Thanks SAS - good gen, sums it up & puts it in perspective. Fly in the shaded areas at your peril
George - just to clarify/expand on my earlier post; the 40 till 10 rule of thumb is just that - a guideline and as a ROT it is to be adjusted as needed for the required approach path, primarily according to wind at the LZ.
This technique was carried forward from ex airforce instructors who used it specifically to correct students who were terminating their approaches short of the aiming point in high OGE hovers. The numbers are not as important as the concept of reinforcing the idea of not washing off the speed too early.
As it turns out, where we fly we normally have 10-20 kts of wind on the nose at the training airfield and 40 till 10 works a treat, resulting in a ground speed of around 20 knts with some energy remaining giving good options for EOL landings, t/r troubles etc.
I certainly am not advocating cowboy like quickstop approaches - low & fast is not the intent. However, a fact remains that many students end up high, slow and steep and this is one technique used successfully to get them to fly a safer profile.
QS - ask your instructor to demonstrate a 'normal' approach (not confined, not pinnacle) down a runway to an aiming point, or to an open LZ in your R44 with 15 kts on the nose, make a note of the IAS as you pass through the 20-10 feet agl area. (Ask him to call out when he's at 10-15 feet agl). My guess is (unless he's onto you and he deliberately flies a steep approach), the IAS might be suprisingly close to the 30-40 kt range
