Originally Posted by
Rotorbee
Right ... err ... about that Rotorcraft Flying Handbook. Don't get me wrong, it meets the purpose, but ... well ... it has a bit too many "lies to children" in it.
It isn't worse than other basic books about helicopters - after all they all copy from each other - but I would not take it too serious. It is alright for the average pilot to learn the basics, but too many subjects are oversimplified. Some things are plain wrong. For example, the last time I looked there was still gyroscopic precession mentioned for the rotor as an explanation, why the swashplate moves the blades before the intended place where the action actually happens. Well that is (almost) plain wrong, that would only happen in a vacuum (Prouty). But it is good enough for the average Joe pilot, because the real reason is quite a bit more complicated. Still the book teaches all the right manoeuvres one should know. It isn't bad in that regard, just the explanations are ... well ... sometimes...
Some years ago Shawn Coyle asked here on Pprune, if somebody would help to find all the incorrections in that book so I started to read it again. We did not get very far in the project, but I found quite a few things that are questionable in the first 50 pages or so. But it is getting better, I think.
Having said that, put yourself in the shoes of the poor guy who has to write that book. There is no doubt, that many FAA experts (and CAA experts and so on) know exactly how reality looks, but you can't put that in a book for the average student pilot with a very basic graps on physics.
For me, Prouty's books were my starting point and quite the eye opener and quite entertaining sometimes. Worth the read. Shawns books are also very helpful to get a better understanding.
I don't mind being the average joe, I'm a pilot not an engineer, and so that book has served me just fine these past twenty years.
You may not agree with what it says about things like LTE, but that knowledge has kept my nose straight in all sorts of wind.
As for gyroscopic precession? Right or wrong, what I learned about it from that book allowed me to pass the test. After that, I have no use for that knowledge.