TC!!
You're doing fine, Mate!!
TO all,
TC is right on the spot - thinks me....
So far we are lucky that this forum has mods and so far they are VERY lenient.
I don't want to see this forum go the way a certain Un-moded one went....
Personally I don't mind questions like this one, but from experience gleaned from other forums, most newbees DON'T even read up on the forum rules/suggestions, DON'T bother to do a search - admitted, the search function in about all forums suc** big time, but a "restricted/defined" search on Google generally finds you plenty to read about your topic.
E.g. Google "Engine failure warning signs, Pprune" and everything about the topic on Pprune will show first.....
We all started sometime at ZERO and I for one learned heaps on here (Pprune), but generally I did my homework first.
NOT to say ifresh didn't do it - but we are already discussing if it makes sense to give advice if personal experience/training level is not yet ready to digest the info or worse is taken in the wrong context.
Granted, for those that are just out of helo-kindergarten and on their way to grad-school, it may sound a little arrogant/elitist/egoistic
- BUT just recently I had another episode of "taking information the wrong way", and that from a 5k+ hrs pilot that has already some real and interesting work experience. (see below)
So,
I for one,
DO WANT to know WHERE the chap is on his EXPERIENCE LEVEL, before I tell him MY experiences!!
We heard quite a few interesting episodes
here, but so far I only remember one partially correct answer/guideline/tip from Aerobot (including myself...):
"So live with your left arm spring-loaded: anytime it does something the least bit strange - get the collective down. If you were just being an old woman you can always bring the power back in." - by Aerobot
However I only agree partially.
Over the years, I learned, that even MORE important than the initial collective down, is the initial cylic BACK. (If you need more details, ask! Remember - my time is PRECIOUS
)
THEN, although
I get what Aerobot says, someone like ifresh might interpret "spring loaded" as "smack it to the floor when the engine quits!"
Well, thanks, but NO!
"Lower the collective but smoothly" or you might find yourself all over the place! Again, ask for more ....
Finally, "old woman" are often tougher than the hardest Rambo out there!
Sounds like "chicken" to me - when this is EXACTLY what you should be taught in Flightschool!
Always looking out for an emergency landing place is theory at best:
You just don't fly looking for ELSs all the time, and even if you just overflew a pefect one, when the "need for it arises" - hopefully you still remember you have it right on your 6.
However, often the ELS does not matter anymore if the helo never gets a chance to autorotate.
So, my advice is (and I do teach that - ....just induce some abnormal reactions now and then -
), no matter WHAT the unusual "thing" is:
Rough engine, turbulence, cyclic wiggle, vibration, bug on the windshield....
Be prepared to pull back and push down!
This has to become automatic (that's why I train it with students).
Now to avoid misunderstandings, I will spend some of my PT to go into detail this time:
Be prepared does not mean to constantly look for trouble, but if you feel/see/guess some, your arms should be in pull/push mode (respectively) - don't move it yet, just get ready, if "things develope" - do it, if not - keep going....
It really is more of a mental exercise than a physical.....
IF "things keep developing" DON'T make HUGE inputs! Things generally just "develop faster and worse"
PULL back means "apply back PRESSURE" - not necessarily hauling the cyclic into your stomach!
PUSH down means "apply down PRESSURE"- not necessarily punch a hole in the floor!
Now - this doesn't mean either to just freeze the controls!
If you NEED a large cyclic input, by all means do it! Just don't over-react!
The idea is if things settle back to normal, that you hardly felt that "you where getting ready" - it only takes a few sessions and this becomes automatic, like a real auto (if you ever need one)....
So, ifresh, first lesson on the
PROFESSIONAL PILOT RUMOUR NETWORK:
Don't worry too much specifically about Engine out warning signs, but be GENERALLY prepared to use the parachute (autorotation).
It should NOT matter what caused the need for the reaction - for all it counts, if you ever break the belts on your R22, you will NOT loose the engine (right away - until it stops from over-speeding
), but you are still in the EXACT same dire need for correct reaction - Loss of power to your Rotor....
Forget about specifically the engine - teach yourself to react (at least mentally) to ANY&EVERYTHING!
"If the engine fails in an R22, the pilot has to react instantaneously to lower the collective in order to avoid complete rotor stall." - by ifresh
YES - you want to REACT instantaneously, but you do NOT need the collective down this instant.
To make the point (Energy Mangement) I used to demo to my students, rolling off the throttle and keeping the collective up to the count of 3 - ....without getting the LOW-RPM warning on!
(A decently "pronounced" cyclic flare will do that just fine - also gives you all the time to lower the collective smoothly and in no real hurry, but remember to get it down ALL the way - initially)
Robinsons don't die, just because you hear the low-rpm warning horn!
It only tells you that your rpm is not where it should be for normal flight - check it!
The "1.4 or so second to rotorstall..." thing on the Robinsons is -
IF you want to
maintain speed and altitude, then - and ONLY then the rotor inertia will be wasted below rotorstall in the one second.
Maybe you get a second more in most other helos before the same happens...
That's why you should condition yourself to "Pull back, Push down" -
smart guy mode (
not chicken mode)
(...or alternatively SSEECB mode - if you are a member...)
This way you instantly gain all the time needed to establish a proper autorotation....., no matter if it was the engine, trans, belts, a bug or ..... that started the whole trouble.
Engine stops dead "Pull back, Push down"
Engine coughs "Pb,Pd"
Magneto/Sparkplug roughs the run "Pb,Pd"
Bug commits suicide on your windshield "Pb, Pd" (those BIG bugs give you quite a scare when they expire with a bang on the windshield)
So to end the soap - the guy I mentioned above....:
I did a AS350B3 transition (type rating) with him, and as it seems to be comon these days in our industry, was a little rusty on his autos.
Over 2 sessions I got him where I needed him on the NORMAL autos.
You always can tell, that people are NOT on top with emergency maneuvers when they keep Rrpm at the very top of the green (B3 specific now) instead near the center of the green. Of course this causes more stress at the bottom, ....but we fixed it.
Now to emphasize that there is no need to fear the lower green, I explained what the lower YELLOW arc is for (normally I get a blank stare, when I question a trainee for the reason of the lower YELLOW arc....)
After explaining I went ahead and
demo-ed a "streched" auto:
4000 feet, enter normal auto, lower nose, speed up to 90 kts, rpm to lower half of the YELLOW!
Incredible, the thing still flys! And now gets some serious glide distance too - WOW!
1000-800 feet, PULL back (slowly) and PUSH down (easy) and you are back to 70 kts and the middle of the green on rpm (POH say 65 kts, but 70 works WAY better - terminate with a normal full touch down!
Great, isn't it!
Next thing I hear - the guy pulls rpm into the lower YELLOW on his check ride, nearly ALL THE WAY DOWN!
(He got away with it - thanks B3!! But he also told the examiner, that 3top showed him how to do this....)
Moral? Obviously, it takes some serious work to get the point across the RIGHT WAY - sometimes!
So, after I now expended some
Serious amount of my PRECIOUS TIME to make a point, I hope all you 1/2 baked wussies, complaining about seriously
Professional people on this
Rumour NEtwork, get the point
THIS Seriously Selfish, Egoistic and Elitist Cab Driver is trying to make!
Now - there is
ONE thing I need to complain about
TC: WTF do you mean with Bloody Robinson?? Just because you never were allowed to touch one, does not mean they are bad machines!
Rpm range on these rigs are 2nd to none!
I can still do a pedal turn in a R44 when a 206 already quit flying! .... not even getting into the TR-issues of the old horse....
Actually in their size class - they are about the BEST you can get!
And if the R44 is any indication for the R66, it will kill the market for the EC120 and all the other small turbines in short order!
Ask if you need more! 'cause even if you are a member of this SSEECD club
(Seriously Selfish Egoistic Elitist Cab Driver CLUB
) -
MY time is still
PRECIOUS!
Enough....
Fly safe, all - and don't take this post too serious!
...and yeah, I did not have anything else to do today, to waiste my
PT on!
3top
PS: Aerobat - "That's what an engine failure sounds like! That may be all the warning you get!"
Love that one! .... gonna steal it!