Converting on to new helicopter types

[Whirlybird]

Greetings everyone. Many of you will know me from way back, but ! haven't been here much recently - life kind of took over....

However, I could now do with some help/info. As some of you know, I write regularly for several aviation magazines. One of them wants an article on converting to new helicopter types. My original thought was piston to turbine and similar, but what the editor then actually said was: "What I would really like is to know what is coming and how this is going to affect pilots changing from the old stuff to the new."

So I think we're talking glass cockpits, other new instrumentation, and maybe other new stuff; I don't really know. I always write from my own experience, and don't have much experience of cutting edge kind of stuff here.

So this is where I'm hoping some of you experts can help. Can you tell me what it was like converting on to something 'new'. Despite what I just said, it doesn't have to be all that new; I'm actually interested in any conversion type experiences, and maybe particularly how it affected you when you had to get out there and do a long flight or work in a new type with very few hours under your belt.

I'd like to use some quotes, but that's up to you. They'll be anonymous - after all, I don't know who most of you are! However, if you're happy to be quoted by name, country, gender, or any other identifying feature, let me know (here or by pm). Conversely, if you don't want to be quoted even anonymously, that's fine, just say so. All information will be useful and help me to get this right.

Looking forward to coming back here again a bit more often....

Whirly

[topendtorque]

Hi Whirly,

Enjoyed a book of yours recently.

I'll start with something original. Like;
'where's the starter button and which way do the blades turn?'

tet

[heliduck]

The most memorable conversion for me so far is the AS350. They're so quick I initially struggled to keep up with it, it was like learning to fly all over again. My next 2 weeks were spent on a contract involving confined space arrivals/departures at close to MAUW & I fell in love with that helicopter. They're like a corn fed race horse, very touchy & always ready to go full speed.

[hihover]

For me, a helicopter is a helicopter, I love them all. Changing helicopters is like changing cars, it is pretty much the same thing as before but now you have some better toys, maybe a sunroof, tints and a lot more oomph.

I have been fortunate enough to fly many different types and am now flying mostly the AW139. It is an amazing machine and I put that down to the on board toys (FMS, FD, Glass, redundancy), tons of oomph and startling OEI performance. It's still a helicopter, just like all the others, but the toys are the top-of-the-line. A little overwhelming at first, but now I know where to look, fffffantastic.

Tam

[Um... lifting...]

Reminds me of what Chesty Puller was reputed to have said upon seeing his first flamethrower... "Where do you put the bayonet?"

In all glass (like the AW139...) you end up asking yourself... "Where did they put the instruments?" The thing has six moving gauges that I can think of. Four of them are for pressure in the life rafts and floats, one of them is for outside air temperature, and there's a wet compass if you're feeling nostalgic.

Colo(u)r is your friend in glass.

[MOSTAFA]

Spot on Tam it was just the same for the the S92 but I'm loving it

[SASless]

A helicopter is a helicopter is a helicopter. Some blades turn the wrong way, some have throttles others have Speed Selects, Power Levers, or Knobs. Some have TV's on the dash....some have clocks. Some have but one engine and others have more than one...some have two main rotors but most do not. But in the end....they are all helicopters.

Remember the basics and learn the differences. Know your critical data points...airspeeds, rotor rpm's, and keep the everything in the Green Range. Time spent in the books learning systems and procedures is not wasted. Time not spent in the books is wasted. Buying a Pint for a good Engineer and seeking his counsel is not money wasted.

Helicopters have a dark side....figure out what it is on the new helicopter and avoid it.

Other than that.....a helicopter is a helicopter.


Um.......When I look at a Glass Cockpit....I understand how a Dog watching Television feels!

[griffothefog]

If you are talking the 139, the first thing to hit you in the " I don't understand" mind f*ck is the fact that during an engine failure, you don't initially lower the lever :eek:

The minus 10, zero, is the next WTF... :E

[Whirlybird]

Thanks everyone; keep 'em coming...

griffothefog, If you are talking the 139, the first thing to hit you in the " I don't understand" mind f*ck is the fact that during an engine failure, you don't initially lower the lever

That sounds like a fascinating example, tell me more. What do you do when the engine fails?

SASless, I will probably quote you! :ok:

[meat bomb]

Pull more power, then more , then more again! Actually flying a new heli is fairly straight forward, its playing with all the shiny new toys like the FMS when you're used to different shiny toys that do the same thing but in a slightly different way.
Still fun though

[paco]

If you're going from steam driven to glass cockpit, the first thing you have to learn is to declutter as so much information is presented in a small space. This means that you have to know what you are looking for in order to discount it or otherwise. Otherwise, as SASless says, they all follow the same principles!

Phil

[John Eacott]

Whirly,

Nice to see you back :ok:

The glass cockpits I've flown have been iterations of earlier types, so the 'glass' has been easier to cope with: but I wish there was more commonality between manufacturer's end product. The CP of HNZ mentioned a few years ago that he declined endorsement on the AW139 as he considered that he would be unable to fly it enough to maintain a good working knowledge of the systems, a byproduct of our ever more complex cockpit environment, I guess. Looking over the likes of the S92 it impressed on me that the move to 'systems management' is more prevalent in new, larger helicopters and as we move to airline based operations.

For actual conversions, the other feature is the reliance on sim training: Geoffers would be a good source of tales to be told? A mate is joining CHC to fly 225's out of Broome WA, and is off to Aberdeen where his total endorsement training will be Sim based. I guess that his first flight in the type will be when he gets back to Oz!

Flying remains the same, though. Pull up with the left hand, cows get smaller. Push forward with right hand, cows disappear quicker. Push down with left hand, cows get bigger.

[Um... lifting...]

That sounds like a fascinating example, tell me more. What do you do when the engine fails?Actually, the second line of his post is what you do next... except when it's minus 20... (or more correctly... as much as minus 20). Just having spent a week in the sim, it was, as always, mind-expanding.

And pull to 176% (only for 5 seconds) on the remaining engine, before letting it down to 160% or less (for 2m30s), then let it down to 140% for the rest of the day. Now you can only fly about 130 knots or so. Tragic.

And lest we forget... steer with collective and beep switches...:eek:

[Ascend Charlie]

My first conversion to a twin was interesting.

With 16 years (at the time) on turbine singles, which were loaded to the gunwales with operational gear, we were all looking forward to getting a brand new BK117, the first one in the country, to give us a bit of power margin. We had been asking for many years for this to happen.

Finally the crate arrives and is assembled by Japanese engineers, and our ground school begins with Capt Yuasa. The first thing we find out, much to our uneducated surprise, is that the BK will not hover on one engine! We had been expecting it to stay up, even during a hoist, but our dreams are shattered. Poor simple fools.

We continue with the training, and wrestle with the throttles on the roof instead of on the collective, and with the hugely responsive rotor system (compared to Bell) and the total lack of SAS (our department was too stingy to buy it) so we find that the cabin is very passenger-unfriendly. Every twitch on the cyclic, or puff of breeze, is passed directly to the cabin. Much breakfast is mopped from the floors daily.

The training finishes, and we ask Yuasa to show us a touchdown auto - he says he is not authorised to do it, and anyway, if one quits the other one keeps you going. But we pressure him, and he does one - which was awful! Lack of practice, Yuasa-san!

The power margin disappeared quickly, as The Powers That Be said "Look how much more this thing can carry!! Let's fill it up!" So we still were on the bones of our @rses, and within 6 months it was ditched in the sea anyway. Shame.:{

[SASless]

AC.....We called them "Vomit Comets" for a reason!:D

[RVDT]

Actually flying a new heli is fairly straight forward, its playing with all the shiny new toys like the FMS when you're used to different shiny toys that do the same thing but in a slightly different way.

Thats probably just before you hit something! As has happened!

AC,
That kind of sums up Polair in the reign of Chuck to a tee!

[topendtorque]

Flying remains the same, though. Pull up with the left hand, cows get smaller. Push forward with right hand, cows disappear quicker. Push down with left hand, cows get bigger. A fascinating observation although some musterers might debate whether cows disappear behind or from in front of some helicopters when the right hand is pushed forward.

Equally some say that some helicopters are liable to get bird strikes on the rear end rather than the front end.

That sounds like a fascinating example, tell me more. What do you do when the engine fails? Also fascinating and when amongst a mob of cows I can vouch that regardless, the results may often be seen as something to do the with cows, but often smelly.

[Ascend Charlie]

RVDT, he only picked up the name "Chuck" because most of his passengers in the BK DID chuck!

Before that he was known as Seagull, because we had to throw rocks at him to make him fly.

[Attila]

I am now retired, but what I do remember when converting to an different type, say from a B212 to an S61N, to an AS332L, is that I used to fly the cockpit around, the rest normally followed.

Must have done, actually, as I am still here to talk about it!!

Happy days!

[Whirlybird]

Thank you everyone; lots of stuff I can use there. I'm planning on writing this on Monday, so if anyone else wants to say anything, you have the weekend.....

[obnoxio f*ckwit]

Flying remains the same, though. Pull up with the left hand, cows get smaller. Push forward with right hand, cows disappear quicker. Push down with left hand, cows get bigger.

Or if flying an old 330 (without anticipator):

Left hand down, cows get bigger. Left hand up, cows get smaller. Unless you're a bit too quick with the left hand, then the cows rapidly get bigger again...

[Whirlybird]

Thanks everyone. First draft written, which means I won't add any more unless it's earth-shatteringly useful; I'll just tweak commas etc and agonise over whether it's any good.

This particular editor seems to keep asking me to write on topics I know little about. He seems to imagine all helicopter pilots know everything there is to know about the industry, and I'm just a little (ex) R22/R44 instructor (FI rating presently lapsed, but might get it back). However, "no" is not a word in my vocabulary when offered a job which pays, so please bear with me if I ask for your advice and expertise again in the future...but not every week, I promise!

[rotorfossil]

What is surprising in converting from one type to another is the necessity of going back to first principles. Attitude/Power/Trim/Scan. The view out the front is different, ie the horizon is in a different place. The control response is different (or the wrong way if converting to clockwise rotation). Unlearning is as difficult as learning. Instrument panels have the guages in different places, sometimes even on the same type, so scanning for the info takes longer. Glass presentations are grand if only there was commonality in presentation. Time spent sitting in the cockpit (in absence of simulators), practicing all the drills, preferably with a really knowledge person is never wasted, otherwise when you are in the air you will be neglecting what's going on outside while you are searching for the right guage or switch.
A certain North Sea company (going back a bit) picked up a type from another company in a takeover in which all the non flight instruments and switchery were in totally different positions. It was a reminder of how much this slowed down ones cockpit scan (ask me how I know).