part 2
Fly the hook, not the helicopter!
This was what I was told when I started out! …I didn’t really get it then, and I don’t get it now… So, step-by step!
Let’s take a 100’ line as a starting point, some people suggest a 50’ line is better, but I think the slower motion of the 100’ line and not leaning out as far to see it, is probably more helpful at first…Like many things, there’s no right/wrong answer to this one!
When I’m long lining in production work, I use a 170’ line for everything, unless trees etc demand longer. This is the best combination for the way I fly. Getting up around 200-250’ and I get cranky waiting for the hook to catch up! Length is also determined by mission to a great extent. If you’re in a heavy or certain mediums, you need to go long for downwash issues.
What we have so far, is a comfortable seating position, and a LL of indeterminate length.
We know it hangs from the belly hook, which is behind and to the right or left, a little or a lot depending on a/c.
It’s all well and good to say “keep the helicopter over the hook”. But we need to be more specific…We need to keep the belly hook over the remote/manual hook, because that’s the place where the long line hook will hang, in a perfect OGE hover.
Because we have difficulty in knowing exactly where the belly hook is located, in reference to our seat position. We need an aid…this aid is called a:
Sight picture:
By this, I mean! An instinctive and literal sense of where the hook should be in a perfect OGE hover…(from here on in, the´ hook´ refers to a remote hook, or the hook hanging from the business end of a long line)
In still wind. with the helo bolted to a skyhook. Absolutely no movement from the helicopter…the only place the hook can be, is directly beneath the belly hook…
OK…to get the sight picture.
Take a CD marker pen and put a few straight lines across the skids and cross tubes, anywhere you think will be in your peripheral vision, when looking straight down at the hook. Maybe mark each line with a number, say 1-10 along the skid and A-J along the cross tube…
Go into an OGE hover (or have another pilot do it from the other seat) and look down at the remote hook.
In this perfect hover…The hook hangs at the imaginary intersection of lines D cross-tube and 5-skid for example.
Hold the hover, and try to imprint this sight picture in your mind, with the aid of the index marks.
Remove the ones you don’t need on the next landing and leave the good index marks!
In future, anytime you’re told to “ fly the hook, not the helicopter”…
Fly the sight picture, not the helicopter
Depth perception comes more or less naturally. And imagining yourself sitting on the hook, makes no sense to me! How do you do that? I’ve been guilty of using that line as a throw away remark. But it makes no sense!
Departure:
Key points here are: Make sure the machine is in good shape.
When you come to the hover. Pause a few seconds, and really make sure you see no developing problems… (Especially when single pilot) because you’re going to be busy looking outside for a few minutes...
As you come up, move over the point where the line is leaving the ground.
With experience, you’ll learn to coil the line as you land. But in the beginning, just slide around, keeping the belly hook/sight picture, over the position where the line is leaving the surface…if you ever get snagged on a root etc. You’ll be in better shape when it’s only a vertical ‘grab’ …a horizontal ‘grab’ can drag you out of the sky!
Make sure the line/hook is well clear of the ground and obstacles before transitioning to forward flight.
Straight and Level :
Flying straight and level is not that difficult with a long line. The dangers of something flying up and snagging a TR or MR are much reduced. Experience will teach you at what speed you can use with varying loads.
When you’re still learning, a useful technique could be to increase your speed in 10 knot increments above say! 30 knots. Let it stabilize at the new speed for a little while, then go up another 10 knots…If things start getting funky, back it down 10, and go with that!
A lot of my experience is with logging. In this realm, (very dense load) speed is dictated by basic VNE, vibration, comfort level, or the ability to stop at the bottom of a short fly.
If I’m flying construction sheeting, or a 60’ diameter parabolic antenna, I might be limited to 20 kts. (Or less)
Typically, a bad swing while in cruise is just too much speed, although there are many times when going faster will straighten it out. But this is not something to play with in the early stages. Just presume you’re going too fast, and back it down a skoshe!