I think this topic is highly over rated! Any pilot who can “hover” can longline or at least he can learn it! Period!
Here are just a few basic things to consider while flying an external load using the “vertical reference” method.
1. Check all your gear, the hook system and your helicopter on the ground!
2. Check your hook system again!!! Check the “manual” and electrical release before every flight!!!
3. Always hook up your longline yourself! Never let anybody else do it for you unless it’s absolutely necessary. By doing this you won’t forget that the line is attached.
4. Check the load and the way it’s rigged before you take off.
5. It’s nice to have a weighing system and an outside torque gauge installed if you fly lots of external loads.
6. Customers have the tendency to always put more weight on the hook than you want and you can easily over-torque the aircraft while looking down instead of on the torque gauge in the critical moment.
7. Don’t drive over or land on your longline…ever!!!
8. Know how fast you can fly with a load and even more important…with an empty hook. The line could come very close to your tail rotor!
9. Know the rules and regulations concerning external load operations.
10. Never over-fly any people or property on the ground…ever!
As far as learning to longline goes:
1. Try a high hover without line attached first. Try to “vertical” up and down over a spot without drifting while looking straight down.
2. Now attach a line! Don’t look at the line but try to remain stationary over a spot. The line will hang there just perfectly in plumb.
3. Don’t try it for more than 30 minutes at first. You will be mentally exhausted very quickly.
4. As soon as you start looking straight down you will most likely start drifting. Now the fun starts because the line will start swinging. The secret is: Don’t focus on the load! Pick a spot about 45° to your side and have the load in your peripheral vision. Once in a while you can take a peek at the load…but only a brief look!
5. If the load is swinging…move the helicopter over the load. You have to be ahead of the game. Sometimes a small pedal input is enough and sometimes you have to move the helicopter with the cyclic. The less you move the cyclic the better. Just take a string with a weight attached and play around…it’s exactly the same principle.
6. If you feel your muscles becoming tense talk to them! Tell them to relax! If you have the “death grip” you are not using the small muscles in your hands for the fine tuning anymore. You are moving the cyclic with your whole arm out of the shoulder now. Big muscles = big cyclic movements = swinging load.
7. The most difficult part is the approach. Be it with a load or just with an empty hook. Usually you’ll end up just “shy” of the target. Now you have to move the load and it will usually start swinging again. For the approach…pick a spot that a bit past the target to avoid coming too short. Also…don’t look down onto the load during the approach. Just glance at it now and then. You will find that the line is following perfectly in plumb. Fly the helicopter over the target and only at the last moment look at the load and the target to compare rate of closure and height of the hook.
8. Remember: A descending load never swings! Means if you come in a bit higher with the load and you are in a slow steady descent towards your target, the load will not start swinging so easily.
9. For judging the height of your load look at the shadow of the load and your surroundings. Trees and small bushes are a good help. Long lining over a flat featureless surface like snow or water is very difficult and should be avoided if possible. If you have to do it…try to find some reference. If you are over water…always use the shoreline as a reference. Many pilots have lost control of the helicopter while long lining in the middle of a large water body.
10. Most important…have patience while long lining. Wise old longline pilots say: “Slow is fast”! You will get faster by doing it anyway.
Have fun!!!
