Originally Posted by
SASless
I begin to appreciate Mr. Sikorsky and Mr. Boeing's Engineers more and more.
Sometimes simple is in fact better.
The Chinook's power steering system and castering Aft gear could cause enough heart ache but the 101 seems a tad too complex for some reason.
I agree, simpler is better but....on the other hand, pilots are called pilots for a reason. I’ve flown that machine and I had to stop when I left the navy sadly, I assure that all the mishaps happened are pilot error. I don’t see any harm in having an assisted steering wheel as in the airliners. As I said all the pilots that come from a simplex system background, tend to have more snags to deal with regarding muscle memory before adapt with all the new machines. One other snag, is not only an AW issue is the trim on the collective that is a common feature on all the helicopters with 4 axis autopilot. People that come from simplex system background sometimes fail to lower completing the lever and leave it partially lifted with just enough torque to generate vibrations that could induce in “resonance” which effectively is not resonance but PIO when taxing. Again I agree in simpler better, but I don’t see nothing complex in steering with a switch in the cyclic rather using the pedals. Is just adapting and thinking a bit outside of the box we’re tailored all in due to the extreme experience we have on more simpler aircrafts.
Cheers