So, I guess I lied a little about never spending any more money at Hillsboro Aviation. I needed to fly, so over the past month or so, I grabbed a few hours in the sky with their helicopters.
Anyway, had some fantastic flights. Nothing fancy, just tooling around up there flying one of the most complex machines man has ever dreamed up. :)
Look, let me be clear on one thing. I don't resent HAI, I don't hate them. Really. They taught me an incredible skill. They taught me well. The school is filled with excellent CFIs. My issue comes in where they decided to rotate out the high-time instructors. Just makes no sense for people at the end of their Commercial training.
If you have questions... ask, I'd be happy to explain further.
Showing posts with label SPB. Show all posts
Showing posts with label SPB. Show all posts
Friday, July 3, 2009
Monday, November 24, 2008
Solo X/C to Kelso - Just for fun.
Flight #: 111 [Commercial VFR61]
Aircraft: Robinson R22 Beta II
Aircraft ID: N227SH
Duration, as PIC: 1.2hrs
Cumulative Time: 135.4hrs
Got a call this morning that told me there was an open helicopter - if I wanted it. Hell, yea!
So, did my pre-flight planning (Weight and Balance, Weather Check, Flight Manifest, and filed my flight plan with Seattle Flight Service) and sped out the door. 227SH was sitting there waiting for me with 47.5 hours left before maintenance - so it was in prime condition.
Day was perfect; cold, little bit of wind from the west and clear to 25k ft.
Nothing particular to speak of, other than the fact that I know understand the frustration our CFIs go though listening to us murder communications - particularly in uncontrolled airports. It is pretty bad. I felt, however, pretty damn good since I was noticing the problems.
You just can't beat the feeling of flying.
Aircraft: Robinson R22 Beta II
Aircraft ID: N227SH
Duration, as PIC: 1.2hrs
Cumulative Time: 135.4hrs
Got a call this morning that told me there was an open helicopter - if I wanted it. Hell, yea!
So, did my pre-flight planning (Weight and Balance, Weather Check, Flight Manifest, and filed my flight plan with Seattle Flight Service) and sped out the door. 227SH was sitting there waiting for me with 47.5 hours left before maintenance - so it was in prime condition.
Day was perfect; cold, little bit of wind from the west and clear to 25k ft.
Nothing particular to speak of, other than the fact that I know understand the frustration our CFIs go though listening to us murder communications - particularly in uncontrolled airports. It is pretty bad. I felt, however, pretty damn good since I was noticing the problems.
You just can't beat the feeling of flying.
Monday, September 8, 2008
PAX Flight #1: Sandy!
Flight #: 101 [Commercial VFR61]
Aircraft: Schweizer 300CB
Aircraft ID: N61482
Duration, as PIC: 1.5hrs
Cumulative Time: 125.4hrs
Today was my first passenger flight. Sandy and I had a very nice flight up to Scappoose, OR and then transitioned through Hillsboro airspace, then on to Twin Oaks.
She seemed to really enjoy it... as did I!
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Solo to Washington...
Flight #: 082 [Commercial VFR61]
Aircraft: Robinson R22 Beta II
Aircraft ID: N956SH
Duration, PiC: 1.4hrs
Cumulative Time: 99.0hrs
Ho, hummm... another cross country solo flight into Washington state's Kelso-Longview airport.
Actually, I really like the morning flights like this. Beautiful weather, cool air, not much traffic in the sky. Followed the river all the way up. Beauty!
Aircraft: Robinson R22 Beta II
Aircraft ID: N956SH
Duration, PiC: 1.4hrs
Cumulative Time: 99.0hrs
Ho, hummm... another cross country solo flight into Washington state's Kelso-Longview airport.
Actually, I really like the morning flights like this. Beautiful weather, cool air, not much traffic in the sky. Followed the river all the way up. Beauty!
Monday, June 30, 2008
2008-06-30; HIO-SPB-KLS-HIO
Flight #: 077 [Commercial VFR61]
CFI: Kristie E.
Aircraft: Robinson R22 Beta II
Aircraft ID: N2356T
Duration: 1.4hrs
As PIC: 1.4hrs
Cumulative Time: 91.5hrs
View Larger Map
CFI: Kristie E.
Aircraft: Robinson R22 Beta II
Aircraft ID: N2356T
Duration: 1.4hrs
As PIC: 1.4hrs
Cumulative Time: 91.5hrs
View Larger Map
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Governor Failure... a learning opportunity!
Flight #: 042
CFI: Kristie H.
Aircraft: Robinson R22 Beta II
Aircraft ID: N8361N
Duration: 1.2hrs
Cumulative Time: 47.4hrs
Another prep flight... this time, with a little twist. I could not get to the airport in time to get a pattern, so we headed north to Scappoose for some practice. It is a nice flight north out of the airport. Get to cross over a ridge, follow a valley and cross the river to get there. Had not been up here in a while, so it was a good refresher on uncontrolled airspaces.
We got there, and I entered the downwind leg on the 45ยบ as is appropriate, but flubbed my call to Scappoose traffic. Not badly... just forgot a few things in my call. I figured it out on my own, and fixed it, but it was a little weak. We came in for an approach and I hit the mark... dead on. The key... eyes outside.
Don't you hate it when they are always right?!
In the hover, Kristie wanted me to do a max performance takeoff. As I maneuvered down a little bit on the taxiway to clear some space for landing aircraft to taxi off I saw a "Governor Off" light flick on and off. Odd. Anyway, this is the procedure you use if you need to get up, fast, to clear an object. Think... landing in a clearing and you need to get out without whacking into trees.
There is, as with almost everything, an acronym. MIPOC:
The Pilots Operating Handbook (POH) gives the procedure for a failed governor... basically, switch it off, manually override it, and land as soon as practical. In this case, we were about 20 minutes away (by air) and 40 by car from the airport. A governor is part of our required equipment to start a flight, but since we were mid flight we were in a bit of a grey area. Since you don't need the governor to fly, and it is OK to land as soon as practical, we opted to fly back to home base for repairs. This meant we had to cut the flight short... but safety is always #1.
Ok, so what's the governor? Well, this is an electronic piece of magic that does fine grained adjustments on the engine RPM so that you don't move out of the green zone as you are messing with the main rotor pitch. Along side the governor is the correlator. The correlator is a mechanical linkage between the collective pitch control and the throttle that increases the engine speed as you raise pitch. (This is because as you increase pitch on the main rotor blades you are increasing drag and potentially slowing down the MR blades.) Anyway, the correlator does very coarse adjustments to the throttle... usually too much. The governor is there to protect things a little. Engine over speed = bad.
So, the fact that the governor is dead is not the end of the world, but it is now up to me to make sure the engine is not going into the red. Just one more thing to worry about, eh? Well, the correlator, as it turns out, it very very obnoxious. As you raise collective to lift off, it slams down the throttle and engine RPMs head up into high-red. You have to be there to roll it back down. Once you have it right, you are pretty much good to go... until you land. But at least you don't have to be on top of it so intensely during the flight.
Just a little drama for the flight, but it was great experience for "governor off" flight.
Headed back early, but got some good experience.
CFI: Kristie H.
Aircraft: Robinson R22 Beta II
Aircraft ID: N8361N
Duration: 1.2hrs
Cumulative Time: 47.4hrs
Another prep flight... this time, with a little twist. I could not get to the airport in time to get a pattern, so we headed north to Scappoose for some practice. It is a nice flight north out of the airport. Get to cross over a ridge, follow a valley and cross the river to get there. Had not been up here in a while, so it was a good refresher on uncontrolled airspaces.
We got there, and I entered the downwind leg on the 45ยบ as is appropriate, but flubbed my call to Scappoose traffic. Not badly... just forgot a few things in my call. I figured it out on my own, and fixed it, but it was a little weak. We came in for an approach and I hit the mark... dead on. The key... eyes outside.
Don't you hate it when they are always right?!
In the hover, Kristie wanted me to do a max performance takeoff. As I maneuvered down a little bit on the taxiway to clear some space for landing aircraft to taxi off I saw a "Governor Off" light flick on and off. Odd. Anyway, this is the procedure you use if you need to get up, fast, to clear an object. Think... landing in a clearing and you need to get out without whacking into trees.
There is, as with almost everything, an acronym. MIPOC:
- M: Magneto Check. This ensures the Robinson's dual magnetos are operating correctly. To do this, you roll back on the throttle, turn off the governor, and isolate each magneto to ensure it is operating correctly.
- I: Instrument Check. Once you complete your check, you check instruments to make sure you have everything "in the green". You are going to push the helicopter close to it's limits and want to ensure everything is good to go before you try.
- P: Performance Check. Since you can be, and in this case we are, at a different airport, we need to make sure the engine can give us the performance we need given the altitude and temperature of our spot.
- O: Obstacle Identification. This verifies the object you need to clear is well understood and that you are really focusing on what you will need to avoid.
- C: Clear the helicopter. A quick look outside and around the helicopter and you are good to go.
The Pilots Operating Handbook (POH) gives the procedure for a failed governor... basically, switch it off, manually override it, and land as soon as practical. In this case, we were about 20 minutes away (by air) and 40 by car from the airport. A governor is part of our required equipment to start a flight, but since we were mid flight we were in a bit of a grey area. Since you don't need the governor to fly, and it is OK to land as soon as practical, we opted to fly back to home base for repairs. This meant we had to cut the flight short... but safety is always #1.
Ok, so what's the governor? Well, this is an electronic piece of magic that does fine grained adjustments on the engine RPM so that you don't move out of the green zone as you are messing with the main rotor pitch. Along side the governor is the correlator. The correlator is a mechanical linkage between the collective pitch control and the throttle that increases the engine speed as you raise pitch. (This is because as you increase pitch on the main rotor blades you are increasing drag and potentially slowing down the MR blades.) Anyway, the correlator does very coarse adjustments to the throttle... usually too much. The governor is there to protect things a little. Engine over speed = bad.
So, the fact that the governor is dead is not the end of the world, but it is now up to me to make sure the engine is not going into the red. Just one more thing to worry about, eh? Well, the correlator, as it turns out, it very very obnoxious. As you raise collective to lift off, it slams down the throttle and engine RPMs head up into high-red. You have to be there to roll it back down. Once you have it right, you are pretty much good to go... until you land. But at least you don't have to be on top of it so intensely during the flight.
Just a little drama for the flight, but it was great experience for "governor off" flight.
Headed back early, but got some good experience.
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.
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!
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