Maneuver Practice

Flight #: 062-066
CFI: Kristie H.
Aircraft: Robinson R22 Beta II
Aircraft ID: Various

Past 5 flights have all been maneuver practice... just honing the razors edge. The final result of it all:

• my normal approaches are rock solid - landing withing 3ft of desired point
• autorotations are passable, not perfect, but passable. I still need to work on my entry speeds... I keep slowing down without trying.
• air-taxi / quick stop - perfect.
• hover autorotations - damn fine. I've learned to roll off the throttle S L O W L Y, and all else is smooth.
• running landings - passable, need to work on my speed control here.
• running takeoff - perfect.
• max performance takeoff - perfect.

Feelin' good... feelin' really good.

Slopes... my new thing.

Flight #: 061
CFI: Kristie H.
Aircraft: Robinson R22 Beta II
Aircraft ID: N8361N
Duration: 1.3hrs
Cumulative Time: 70.4hrs

Lots of practice again today. Focus on slope landings.

Here is how a slope landing is done:

Position the helicopter across the slope at a stabilized hover headed into the wind over the spot of intended landing (Frame 1). Downward pressure on the collective starts the helicopter descending. As the upslope skid or wheel touches the ground, hesitate momentarily in a level attitude, then apply lateral cyclic in the direction of the slope (Frame 2). This holds the skid against the slope while you continue lowering the downslope skid with the collective. As you lower collective, continue to move the cyclic towards the slope to maintain a fixed position (Frame 3). The slope must be shallow enough so you can hold the helicopter against it with the cyclic during the entire landing. A slope of 15 degrees is considered maximum for normal operation of most helicopters, However check the POH of the particular helicopter being flown for the manufacturer's recommended limitation.

You should be aware of any abnormal vibration or mast bumping, that signals maximum cyclic deflection. If this occurs, abandon the landing because the slope is too steep. In most helicopters with a counterclockwise rotor system, landings can be made on steeper slopes when you are holding the cyclic to the right. When landing on slopes using left cyclic, some cyclic input must be used to overcome translating tendancy. If wind is not a factor, you should consider the drifting tendancy when determining landing direction.

After the downslope skid is on the surface, reduce the collective to the full down position, and neutralize the cyclic and pedals (Frame 4). Normal operating RPM should be maintained until the full weight of the helicopter is on the landing gear. This ensures adequate RPM for immeadiate takeoff in case the helicopter starts sliding down the slope. Use antitorque pedals as necessary throughout the landing for heading control. Before reducing RPM, move the cyclic as necessary to check that the helicopter is firmly on the ground.

And a slope pickup is done:

Begin the takeoff by increasing RPM to the normal range with the collective full down. Then, move the cyclic towards the slope (Frame 1). Holding cyclic towards the slope causes the downslope skid or wheel to rise as you slowly raise the collective (Frame 2). as the skid or wheel comes up, move the cyclic towards the neutral position. If properly coordinated, the helicopter should attain a level atttude as the cyclic reaches the neutral position. At the same time, use antitorque pedal pressure to maintain heading and throttle to maintain RPM. With the helicopter level and cyclic centered, pause momentarily to verify everything is correct, and then gradually raise the collective to complete the liftoff (Frame 3).

After reaching a hover, take care not to avoid hitting the ground with the tail rotor. If an upslope wind exists, excute a crosswind takeoff and then make a turn into the wind after clearing the ground with the tail rotor.

Simple, huh. :)

More practice...

Flight #: 060
CFI: Kristie H.
Aircraft: Robinson R22 Beta II
Aircraft ID: N2356T
Duration: 1.0hrs
Cumulative Time: 69.1hrs

Some real crap weather the past few days. Finally got a chance to go up and really was in the groove. Getting better on my autorotations. Turns out that I'm very focused on the airspeed indicator and not paying enough attention to my attitude on entry. As such, I miss the sweet spot and end up spending my time chasing it.

Practice, practice, practice.

White board markers and post-it notes, flight essentials.

Flight #: 041
CFI: Gareth E.
Aircraft: Robinson R22 Beta II
Aircraft ID: N8340S
Duration: 1.6hrs
Cumulative Time: 46.2hrs

Got another chance to fly with Gareth this afternoon. Another good flight. Again focusing on the patterns, approaches and emergency procedures for the stage 1 flight, scheduled for the 28th.

It is really good to mix it up with instructors. Gives you a chance to get used to someone else's way of teaching and helps find the errors of your ways. Fact is, they are teaching the same thing... but with slightly different twists... sometimes it is that twist that hits home. It was the case this time too.


I have issues "hitting the spot" when coming in for a landing. I generally overshoot my spot cause I'm too high and too fast when I turn final. So, I mentioned this to Gareth before the flight just so that I could get some other eyes to help me work on it. Right before run-up, he ran in to the pilot lounge and grabbed a white board, dry erase marker and a stack of post it notes. Odd, thinks I.

Anyway, he asked me to fly a normal approach to golf intersection on alpha taxiway. On the way in, I did as I do normally... overshot my spot. So, he took controls on the next one, handed me a dry erase marker and told me to put a mark on the inside of the cockpit plastic just over the landing spot when he said we were lined up. So, I did just that. Little "x" on the screen. Then, we just did a go around.

At 700ft as I turned on the downwind leg. Out come the post-it notes and Gareth covers up the air speed indicator with a little "Now that's broken... so no point looking inside.". Great... clearly he and Kristie talk. :)

But, they are both exactly right... I look into the turn, keep my eye off my spot and either lose too much, or gain too much speed. And that is what kills me. So, I kept my eyes on the touchdown point... and wham, made it.

We continued the flight executing other maneuvers, but nothing too exciting to speak of. All pretty much on target... and feeling good.

I've got one more flight with Kristie before my Stage 1 Ground exam and flight. But right now, I'm feeling great about ground, and pretty good about the flight.

More practice towards Stage 1 Check

Flight #: 037
CFI: Kristie H.
Aircraft: Robinson R22 Beta II
Aircraft ID: N7155W
Duration: 1.4hrs
Cumulative Time: 41.5hrs

Still gearing up for the Stage 1 Check on the 19th. All is looking good. While it is not actually part of the stage 1 check, Kriste demonstrated and then let me fly a 180º turning autorotation. It is exactly what it sounds like. You lose engine power and need to make a 180º turn to hit your landing spot. It is very much like a standard auto except that in the turn you have to be very conscious of your rotor RPM. As air is forced under the main rotor your RPM shoots up, and this happens in the turn naturally. So, you just have to be on top of it.

I've had a few questions about the Stage 1 check, and what it is. Basically it is a check, done by the school, to make sure you are ready to begin Stage 2 - which includes solo and cross country flights. It consists of two phases.

The first is a 2 to 4 hour verbal examination of all topics covered in Stage 1 of the course. This includes aerodynamics, emergency procedures, power plant mechanics, airport operations, regulations and airspaces, etc. The idea here is to make sure I'm in complete understanding of all the rules and operations governing helicopter flight. In some cases, I don't need to memorize exact rule paragraph and sections, I just need to know basics and be able to find the regulation in the FAR/AIM manual. In other cases, emergency procedures, I need to know them immediately and exactly - In case of an emergency. This exam is conducted by a totally new CFI, someone who I've not yet worked with. This keeps things pretty impartial and opens me up to hearing the question in different ways.

Once I pass this portion of the Stage 1 check, I then move on to the flight. This consists of taking a flight with the new CFI out to the west practice area and executing an Off Airport Landing, an example of Settling With Power (Vortex Ring States) and running through basic pilotage and radio communications. We then fly back to Charlie Pattern and execute normal patterns, quick-stops, max performance takeoffs, running takeoffs / landings and a few auto rotations.

When this is complete, I move on to the beginning of my solo flights. Can't wait!

Lookin good... feeling good...

Flight #: 036
CFI: Kristie H.
Aircraft: Robinson R22 Beta II
Aircraft ID: N7526S
Duration: 1.2hrs
Cumulative Time: 40.10hrs

Another really positive run today. Pretty much normal maneuvers with a lot of autorotations. Still a little sloppy on entry. Kristie is not helping as much as she was in the past so I'm running on the high/low RPM limits. It seems now that I'm not anticipating the RPM movement. I'm getting better, tho... no doubt. Still on target with the 19th for my Stage 1 Check-Ride.

Also started doing slope-landings on my own. Very interesting to do... especially in the wind.

No rust this time!

Flight #: 035
CFI: Kristie H.
Aircraft: Robinson R22 Beta II
Aircraft ID: N7155W
Duration: 1.3hrs
Cumulative Time: 38.9hrs

Back from a week long vacation... and a week of bad weather. Thought it was going to be another rust-filled show... but no! Went really well today. Nailed every normal approach, take-off, running takeoff, quick-stop. Took me two tries on the running landing, and three before I got a "passable" autorotation, but it was a great day. So great, in fact, that Kristie scheduled my Stage-1 Check-Ride for February 19th. Lets hope we can get there.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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:

• pick-up
• hover
• hover taxi (3 feet off ground @ a walking pace) or air taxi (20 feet @ 40knots)
• quick-stop
• hover
• set-down

A lot to think about, and there is not much time between each action... so I felt a little rushed. Practice makes perfect, thought, and I could tell I was getting better on the pick-up / set-down legs each time.

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.