remember the feel of the helicopter. We are still re-doing the same maneuvers as before, and I think that is the point... repetition.
Not going to have a flight in a while... holidays coming up.
CFI: Kristie H.
Aircraft: Robinson R22 Beta II
Aircraft ID: N2548S
Duration: 1.1hrs
Cumulative Time: 18.3hrs
Today's flight was really good. I can tell that I'm really starting to remember the feel of the helicopter. We are still re-doing the same maneuvers as before, and I think that is the point... repetition.
Not going to have a flight in a while... holidays coming up.
Friday, November 16, 2007
Great resource for Helicopter info...
My buddy Bob suggested that I check out Pilots Of America. It is an online community dedicated to pilots of all type - I'm interested in heli pilots, obviously.
So far, pretty cool place. Recommend it for information, questions or just plain pilot fun.
So far, pretty cool place. Recommend it for information, questions or just plain pilot fun.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Fumbling and Rusty...
Flight #: 016
CFI: Kristie H.
Aircraft: Robinson R22 Beta II
Aircraft ID: N8361N
Duration: 1.4hrs
Cumulative Time: 17.2hrs
It's been 10 days since my last flight... and it shows! I had an off site meeting last week, friends for the weekend, and very windy weather... and that meant no flights for 10 days.
The skills come back fast, but I was pretty rusty. It is all about feel and muscle memory and you need constant repetition to make that stick in your brain. My approaches were jerky and I had a few times where I ballooned up or descended too quickly due to being overly reactive on the collective.
To top it all off, I was fumbling all over my radio calls. Yes, it was an uncontrolled airspace, but still... I need to get it right. Total amateur mistakes; forgetting to say my altitude or my intended path, etc.
Overall it was a good flight, but I really need to keep in practice to make sure I don't lose ground.
CFI: Kristie H.
Aircraft: Robinson R22 Beta II
Aircraft ID: N8361N
Duration: 1.4hrs
Cumulative Time: 17.2hrs
It's been 10 days since my last flight... and it shows! I had an off site meeting last week, friends for the weekend, and very windy weather... and that meant no flights for 10 days.
The skills come back fast, but I was pretty rusty. It is all about feel and muscle memory and you need constant repetition to make that stick in your brain. My approaches were jerky and I had a few times where I ballooned up or descended too quickly due to being overly reactive on the collective.
To top it all off, I was fumbling all over my radio calls. Yes, it was an uncontrolled airspace, but still... I need to get it right. Total amateur mistakes; forgetting to say my altitude or my intended path, etc.
Overall it was a good flight, but I really need to keep in practice to make sure I don't lose ground.
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
The coolest brother in the world!
You know, what they say... it is good to have friends in high places. It is actually even better to have them in geeky places.
If you remember, I asked my brother for a feature to be added to Google's SMS toolkit - a METAR keyword. This would allow anybody with a SMS capable phone to check weather before a flight... basically something every pilot does. Now it happens either via radio in the cockpit right before a flight... but it is nice to know before you have the engine running. You may not be able to fly.
Currently, many of the HIO pilots use some PCs in the dispatch room to do this check. It is kind of a pain... this would make things much faster and more efficient. Google's primary reason for existing.
Well, he did it... it's live!
Thanks Charlie!
How cool is that?
Being a geek... Charlie had to hide a few easter eggs in this.
Every time it references an airport in an example or as as the usage statement in an error response, it will use my local airport, KHIO or EHAM. I understand KHIO... but EHAM? That is Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam. It is often wise to not question the mind of a geek... but hey, brotherly privilege. So, at 11:59pm I speak to Charlie and ask:
Chris: "Hey Char, what's with EHAM? I get KHIO, thanks... but EHAM."
Charlie: "Yea, I picked that."
Chris: "Why EHAM, have you ever been to Amsterdam?"
Charlie: "No, I like bacon. So, ham... EHAM."
At 12:01 AM it went live to the world... adding an amazingly valuable feature to Google SMS and proclaiming by brother's love for Ham.
Spread it around. People need to know about this... it is awesome.
Thanks bro!
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Photo Tour - R22 N8361N
A few quick shots...
This is "six-one-november" and she is my helicopter. We alway get paired and so far I like her. There is real value in getting used to one machine, you start to feel vibrations and notice small changes in the machine. For instance, 61N is an oily little biatch... and when you know that, you look an notice small changes in the drip patterns.
Right side of the engine. You can see some of the results of the oil drops on the bottom of the fan scrolling - dust. The engine is in great condition, and the mechanics do a good job of keeping an eye on it all... but, as I said, it is good to know what normal is.
The instrument panel.
Top Row, left to right:
Gauges.
Left column:
This is "six-one-november" and she is my helicopter. We alway get paired and so far I like her. There is real value in getting used to one machine, you start to feel vibrations and notice small changes in the machine. For instance, 61N is an oily little biatch... and when you know that, you look an notice small changes in the drip patterns.
Right side of the engine. You can see some of the results of the oil drops on the bottom of the fan scrolling - dust. The engine is in great condition, and the mechanics do a good job of keeping an eye on it all... but, as I said, it is good to know what normal is.
The instrument panel.
Top Row, left to right:
- VSI - Vertical Speed Indicator
- Artificial Horizon / Turn Indicator
- Airspeed
- Tachometer. Left needle, Engine RPM. Right needle, Rotor RPM
- Altitude
- Manifold Pressure
Gauges.
Left column:
- Clock
- Carburetor temperature
- Amps
- Oil Pressure
- Auxiliary fuel tank gauge
- Oil Temperature
- Main fuel tang gauge
- Cylinder Head Temperature
- OAT - Outside Air Temperature
- GPS
- Radio
- Transponder
- POH - Robinson R22 Pilot's Operating Handbook
- Circuit breaker pannel
- Cabin Heat
- HOBBS Counter
- Zoe & Dad in an R22.
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Ace!
Flight #: 015
CFI: Kristie H.
Aircraft: Robinson R22 Beta II
Aircraft ID: N8361N
Duration: 0.8hrs
Cumulative Time: 15.8hrs
Best session to date. Well, eventually.
Things started out rather messy. 61N was to be used, the previous night, for an aerial photography session. As such it had the left door and left controls removed to allow for a passenger with a stack of cameras to move freely about. Apparently they also were planning a significant flight since the tanks were maxed out on fuel.
So, it spend the night out in the open, no door in the freezing cold. The windows were covered in condensation and everything needed warmed up before we could start. During the oil check I found that we were a little low and I had to go get some to get back to the school's 5 quart minimum. Line service had not had a chance to replenish the engine oil stash so I had to walk all over the place to find bottles with any oil in them.
Line service is responsible for general maintenance on the aircraft and they are the ones you are supposed to call for any fuel issues. So, I called them and asked to have fuel taken out (as I'm only allowed to fly with 16 gallons. They want to get people flying as fast as possible and filling takes priority. So we had to wait.
Once we had everything checked out and were ready to go we tried to start 61N. No go. Nothing. Starter would turn over, but the engine would not catch. Clearly it was because it spent the night in the cold, wet air. After the 6th try we got it rolling.
Once we got into Charlie pattern we ran a few laps and each one was spot on. I really think the key to it was recognizing ETL... both for take off and for landing. The only way to describe it is that you want to keep in the sweet spot... and that happens to be ETL. You can tell because of the slight vibrations felt through the helicopter. It is very slight at the beginning, builds to a max, and then trails off.
It was easiest for me to Imagine a bell curve. As you approach ETL you start getting small vibrations. You know you are headed the right way or doing the right thing when they build little by little. You want to stick to the green section and ride the vibrations all the way in/out. If you end up doing the wrong thing or don't act fast enough you will end up out of the green.
Ride the vibe all the way and you are good to go. One thing to note is that the helicopter also tells you when you are doing something very wrong with vibrations as well. I'm told they are not little or slight... but really hardcore and bone wrenching. As I said... it is all about feel.
CFI: Kristie H.
Aircraft: Robinson R22 Beta II
Aircraft ID: N8361N
Duration: 0.8hrs
Cumulative Time: 15.8hrs
Best session to date. Well, eventually.
Things started out rather messy. 61N was to be used, the previous night, for an aerial photography session. As such it had the left door and left controls removed to allow for a passenger with a stack of cameras to move freely about. Apparently they also were planning a significant flight since the tanks were maxed out on fuel.
So, it spend the night out in the open, no door in the freezing cold. The windows were covered in condensation and everything needed warmed up before we could start. During the oil check I found that we were a little low and I had to go get some to get back to the school's 5 quart minimum. Line service had not had a chance to replenish the engine oil stash so I had to walk all over the place to find bottles with any oil in them.
Line service is responsible for general maintenance on the aircraft and they are the ones you are supposed to call for any fuel issues. So, I called them and asked to have fuel taken out (as I'm only allowed to fly with 16 gallons. They want to get people flying as fast as possible and filling takes priority. So we had to wait.
Once we had everything checked out and were ready to go we tried to start 61N. No go. Nothing. Starter would turn over, but the engine would not catch. Clearly it was because it spent the night in the cold, wet air. After the 6th try we got it rolling.
Once we got into Charlie pattern we ran a few laps and each one was spot on. I really think the key to it was recognizing ETL... both for take off and for landing. The only way to describe it is that you want to keep in the sweet spot... and that happens to be ETL. You can tell because of the slight vibrations felt through the helicopter. It is very slight at the beginning, builds to a max, and then trails off.
It was easiest for me to Imagine a bell curve. As you approach ETL you start getting small vibrations. You know you are headed the right way or doing the right thing when they build little by little. You want to stick to the green section and ride the vibrations all the way in/out. If you end up doing the wrong thing or don't act fast enough you will end up out of the green.
Ride the vibe all the way and you are good to go. One thing to note is that the helicopter also tells you when you are doing something very wrong with vibrations as well. I'm told they are not little or slight... but really hardcore and bone wrenching. As I said... it is all about feel.Friday, November 2, 2007
Get back behind the stick! a.ka. New Page.
Flight #: 014
CFI: Kristie H.
Aircraft: Robinson R22 Beta II
Aircraft ID: N7526S
Duration: 1.4hrs
Cumulative Time: 15.0hrs
I got the opportunity to get back into the seat twice in one day... and I'm glad I did. I'm not sure what it was, but I was definitely off my game this morning. Today felt great.
It was all due to a passing comment of Kristie's... "pre-ETL vibration". I feel it now, and know when ETL is coming. Feel the vibration and get ready... 1/2 second later and it's here.
What a huge difference. I'm not smooth yet, not even a little... but at least we're not flopping all around like a fish anymore.
I'm so glad I got the chance to try this again today... it was fresh in my mind, and I really got a lot out of today as a whole.
Also, I had to flip to a new, blank, page in my flight log... racking up the flights. Feels like a physical milestone.
Another milestone; I'm doing many of the radio calls.
Tower / radio communication is essential and I've finally memorized the tower frequencies for HIO. You need to change things relatively frequently and I'm tired of asking.
ME: "Hillsboro Tower, helicopter 7526-Siera at HAI with information Kilo, request Charlie."
TOWER: "26-Siera, cleared to cross both runways at intersection for Charlie."
ME: "Cross both at intersection for Charlie, 26-Siera"
Seems complicated but here is the reasoning for it all. For a controlled airspace you need to say:
(To) Who I'm addressing.
(From) Who I am.
(Where) Where I am.
(Info) The current information letter. This is a "code" to let the tower know that we've listened to the most recent weather update. Each time they change the weather (ATIS) information, they assign a new information letter. If we've got the wrong letter, then they will tell us and we can either get the new letter or land.
(Request) What I'm asking permission to do.
Once we are giving instructions, we are required to repeat them back and sign off with our identifier. This ensures that we heard the instructions correctly. A three-stage communication. Request-Response-Acknowledgment.
For uncontrolled airspace, meaning there is no tower controlling traffic:
(To) Who I'm addressing.
(From) Who I am.
(Where) Where I am.
(Altitude) How high I am and any short term changes.
(Request / Statement) What I'm going to do.
(To) Who I just addresses.
For example:
ME: "Scappoose Traffic, helicopter 7526-Siera entering left base at the 45 at 700feet turning final. Scappoose Traffic."
CFI: Kristie H.
Aircraft: Robinson R22 Beta II
Aircraft ID: N7526S
Duration: 1.4hrs
Cumulative Time: 15.0hrs
I got the opportunity to get back into the seat twice in one day... and I'm glad I did. I'm not sure what it was, but I was definitely off my game this morning. Today felt great.
It was all due to a passing comment of Kristie's... "pre-ETL vibration". I feel it now, and know when ETL is coming. Feel the vibration and get ready... 1/2 second later and it's here.
What a huge difference. I'm not smooth yet, not even a little... but at least we're not flopping all around like a fish anymore.
I'm so glad I got the chance to try this again today... it was fresh in my mind, and I really got a lot out of today as a whole.
Also, I had to flip to a new, blank, page in my flight log... racking up the flights. Feels like a physical milestone.
Another milestone; I'm doing many of the radio calls.
Tower / radio communication is essential and I've finally memorized the tower frequencies for HIO. You need to change things relatively frequently and I'm tired of asking.
- Air Traffic Control Tower: 119.3
- Base / Line Service: 122.85
- Automated Weather (ATIS): 127.65
ME: "Hillsboro Tower, helicopter 7526-Siera at HAI with information Kilo, request Charlie."
TOWER: "26-Siera, cleared to cross both runways at intersection for Charlie."
ME: "Cross both at intersection for Charlie, 26-Siera"
Seems complicated but here is the reasoning for it all. For a controlled airspace you need to say:
(To) Who I'm addressing.
(From) Who I am.
(Where) Where I am.
(Info) The current information letter. This is a "code" to let the tower know that we've listened to the most recent weather update. Each time they change the weather (ATIS) information, they assign a new information letter. If we've got the wrong letter, then they will tell us and we can either get the new letter or land.
(Request) What I'm asking permission to do.
Once we are giving instructions, we are required to repeat them back and sign off with our identifier. This ensures that we heard the instructions correctly. A three-stage communication. Request-Response-Acknowledgment.
For uncontrolled airspace, meaning there is no tower controlling traffic:
(To) Who I'm addressing.
(From) Who I am.
(Where) Where I am.
(Altitude) How high I am and any short term changes.
(Request / Statement) What I'm going to do.
(To) Who I just addresses.
For example:
ME: "Scappoose Traffic, helicopter 7526-Siera entering left base at the 45 at 700feet turning final. Scappoose Traffic."
Early patterns... poorly.
Flight #: 013
CFI: Kristie H.
Aircraft: Robinson R22 Beta II
Aircraft ID: N7526S
Duration: 1.4hrs
Cumulative Time: 13.6hrs
Not a good session at all. Actually Kristie did not say that it was horrible, but it felt all wrong. I just could not get into my groove. I really don't know what it was but this morning was a step backwards in my mind. I missed all of my approaches - too steep or too shallow. Every set-down was hard and bumpy. Each pick-up was one-skid-high... significantly too high. And, to top it all off, I don't think I anticipated ETL once.
Should have just stayed in bed this morning.
Lucky flight #13, I guess.
During our post-flight debrief Kristie commented on my miss of ETL. And that I was just (over) correcting and that it will come with practice. She said that I should really heed the pre-ETL vibration. Huh? "pre-ETL vibration"?!? I had not noticed that at all and had just been trying to correct it all after it happened. If there is a helicopter tell, then vibration is it.
CFI: Kristie H.
Aircraft: Robinson R22 Beta II
Aircraft ID: N7526S
Duration: 1.4hrs
Cumulative Time: 13.6hrs
Not a good session at all. Actually Kristie did not say that it was horrible, but it felt all wrong. I just could not get into my groove. I really don't know what it was but this morning was a step backwards in my mind. I missed all of my approaches - too steep or too shallow. Every set-down was hard and bumpy. Each pick-up was one-skid-high... significantly too high. And, to top it all off, I don't think I anticipated ETL once.
Should have just stayed in bed this morning.
Lucky flight #13, I guess.
During our post-flight debrief Kristie commented on my miss of ETL. And that I was just (over) correcting and that it will come with practice. She said that I should really heed the pre-ETL vibration. Huh? "pre-ETL vibration"?!? I had not noticed that at all and had just been trying to correct it all after it happened. If there is a helicopter tell, then vibration is it.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Charlie Pattern @ 5:55a
Flight #: 012
CFI: Kristie H.
Aircraft: Robinson R22 Beta II
Aircraft ID: N7526S
Duration: 1.5hrs
Cumulative Time: 12.2hrs
I learned my lesson... without a pattern I'm just touring - no time to learn anything. So I took that to heart and was out of bed at 5:30am to get to the door in time to get a pattern. Turns out, I was ahead of the game by about 20 minutes since I was standing in front of a locked door in the cold for 15 minutes before the next student arrived to get in line. Oh well, que sera. And I got myself Charlie pattern so it was all good. Plus when you are anxious to get out there 5:30a is tough, but completely worth it. As my buddy Tim said... "I can get up at 3am if I'm fishing. I even whistle on the way to the shower." 100% agree.
We spent time today focusing on hovering. I really think I've got it down. No more death grip, no wild wobbling or pendular action. Low wind does not seem to be a problem either. Gust... well, I'm 10 feet away from my point in about 5 seconds... but I'll work on that.
After that, Kristie had me run "laps". Well, not really, but they consisted of:
Hover taxi and air taxi are a b!tc# though. I know exactly why... I feel funny pushing my face into the ground at 40 knots. Once you start moving you 'float' on a cushion of air at about 3-5 AGL before you lift up. It just feels wrong. I keep feeling like I'm going to snag a skid on the runway and end up with a mouthful of tarmac. Practice, practice, practice.
Quick-stop is, as explained before, a fast stop into hover. You slow yourself by "leaning back" and flaring the helicopter so that your horizontal thrust vector is providing backwards force... slowing you down. Problem is that this also means you are pitched up and will gain altitude if you don't lower collective. My first 5 attempts ended up having me balloon up to well above 50 feet or sinking like a rock to the point where Kristie had to keep us from planting ourself in the taxiway. (Not really, but I was sinking pretty fast.)
One thing I'm noticing is that helicopter piloting is about 10% instrument reading and 90% feel. The less I look at the instruments for information the better off I am. You just have to feel your speed, altitude and attitude. Things happen so fast that you don't have much time to verify them by reading the gauges. "Hmmm... it feels like I'm descending too fast... let me check the vertical speed indicator (VSI)". Nope, does not work like that. By the time my eyes are inside I'm already sinking and have to over correct on the collective.
CFI: Kristie H.
Aircraft: Robinson R22 Beta II
Aircraft ID: N7526S
Duration: 1.5hrs
Cumulative Time: 12.2hrs
I learned my lesson... without a pattern I'm just touring - no time to learn anything. So I took that to heart and was out of bed at 5:30am to get to the door in time to get a pattern. Turns out, I was ahead of the game by about 20 minutes since I was standing in front of a locked door in the cold for 15 minutes before the next student arrived to get in line. Oh well, que sera. And I got myself Charlie pattern so it was all good. Plus when you are anxious to get out there 5:30a is tough, but completely worth it. As my buddy Tim said... "I can get up at 3am if I'm fishing. I even whistle on the way to the shower." 100% agree.
We spent time today focusing on hovering. I really think I've got it down. No more death grip, no wild wobbling or pendular action. Low wind does not seem to be a problem either. Gust... well, I'm 10 feet away from my point in about 5 seconds... but I'll work on that.
After that, Kristie had me run "laps". Well, not really, but they consisted of:
- pick-up
- hover
- hover taxi (3 feet off ground @ a walking pace) or air taxi (20 feet @ 40knots)
- quick-stop
- hover
- set-down
Hover taxi and air taxi are a b!tc# though. I know exactly why... I feel funny pushing my face into the ground at 40 knots. Once you start moving you 'float' on a cushion of air at about 3-5 AGL before you lift up. It just feels wrong. I keep feeling like I'm going to snag a skid on the runway and end up with a mouthful of tarmac. Practice, practice, practice.
Quick-stop is, as explained before, a fast stop into hover. You slow yourself by "leaning back" and flaring the helicopter so that your horizontal thrust vector is providing backwards force... slowing you down. Problem is that this also means you are pitched up and will gain altitude if you don't lower collective. My first 5 attempts ended up having me balloon up to well above 50 feet or sinking like a rock to the point where Kristie had to keep us from planting ourself in the taxiway. (Not really, but I was sinking pretty fast.)
One thing I'm noticing is that helicopter piloting is about 10% instrument reading and 90% feel. The less I look at the instruments for information the better off I am. You just have to feel your speed, altitude and attitude. Things happen so fast that you don't have much time to verify them by reading the gauges. "Hmmm... it feels like I'm descending too fast... let me check the vertical speed indicator (VSI)". Nope, does not work like that. By the time my eyes are inside I'm already sinking and have to over correct on the collective.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Off airport to Sportsman, no wait, McMinnville.
Flight #: 011
CFI: Kristie H.
Aircraft: Robinson R22 Beta II
Aircraft ID: N7526S
Duration: 1.3hrs
Cumulative Time: 10.7hrs
Off airport flight to Sportsman (2S6) then McMinnville Airport (MMV).
View Larger Map
I was unable to grab a pattern this morning, so we had to do our work elsewhere. The north looked a little hazy so we opted to head to a new airport, Sportsman, which is to the south a bit to try some approaches. The flight out was nice... different areas, but when we got there they were doing lawn maintenance, etc, and there were tractors all over the runway. Rather tangle with them, Kristie decicided to jump us down to McMinnville Airport. Usually it is too far to fly on a single 2 hour block, but since we were already 25 minutes south, we just kept going.
Interestingly enough, I recognized McMinnville from the air... mainly because of the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum buildings. We went there last year with my dad to see the Spruce Goose aka Hughes Flying Boat, H-4, HK-1 - the largest airplane ever constructed.
In any case, you can imagine the museum building that is needed to house this monster. To give some idea, all the other planes in the museum fit (more or less) within the area it covers. Not little planes, mind you, big ones like the SR71 Blackbird, etc. Anyway, worth the visit.
Since we had to fly about 50 miles to get here, we ended up doing only a few patterns and had to head back. School rule, you need to return with 1/4 tank of fuel. And, we were going to push that limit as it was. I've been losing weight, but still we're only taking 16gal of 100LL fuel with us. The more I lose, the more fuel we can take.
Overall, decent flight and enjoyable, although I can't say I stretched myself at all on this... straight level flight is pretty easy these days. More of a tour than a lesson. Suppose that is why I need to get myself a pattern!
CFI: Kristie H.
Aircraft: Robinson R22 Beta II
Aircraft ID: N7526S
Duration: 1.3hrs
Cumulative Time: 10.7hrs
Off airport flight to Sportsman (2S6) then McMinnville Airport (MMV).
View Larger Map
I was unable to grab a pattern this morning, so we had to do our work elsewhere. The north looked a little hazy so we opted to head to a new airport, Sportsman, which is to the south a bit to try some approaches. The flight out was nice... different areas, but when we got there they were doing lawn maintenance, etc, and there were tractors all over the runway. Rather tangle with them, Kristie decicided to jump us down to McMinnville Airport. Usually it is too far to fly on a single 2 hour block, but since we were already 25 minutes south, we just kept going.
Interestingly enough, I recognized McMinnville from the air... mainly because of the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum buildings. We went there last year with my dad to see the Spruce Goose aka Hughes Flying Boat, H-4, HK-1 - the largest airplane ever constructed.In any case, you can imagine the museum building that is needed to house this monster. To give some idea, all the other planes in the museum fit (more or less) within the area it covers. Not little planes, mind you, big ones like the SR71 Blackbird, etc. Anyway, worth the visit.
Since we had to fly about 50 miles to get here, we ended up doing only a few patterns and had to head back. School rule, you need to return with 1/4 tank of fuel. And, we were going to push that limit as it was. I've been losing weight, but still we're only taking 16gal of 100LL fuel with us. The more I lose, the more fuel we can take.
Overall, decent flight and enjoyable, although I can't say I stretched myself at all on this... straight level flight is pretty easy these days. More of a tour than a lesson. Suppose that is why I need to get myself a pattern!
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Airport Operations
Today was a ground training day. Mainly we went over the FAR/AIM. Discussed transponder codes, airport signs and markings and tower communications.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Early morning clouds on the ridge...
Flight #: 010
CFI: Kristie H.
Aircraft: Robinson R22 Beta II
Aircraft ID: N7526S
Duration: 0.9hrs
Cumulative Time: 9.8hrs
Could not get a pattern today... again, so we had to head up to SPB (Scappoose airport code) for some flight time. SPB is an uncontrolled airport - which means there is no air traffic control tower to regulate flights in, around, out. This is primarily because the airport is low use and is used mostly by private pilots with their own planes. This also means, that you have to be on your toes and constantly be on the radio telling everyone what you want/plan to do. You also need to listen for the same communication. By far the most important thing at this airport is your visual sweep... apparently there are quite a few pilot that use this airport that are not up on their radio communications - some don't even have them turned on. So, very important to keep an eye open for them.
Flight to SPB was normal, but there was some low level clouds coming over one of the ridges along the way. We were at 2000ft, with plenty of visibility, so this was not a proble, but it was amazing to see the clouds spill over and into the small gorges in the area.
After some good pattern practice and even better hovering practice we did some "quick stops". This is the act of "coming in hot" (fast) towards your landing spot and landing in much less of a distance than would be necessary for a normal approach. (BTW, airplanes can't do this... obviously... only us. :) The procedure is basically this - aft cyclic to flare up a tad and lower collective pitch while applying right pedal. Kind of like sliding to a stop in wool socks on a kitchen floor. Or a sliding stop on skis. You are "leaning back" to direct as much force in front of you to slow down. As you sink down you ride ETL (Effective Translational Lift) to the ground and at the last few feet you raise collective and apply left pedal to come to a nice clean hover. That is the theory anyway. My first few were a little less graceful. Mainly in the hover at the end. I could come down, raise too much collective too quickly, yaw right and bounce back up in the air. Towards the end I think I figured it out, maybe B-?
One thing which I can take a way is that helicopters are dynamic beasts... they change their operation under various situations. Not just a little... significantly. So, what feels right at 3knots, no longer feels right at 10knots, etc. You need to adjust and anticipate what is about to happen so that you are ready to correct for it.
For example, when you are in your car... accelerating from 0 to 60 over a mile. You hold on to the wheel... keep it straight... and press on the accelerator.
Pretty simple. In a helicopter you start in a steady hover, transition to forward flight. If you remain at this speed you are taxiing and things are pretty much constant.
Above a certain forward speed, say 10knots, you enter ETL. This is the state where the froward motion of your rotors is such that you are entering clean and undisturbed air... not just chopping up your own rotor wash.
This causes you to get more lift and reduce drag. As a result, you pop up... and I mean pop up rather quickly. The helicopter yaws left because not not only does the MR (main rotor) have better efficiency, the TR (tail rotor) does as well.
Since this always will happen, you need to correct for it if you want to stay in flight. Lower collective, forward on the cyclic and right pedal.
Kristie is good at it... I did not know there was even an effect of ETL like that... because she always anticipated it was coming and corrected instantly. That is, of course, until she told me that it was there and that she would stop correcting this time. Popped up, like a cork, flared back and spun 45º left. Rather quickly, I may add.
I've gotten to the point where I can correct it pretty quickly... just not anticipate it yet.
It will come with time, I know.
CFI: Kristie H.
Aircraft: Robinson R22 Beta II
Aircraft ID: N7526S
Duration: 0.9hrs
Cumulative Time: 9.8hrs
Could not get a pattern today... again, so we had to head up to SPB (Scappoose airport code) for some flight time. SPB is an uncontrolled airport - which means there is no air traffic control tower to regulate flights in, around, out. This is primarily because the airport is low use and is used mostly by private pilots with their own planes. This also means, that you have to be on your toes and constantly be on the radio telling everyone what you want/plan to do. You also need to listen for the same communication. By far the most important thing at this airport is your visual sweep... apparently there are quite a few pilot that use this airport that are not up on their radio communications - some don't even have them turned on. So, very important to keep an eye open for them.
Flight to SPB was normal, but there was some low level clouds coming over one of the ridges along the way. We were at 2000ft, with plenty of visibility, so this was not a proble, but it was amazing to see the clouds spill over and into the small gorges in the area.
After some good pattern practice and even better hovering practice we did some "quick stops". This is the act of "coming in hot" (fast) towards your landing spot and landing in much less of a distance than would be necessary for a normal approach. (BTW, airplanes can't do this... obviously... only us. :) The procedure is basically this - aft cyclic to flare up a tad and lower collective pitch while applying right pedal. Kind of like sliding to a stop in wool socks on a kitchen floor. Or a sliding stop on skis. You are "leaning back" to direct as much force in front of you to slow down. As you sink down you ride ETL (Effective Translational Lift) to the ground and at the last few feet you raise collective and apply left pedal to come to a nice clean hover. That is the theory anyway. My first few were a little less graceful. Mainly in the hover at the end. I could come down, raise too much collective too quickly, yaw right and bounce back up in the air. Towards the end I think I figured it out, maybe B-?
One thing which I can take a way is that helicopters are dynamic beasts... they change their operation under various situations. Not just a little... significantly. So, what feels right at 3knots, no longer feels right at 10knots, etc. You need to adjust and anticipate what is about to happen so that you are ready to correct for it.
For example, when you are in your car... accelerating from 0 to 60 over a mile. You hold on to the wheel... keep it straight... and press on the accelerator.
Pretty simple. In a helicopter you start in a steady hover, transition to forward flight. If you remain at this speed you are taxiing and things are pretty much constant.Above a certain forward speed, say 10knots, you enter ETL. This is the state where the froward motion of your rotors is such that you are entering clean and undisturbed air... not just chopping up your own rotor wash.
This causes you to get more lift and reduce drag. As a result, you pop up... and I mean pop up rather quickly. The helicopter yaws left because not not only does the MR (main rotor) have better efficiency, the TR (tail rotor) does as well.
Since this always will happen, you need to correct for it if you want to stay in flight. Lower collective, forward on the cyclic and right pedal.
Kristie is good at it... I did not know there was even an effect of ETL like that... because she always anticipated it was coming and corrected instantly. That is, of course, until she told me that it was there and that she would stop correcting this time. Popped up, like a cork, flared back and spun 45º left. Rather quickly, I may add.
I've gotten to the point where I can correct it pretty quickly... just not anticipate it yet.
It will come with time, I know.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Scappoose Hover
Flight #: 009
CFI: Kristie H.
Aircraft: Robinson R22 Beta II
Aircraft ID: N8361N
Duration: 1.2hrs
Cumulative Time: 8.5hrs
View Larger Map
Apparently all that wind last flight payed off. I had a perfect hover day. Amazing that when it clicks, it clicks!
CFI: Kristie H.
Aircraft: Robinson R22 Beta II
Aircraft ID: N8361N
Duration: 1.2hrs
Cumulative Time: 8.5hrs
View Larger Map
Apparently all that wind last flight payed off. I had a perfect hover day. Amazing that when it clicks, it clicks!
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Wind+ Hover = Frustration
Flight #: 008
CFI: Kristie H.
Aircraft: Robinson R22 Beta II
Aircraft ID: N2548S
Duration: 1.3hrs
Cumulative Time: 7.3hrs
Alpha patterns & hovering again. But this time, with a pretty steady 7-10 knot winds... hovering was a %!^@#. Pendular motion all over the place. It's a shame the helicopter does not respond to intense squeezing pressure on the cyclic. I definitely have a, as Kristie calls it, "death grip" when I get into rough motion.
We happened to be practicing near the end of runway 30 where there is a large (25ft high) rock and stone noise abatement wall. I did fine hovering when in the lee of this wall, but pop up a little to high, and it was all over.
Frustrating day... but I suppose it is all practice and it is real to have wind.
CFI: Kristie H.
Aircraft: Robinson R22 Beta II
Aircraft ID: N2548S
Duration: 1.3hrs
Cumulative Time: 7.3hrs
Alpha patterns & hovering again. But this time, with a pretty steady 7-10 knot winds... hovering was a %!^@#. Pendular motion all over the place. It's a shame the helicopter does not respond to intense squeezing pressure on the cyclic. I definitely have a, as Kristie calls it, "death grip" when I get into rough motion.
We happened to be practicing near the end of runway 30 where there is a large (25ft high) rock and stone noise abatement wall. I did fine hovering when in the lee of this wall, but pop up a little to high, and it was all over.
Frustrating day... but I suppose it is all practice and it is real to have wind.
Friday, October 26, 2007
Patterns, Hover, Touchdown, Takeoff
Flight #: 007
CFI: Kristie H.
Aircraft: Robinson R22 Beta II
Aircraft ID: N2548S
Duration: 1.1hrs
Cumulative Time: 6.0hrs
Really nice evening flight. Moon was full and we had great visibility. Spent all our time doing approaches, take-offs, hovers, touchdowns and landings. Made progress again, and really think I'm getting it. Hovering is getting easier, but I really need to be light on the controls. Too much input.
CFI: Kristie H.
Aircraft: Robinson R22 Beta II
Aircraft ID: N2548S
Duration: 1.1hrs
Cumulative Time: 6.0hrs
Really nice evening flight. Moon was full and we had great visibility. Spent all our time doing approaches, take-offs, hovers, touchdowns and landings. Made progress again, and really think I'm getting it. Hovering is getting easier, but I really need to be light on the controls. Too much input.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
All dressed up and no place to go.
Today was a beautiful sunny and cool day... except, of course for wind gusts of 18knots.
The short of it is... we did the pre-flight and start-up procedures, rolled the engine up to 100%, did our final check for weather and found out that there was too much wind. Actually, Kristie thought that it would have just been a waste of time to try to learn hover control in such a wind. Why waste the money and time for her to have to keep me from floating off into the breeze.
I agreed.
We scrapped it and powered down.
The short of it is... we did the pre-flight and start-up procedures, rolled the engine up to 100%, did our final check for weather and found out that there was too much wind. Actually, Kristie thought that it would have just been a waste of time to try to learn hover control in such a wind. Why waste the money and time for her to have to keep me from floating off into the breeze.
I agreed.
We scrapped it and powered down.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Ground Training - Emergency Procedures
The last two sessions were both 2hr ground training blocks focused on Aerodynamics of Hazardous Flight. Sounds kind of intense, but the point of it all is to make sure that when (not if) something unexpected happens I know what to do. Makes good sense - be prepared.
These are the topics we covered:
Dynamic Rollover:
Description: Uncontrollable roll of helicopter under power.
Requirements:
1) Pivot point
2) Rolling moment
3) Main rotor (MR) or tail rotor (TR) thrust
Example: During a hover your skid gets caught on a runway landing light.
Static Rollover
Description: Uncontrollable roll of helicopter.
Requirements:
1) Pivot point
2) Rolling moment
Example: Landing on a slope where the settling angle of the helicopter exceeded the critical rollover angle. Basically, falling over.
Retreating Blade Stall
Description: Unintended and dangerous motion in forward flight at hight speed. Because the advancing and retreating blades will have different relative airflow, certain conditions can cause turbulence in the outer region of the retreating blade.
Factors:
1) Too hight of an airspeed. Above helicopter design limitations.
2) Over / High total weight
3) Low rotor RPM
4) High density altitude
5) Turbulence
6) Abrupt turns
Example: High speed causes low frequency vibration, pitch up and roll.
Low Rotor RPM / Blade Stall
Description: Total failure of main rotor blades resulting from low RPM
Factors:
1) too high of a pitch angle on MR blades
2) governor failure
3) high density altitude
4) pilot error
5) heavy, hot, humid & high
Example: The engine is under too much stress because of the force needed to drive the rotors and drop below acceptable ranges.
Recovery: Lower collective & Roll up throttle
Settling with Power / Vortex Ring States
Description: Full power cannot prevent descent. Due to the MR blade tip vortices, that occur normally, the helicopter gets caught in it's own downdraft and cannot maintain altitude.
Requirement Triad:
1) Power of at least 18' manifold pressure
2) Airspeed less than ETL
3) Descent rate > 300 feet / minute
Example: Coming in for a landing and not maintaining appropriate airspeed with too fast of a descent.
Recovery: Lower collective to reduce vorticies and increase airspeed (to get out of down-wash)
Low G
Description: When climbing a sudden pitch down removes all weight load from the main rotor causing excessive roll to the right. Significant possibility for mast bumping and main rotor separation.
Recovery: Re-load the main rotor with aft cyclic.
LTE (Loss of Tail-Rotor Effectiveness)
Description: The anti-torque rotor no long is providing the thrust to prevent intense yaw.
Types:
1) Main Rotor Disc Interference: If a wind is blowing at the helicopter from the front left, the turbulence generated from the MR can be directed into the TR - reducing its thrust.
2) Weather-Vane Effect: If there is a strong tail wing, the helicopter will tend to act like a weather vane (just like on top of a barn) and point head-in to the wind.
3) TR Vortex Ring State: Similar to "Settling with Power", a strong wind opposite the thrust of the TR will force it's own turbulent air into its path... decreasing the overall thrust.
Lots of bad things here... obviously. There will be plenty of test situations during real flight to practice the recovery procedures. Kristie mentioned that at points later in the training she will covertly be bringing power down and looking for me to recover. That will be interesting.
These are the topics we covered:
Dynamic Rollover:
Description: Uncontrollable roll of helicopter under power.
Requirements:
1) Pivot point
2) Rolling moment
3) Main rotor (MR) or tail rotor (TR) thrust
Example: During a hover your skid gets caught on a runway landing light.
Static Rollover
Description: Uncontrollable roll of helicopter.
Requirements:
1) Pivot point
2) Rolling moment
Example: Landing on a slope where the settling angle of the helicopter exceeded the critical rollover angle. Basically, falling over.
Retreating Blade Stall
Description: Unintended and dangerous motion in forward flight at hight speed. Because the advancing and retreating blades will have different relative airflow, certain conditions can cause turbulence in the outer region of the retreating blade.
Factors:
1) Too hight of an airspeed. Above helicopter design limitations.
2) Over / High total weight
3) Low rotor RPM
4) High density altitude
5) Turbulence
6) Abrupt turns
Example: High speed causes low frequency vibration, pitch up and roll.
Low Rotor RPM / Blade Stall
Description: Total failure of main rotor blades resulting from low RPM
Factors:
1) too high of a pitch angle on MR blades
2) governor failure
3) high density altitude
4) pilot error
5) heavy, hot, humid & high
Example: The engine is under too much stress because of the force needed to drive the rotors and drop below acceptable ranges.
Recovery: Lower collective & Roll up throttle
Settling with Power / Vortex Ring States
Description: Full power cannot prevent descent. Due to the MR blade tip vortices, that occur normally, the helicopter gets caught in it's own downdraft and cannot maintain altitude.
Requirement Triad:
1) Power of at least 18' manifold pressure
2) Airspeed less than ETL
3) Descent rate > 300 feet / minute
Example: Coming in for a landing and not maintaining appropriate airspeed with too fast of a descent.
Recovery: Lower collective to reduce vorticies and increase airspeed (to get out of down-wash)
Low G
Description: When climbing a sudden pitch down removes all weight load from the main rotor causing excessive roll to the right. Significant possibility for mast bumping and main rotor separation.
Recovery: Re-load the main rotor with aft cyclic.
LTE (Loss of Tail-Rotor Effectiveness)
Description: The anti-torque rotor no long is providing the thrust to prevent intense yaw.
Types:
1) Main Rotor Disc Interference: If a wind is blowing at the helicopter from the front left, the turbulence generated from the MR can be directed into the TR - reducing its thrust.
2) Weather-Vane Effect: If there is a strong tail wing, the helicopter will tend to act like a weather vane (just like on top of a barn) and point head-in to the wind.
3) TR Vortex Ring State: Similar to "Settling with Power", a strong wind opposite the thrust of the TR will force it's own turbulent air into its path... decreasing the overall thrust.
Lots of bad things here... obviously. There will be plenty of test situations during real flight to practice the recovery procedures. Kristie mentioned that at points later in the training she will covertly be bringing power down and looking for me to recover. That will be interesting.
Monday, October 22, 2007
Hover!
Flight #: 006
CFI: Kristie H.
Aircraft: Robinson R22 Beta II
Aircraft ID: N8340S
Duration: 1.1hrs
Cumulative Time: 4.9hrs
View Larger Map
Well, I've hit a milestone... hover. And it was amazing. It felt like 3 minutes, but it was more likely 30 seconds. Who cares... it was incredible.
We also did quite a few patterns in Alpha today... practice in picking a landing spot and sticking it. I was consistently high and would pass our mark.
I've been keeping up with running, every other day. It's late, I'm tired, but hover happy.
CFI: Kristie H.
Aircraft: Robinson R22 Beta II
Aircraft ID: N8340S
Duration: 1.1hrs
Cumulative Time: 4.9hrs
View Larger Map
Well, I've hit a milestone... hover. And it was amazing. It felt like 3 minutes, but it was more likely 30 seconds. Who cares... it was incredible.
We also did quite a few patterns in Alpha today... practice in picking a landing spot and sticking it. I was consistently high and would pass our mark.
I've been keeping up with running, every other day. It's late, I'm tired, but hover happy.
Mystery Fog / Ground Training
Today was planned as a flight, but we were grounded due to very heavy fog. Odd thing is that the fog was only around the airport. The drive to the airport was beautiful... I could actually see early morning stars.
Perhaps it was the fact that we were not scheduled on 61N, perhaps just unlucky. I did get a chance to do the pre-flight tho... which is certainly helping my part-location-accuracy and efficiency getting things completed correctly.
Afterwards we grabbed about an 1.5 hrs of ground training. Topics were around aerodynamics, and emergency recovery.
We have an evening slot planned for some flights... since today looks both calm and clear.
Perhaps it was the fact that we were not scheduled on 61N, perhaps just unlucky. I did get a chance to do the pre-flight tho... which is certainly helping my part-location-accuracy and efficiency getting things completed correctly.
Afterwards we grabbed about an 1.5 hrs of ground training. Topics were around aerodynamics, and emergency recovery.
We have an evening slot planned for some flights... since today looks both calm and clear.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Alpha & Bravo / Hovering
Flight #: 005
CFI: Kristie H.
Aircraft: Robinson R22 Beta II
Aircraft ID: N8361N
Duration: 1.2hrs
Cumulative Time: 3.7hrs
View Larger Map
Today's flights were in Alpha & Bravo patterns. These two patterns are reserved areas in/around HIO for maneuvers - both real and practice. In my case, all practice. We actually could not get space in the patterns officially, so Kristie bargained with another CFI & student for some time... which I have to say was pretty cool of them to share.
After pre-flight check, which I'm proud to say I did today all by myself and within a decent amount of time, we headed out to Alpha Pattern for some pattern practice. The point was to run through procedures and to practice descents and turning in real space. While I did not get it down too well this time, I think I grasp what we're after here. It is all about doing everything I have learned already, but withing real boundaries... like taxiways, ATC towers, etc. I think I followed the ground tracks Kristie gave me, but I was never at the correct altitude. Most often, too high. First time, I know.
During one of my passes at a practice take-off I was climbing a little too slowly and not turning quickly enough... Kristie calmly said, "You'll want to turn now, before the tower". Translation: "Turn now, before you clip the tower." Practice makes perfect, I guess.
After a few more turns, Kristie crossed the runway and took us into Bravo pattern for a starter lesson in hovering. This is, by far, the hardest thing I've done. This seems to fit with what everyone says... but still. Kristie broke the lesson down into 4 distinct parts:
Wrap-Up (a.k.a. Things I learned today):
CFI: Kristie H.
Aircraft: Robinson R22 Beta II
Aircraft ID: N8361N
Duration: 1.2hrs
Cumulative Time: 3.7hrs
View Larger Map
Today's flights were in Alpha & Bravo patterns. These two patterns are reserved areas in/around HIO for maneuvers - both real and practice. In my case, all practice. We actually could not get space in the patterns officially, so Kristie bargained with another CFI & student for some time... which I have to say was pretty cool of them to share.
After pre-flight check, which I'm proud to say I did today all by myself and within a decent amount of time, we headed out to Alpha Pattern for some pattern practice. The point was to run through procedures and to practice descents and turning in real space. While I did not get it down too well this time, I think I grasp what we're after here. It is all about doing everything I have learned already, but withing real boundaries... like taxiways, ATC towers, etc. I think I followed the ground tracks Kristie gave me, but I was never at the correct altitude. Most often, too high. First time, I know.
During one of my passes at a practice take-off I was climbing a little too slowly and not turning quickly enough... Kristie calmly said, "You'll want to turn now, before the tower". Translation: "Turn now, before you clip the tower." Practice makes perfect, I guess.
After a few more turns, Kristie crossed the runway and took us into Bravo pattern for a starter lesson in hovering. This is, by far, the hardest thing I've done. This seems to fit with what everyone says... but still. Kristie broke the lesson down into 4 distinct parts:
- Part 1 - Pedals. She gave me control of the pedals. The exercise here was for me to yaw the helicopter right and left to point at a particular landmark of Kristie's choosing. This, honestly, was not too hard. Just have to remember to cancel out the movement, when you were getting close, with the opposite pedal. We did a few 90º left/right turns. Not bad. The R22 pivots quite quickly and you really have to be light on the pedals. A few gusts of wind made it interesting at points, but I think I got this one.
- Part 2 - Collective. This time I had control of only the collective. My job was to raise/lower us while in hover. ±10ft up or down. Again, this was not so bad... and I think I got this one down pretty well too.
- Part 3 - Collective & Pedals. She ratcheted things up a little by giving me both pedals and collective this time.
The trick here is to remember all that you know about Part 1 & 2, but also remember that as you change the pitch of the blades (by changes to the collective) you also increase/decrease the load on the engine. This results in a change of torque and causes the helicopter to yaw. The rule is, when you raise the collective you are increasing the angle of attack (AOA) of the blades. The produces more lift and causes the helicopter to ascend. It also increases the torque and you yaw to the right. To counteract this, you need to put in left pedal to prevent this yaw. Raise collective, left pedal. After a few cycles of up and down... I think I also got this down. - Part 4 - Cyclic. Wow... this is tricky. I suppose I should have known when Kristie took control of collective and pedals.
Best way for me to describe this is by an analogy; remember the little wooden maze toy where you had two knobs controlling two axis of the game board? Your job was to guide a ball along a maze by tilting the playing deck and rolling the ball from start to finish. Hovering a helicopter is very much like that game. You start drifting one direction and you counteract with the opposite motion. Too much over correction and you go the other way... fast. Not enough, well, you don't stop soon enough. It took me significantly longer to understand what I really needed to do here, but I think I'm getting it. It is all about the instant reaction to a motion followed by small corrective inputs. 
Due to something called pendular action, the path you trace out when you over-correct a movement looks much like motion of a pendulum. The helicopter acts as if it were suspended by a single point, the rotor mast, and you appear to swing back and forth. It is a little un-nerving, but it is predictable so you know which direction you are going to swing next... and can correct quickly. I had a few nice corrections after getting us into this state. But, you really should not be in this state begin with. While I need a lot of work here, I understand what I need to do... just practice. One thing which Kristie did which I really thought was interesting was to give me control over the cyclic and then let me hover in place. She would then give a little pedal and yaw us in one direction. I'd have to compensate and keep us hovering. Tricky, but it was all about keeping your eyes outside.
Wrap-Up (a.k.a. Things I learned today):
- Fly first, then communicate.
- Raise collective == Left Pedal / Lower collective == Right Pedal
- Pendular Motion is not a fun state to be in..
- You don't need the key to start the pre-flight.
- Wear a t-shirt. It gets hot in the cabin.
- Cyclic is pronounced "PSY-click" not "SICK-lick"
Friday, October 19, 2007
"Keep your eyes outside"
Flight #: 004
CFI: Kristie H.
Aircraft: Robinson R22 Beta II
Aircraft ID: N8361N
Duration: 1.7hrs
Cumulative Time: 2.5hrs
View Larger Map
I think I'm getting it... I really do. This morning's flight was fantastic. Weather was a little rough this morning on the way in, but winds and rain stopped during my pre-flight check. I completed 100% of the pre-flight today, and I think I'm getting pretty good at it - if I do say so myself. Basically it is a confidence around knowing that I am looking at the yoke flanges when I'm really supposed to.
After we powered up we actually decided to hold back and let the Jet Ranger, turbine chopper used by the local Fox news network land first. I was surprised at the effect of their down wash... felt like we were going to get blown away.
We got clearance for the WPA and headed out for some maneuvers. Plan was to set the floor at 1000ft and act as if we were executing a series of approaches.
Kristie keeps telling me to keep my eyes off the instruments and look outside. You do this,
obviously, in a car when you drive, but I'm just not used to the feel of the helicopter yet... so I keep checking altitude, speed, manifold pressure and carburetter temperature. Fact is, if you jut glance down, every so often, as you do now with your rear-view mirror and speedometer you are much better off. She was telling me that she uses the position of the compass / compass mount in relation to a point on the horizon to estimate the pitch angle (nose down) of the helicopter - this is related to the speed when in forward motion.
This is, obviously different for everybody and every helicopter, but it turned out to be a pearl of wisdom... because I stopped fixating on the gauges.
My flight was sooo much better. I stopped wobbling and executing rapid speed changes, etc.
She really knows some good tricks and I enjoyed the flight a lot more... not only can you focus on what you are trying to do... turns, climbs, etc... but you enjoy scenery too.
At this point, turns... that's the coolest part of flight. The banking.
Flight back was uneventful, but interesting because thre were so many people coming back to base. Lots of radio chatter.
CFI: Kristie H.
Aircraft: Robinson R22 Beta II
Aircraft ID: N8361N
Duration: 1.7hrs
Cumulative Time: 2.5hrs
View Larger Map
I think I'm getting it... I really do. This morning's flight was fantastic. Weather was a little rough this morning on the way in, but winds and rain stopped during my pre-flight check. I completed 100% of the pre-flight today, and I think I'm getting pretty good at it - if I do say so myself. Basically it is a confidence around knowing that I am looking at the yoke flanges when I'm really supposed to.
After we powered up we actually decided to hold back and let the Jet Ranger, turbine chopper used by the local Fox news network land first. I was surprised at the effect of their down wash... felt like we were going to get blown away.
We got clearance for the WPA and headed out for some maneuvers. Plan was to set the floor at 1000ft and act as if we were executing a series of approaches.
Kristie keeps telling me to keep my eyes off the instruments and look outside. You do this,
obviously, in a car when you drive, but I'm just not used to the feel of the helicopter yet... so I keep checking altitude, speed, manifold pressure and carburetter temperature. Fact is, if you jut glance down, every so often, as you do now with your rear-view mirror and speedometer you are much better off. She was telling me that she uses the position of the compass / compass mount in relation to a point on the horizon to estimate the pitch angle (nose down) of the helicopter - this is related to the speed when in forward motion.This is, obviously different for everybody and every helicopter, but it turned out to be a pearl of wisdom... because I stopped fixating on the gauges.
My flight was sooo much better. I stopped wobbling and executing rapid speed changes, etc.
She really knows some good tricks and I enjoyed the flight a lot more... not only can you focus on what you are trying to do... turns, climbs, etc... but you enjoy scenery too.
At this point, turns... that's the coolest part of flight. The banking.
Flight back was uneventful, but interesting because thre were so many people coming back to base. Lots of radio chatter.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Frasca TruFlight H (aka Flight Sim)
Due to a pretty nasty weather front in the area we took some time on the flight simulator. More or less to run over startup and shutdown procedures for the R22. Definitely an interesting lesson, but very different from the real thing. Actually, to be more fair, the instruments look/act pretty much the same as the real thing, but flight is definitely odd. First of all, there is no mass or motion... so accurate muscle memory is lost. So, while worth the time to go over the checklists, it definitely has a lot to be desired. I did get into a good hover tho. But again, does not really count for much.We also squeezed in about an hour of ground training - primarily on airfoils and aerodynamics. Did a bit of review and will dive in to the lift equation next time.
Another flight (I hope) tomorrow.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
West Practice Area & Drama
Flight #: 003
CFI: Kristie H.
Aircraft: Robinson R22 Beta II
Aircraft ID: N8361N
Duration: 0.7hrs
Cumulative Time: 1.4hrs
View Larger Map
Today's flight was into the western practice area, aka WPA for some basic flight maneuvers.
I did all of the pre-flight check on my own this time... Kristie, of course, did a follow up at the end to make sure I did not skip / miss anything. The checklist does include the nuts that hold on the main rotor (aka Jesus Nut) - you need to make sure they are tight.
When complete we jumped in and began the start-up sequence. I ran through most of the steps which did not involve throttle or collective control; Kristie handles that for now.
We got clearance for a west departure and headed out to the west practice area - an airspace above and around Hillsboro that is used by the HAI students. As you can see from the rough path in the map above, it was to do a series of turns to get comfortable with the controls. Kristie asked me to do things like:
I was all over the place! When you pitch forward, you both increase airspeed and descend. Pitch aft, you decrease airspeed and ascend. I was at 40 knots then at 60, back to 50, then up to 80. Remember when you were learning to drive and didn't figure out the accelerator pedal... the lurch feeling. That... only at 1500ft.
I did get a little better at it... but I kept focusing inside the cabin and not outside... which, apparently, is a newbie thing to do... but I'm not yet comfortable with the feel of things yet. SO, got plenty of stuff to work on.
Then at about 18:30, and here comes the drama, we got a call from another HAI helicopter in the northern part of the WPA. Basically looking for any/all HAI flights in the WPA to report in. We happened to be the only other ones out there and we were asked to help out. Apparently a third helicopter was doing off airport landings and was doing some in a field in the WPA. In the middle of the landing, one of the anti-torque pedals locked up and they started to yaw. The CFI safely landed, and radioed maintenance back at HAI. A fourth helicopter came out, bringing the mechanic and taking the student back to the school. Turned out that this was not an in-the-field fix and it was getting dark. So, we were asked to high-tail it back to base, drop me off, and then Kristie and another helicopter with another CFI were to fly back to pick up the mechanic and original pilot. All before it got dark. Mind you, it was already pretty dark.
Kristie took the controls and pointed us back towards home. She gave me the controls back to see if I wanted to take it home.... I did, and we headed back. About 1 minute after she politely pointed out that I was back at 50 knots airspeed and wanted to get back a little faster. I gave controls and she powered back to the airport. She landed very quickly (but softly) and left power on while I grabbed my stuff and headed in. As soon as I was clear, and they were both ready to go, both helicopters took off like a shot.
Turns out, everything was fine and the pilot / mechanic were picked up in time. No major issue... but some drama, no doubt.
CFI: Kristie H.
Aircraft: Robinson R22 Beta II
Aircraft ID: N8361N
Duration: 0.7hrs
Cumulative Time: 1.4hrs
View Larger Map
Today's flight was into the western practice area, aka WPA for some basic flight maneuvers.
I did all of the pre-flight check on my own this time... Kristie, of course, did a follow up at the end to make sure I did not skip / miss anything. The checklist does include the nuts that hold on the main rotor (aka Jesus Nut) - you need to make sure they are tight.
When complete we jumped in and began the start-up sequence. I ran through most of the steps which did not involve throttle or collective control; Kristie handles that for now.
We got clearance for a west departure and headed out to the west practice area - an airspace above and around Hillsboro that is used by the HAI students. As you can see from the rough path in the map above, it was to do a series of turns to get comfortable with the controls. Kristie asked me to do things like:
- 90º turns and maintain airspeed
- 90º turns and maintain altitude
- 90º climbing or descending turns
- 180º turns maintaining airspeed and altitude
I was all over the place! When you pitch forward, you both increase airspeed and descend. Pitch aft, you decrease airspeed and ascend. I was at 40 knots then at 60, back to 50, then up to 80. Remember when you were learning to drive and didn't figure out the accelerator pedal... the lurch feeling. That... only at 1500ft.I did get a little better at it... but I kept focusing inside the cabin and not outside... which, apparently, is a newbie thing to do... but I'm not yet comfortable with the feel of things yet. SO, got plenty of stuff to work on.
Then at about 18:30, and here comes the drama, we got a call from another HAI helicopter in the northern part of the WPA. Basically looking for any/all HAI flights in the WPA to report in. We happened to be the only other ones out there and we were asked to help out. Apparently a third helicopter was doing off airport landings and was doing some in a field in the WPA. In the middle of the landing, one of the anti-torque pedals locked up and they started to yaw. The CFI safely landed, and radioed maintenance back at HAI. A fourth helicopter came out, bringing the mechanic and taking the student back to the school. Turned out that this was not an in-the-field fix and it was getting dark. So, we were asked to high-tail it back to base, drop me off, and then Kristie and another helicopter with another CFI were to fly back to pick up the mechanic and original pilot. All before it got dark. Mind you, it was already pretty dark.
Kristie took the controls and pointed us back towards home. She gave me the controls back to see if I wanted to take it home.... I did, and we headed back. About 1 minute after she politely pointed out that I was back at 50 knots airspeed and wanted to get back a little faster. I gave controls and she powered back to the airport. She landed very quickly (but softly) and left power on while I grabbed my stuff and headed in. As soon as I was clear, and they were both ready to go, both helicopters took off like a shot.
Turns out, everything was fine and the pilot / mechanic were picked up in time. No major issue... but some drama, no doubt.
Monday, October 15, 2007
KHIO 151722Z 00000KT 1 1/2SM -RA BR BKN003 BKN030 OVC075 11/11 A2978 RMK AO2 P0002
The VFR (Visual Flight Rules) require that we have 3SM (Statute Mile) visibility and a 1000ft cloud level before we can fly. And, well... we didn't get that this morning. If you look at the Title above, you can see a METAR for KHIO you will see:
1 1/2SM : 1.5 Statute Mile Visibility
RA BR BKN003: Rain, Mist, Broken Cloud Layer @ 300ft
Basically... no fly.
We did, however, get in 2.0 hrs of ground instruction in. While not as thrilling as flying, I need this time. Apparently it can be really ugly if all the flight training is done up front. Not only will you have to catch up with 35 hrs of ground time in a row, but you will most likely have to put in extra flight time at then end to brush up before your FAA test. So, every rainy, grey Oregon cloud has a silver lining.
In the interim, I asked my bro, Charlie to add something for me to Google's SMS toolset. You may already know that you can send SMS messages to GOOGLE (466453) with a bunch of keywords... and it will SMS you back the answer.
Since all pilots have to check the weather, how cool would it be to SMS Google with a metar khio and have it send you an SMS:
KHIO 151722Z 00000KT 1 1/2SM -RA BR BKN003 BKN030 OVC075 11/11 A2978 RMK AO2 P0002
Every pilot would use it!
Please Charlie! You OWE me.
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