PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - Safest final approach
View Single Post
Old 2nd February 2010 | 19:16
  #13 (permalink)  
Arm out the window
25 Anniversary
 
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 3,008
Likes: 62
From: North Queensland, Australia
Following on from the above, I think it's good to develop your skills in managing your available power on the approach.
When approaching to a pad where you'll have significant ground effect (unless you have the room to fly an auto with a big flare and cushion at the bottom), you need to manage the transition between forward flight and the hover carefully so that as you lose translational lift, the 'slack' is picked up by ground effect, leading to your power peaking at the lowest possible amount.

If you go too slow, you need OGE power before you're getting good ground effect; too fast, and you end up flaring into the pad, levelling and causing a large power spike as you pull collective and feed in pedal to stabilise.

After a while you'll get good at working the transition - just keep your apparent closure rate constant and aim to fly your backside down an imaginary set of rails to end up with the mast over the centre of the pad at your normal IGE hover height, and note how much power you use with different closure rates over a few approaches. It's a good challenge, and useful.
Arm out the window is offline  
Reply