Right, thanks. Now: common mistakes??
Shawn Coyle:
I don't think anybody answered your question on R22 EOL's to hard surfaces; so, IME, that's the ONLY way they do them, except perhaps under the rare conditions when the ship won't slide. My counter-question: is there a substantial percentage of Non-R22 EOL practice to turf or dirt or (what else is soft?)?
(The widespread doctrine in f/w retractables is DO NOT, EVER, make a gear up landing on soft surfaces, for they tend to roll up under the belly and total the airframe, whereas hard (smooth) surfaces only grind off the lowest 1" of metal, which can be replaced.)
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Thomas coupling:
Thanks for the reassurance, maybe the crunch frequency is different in R22's; sounds like military pilots get MUCH more EOL practice than civilian!
However, I haven't given up on getting somebody to list major mistakes low-timers make; you mentioned also the difficulty of success because of wind, altitude, speed, surface, reaction time, D/N and adrenaline. To simplify discussion, let's discard wind (assume calm), specify LOTS of altitude (1000' AGL, so the descent is stabilized), hard smooth surface (spacious asphalt/concrete ), Nr stable 'til flare, Daytime, nerves of steel (no extra adrenaline).
Now what? If the Heli-rated solo pilot has these things all set & taken care of, what does he do WRONG most commonly that causes damage/injury? (That is, assuming it's largely a civilian pilot problem, where are the CFI's falling short in training emphasis?)
I realize you quit doing instruction some years back, and it was military equipment--given that, what flare-to-touchdown errors on the part of the student were you most alert for because the greatest number of students tried to destroy the aircraft with them? How can I most effectively focus my students' attention on the skills they need?
(Don't get me wrong, I do have a syllabus covering these topics--but I'm always looking for enhancements.)