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.
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.
- Air Traffic Control Tower: 119.3
- Base / Line Service: 122.85
- Automated Weather (ATIS): 127.65
As such, it makes it a lot easier for me to do the tower communications since I don't have to keep asking Kristie which channel to use.
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."
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 45ยบ 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.
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.
