My extensive research on accidents shows that "LTE" only occurs in a few types of helicopter. The sensitivity to wake ingestion and wind angle is an aspect of a marginal tail rotor, and therefore LTE is mostly due to marginal tail rotors with little residual "extra" thrust.
Besides the wind angle/reingestion relationships, the biggest single cause of LTE for those types is pulling excessive torque on landing or takeoff. Since anti-torque is used to smother MR torque, the higher you pull the engine torque, the more pedal you need. The classic LTE accident is when the pilot flares too much at the bottom of an approach, and pulls 10% more power than the steady hover will demand. In a marginal helicopter, that will make you hit the pedal stops, and cause a momentary loss of control. If the wind is right, the trips around the mast will be eye opening, as will your attempts to regain yaw control and sanity. I have 1000 hours of combat in a Cobra, and experienced LTE several times, so I am a pro at what not to do right.
As Ascend Charlie, Gordy and HueyLoach have said, technique is the key. Learn to baby your machine, think ahead and practive sneaking into a hover at the end of any critical approach (where you are heavy, or high or both). When you make an approach, beedy eye the torque and see how much extra you need to enter the hover at the bottom. A good pilot can sneak into the hover with almost no extra torque. An LTE prone pilot will see a torque hump in the bottom of the flare that is trying to consume your extra pedal.
I know it will open a can of worms, but many helicopters, most helicpters, have NEVER experienced LTE, even when moderately abused, while some helicopters get LTE even when reasonably babied. The available excess TR thrust that is designed in is the key to eliminating LTE, and so is the published crosswind limit of the machine. Show me a machine with barely 17 knots of demonstrated crosswind , or one with a published "wind off the nose only" hover chart and approach procedure, and I will show you a helicopter just waiting to embarrass its pilot.
I repeat: 1) Not all helos can get LTE, in fact, most cannot. 2) Some helo models love LTE and get it because they have marginal tail rotors. 3) All helicopters can be operated safely, even those more prone to LTE, if the pilot flys them wisely.
Last edited by NickLappos; 17th Nov 2014 at 16:31.