Helicopter Aeros & Display Flying
Avoid imitations
Join Date: Nov 2000
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One manoeuvre I used to enjoy was a max power climb from the normal hover, increasing negative airspeed to around -ve 25 kts and retracting the landing gear. At 450-500 feet agl, the cyclic was moved sharply forwards, and the collective lowered to about half the previous setting.
The aircraft nosed very sharply over to 90 degrees nose down, by about 400 ft agl. Once fully vertical, full right cyclic (to the mechanical stop) and some right yaw pedal rolled the aircraft 180 degrees whilst maintaing the 90 degrees nose down descent. It was then just a matter of a natural easing out of the dive, on the reciprocal heading, to level flight at about 50 agl and 120 kts.
Unfortunately it was latter banned as another display pilot (well two others actually, on separate occasions) managed to get the tail rotor blades to hit the inclined tail structure, even though when the blade hinges hit their stops there should have been about 12 inches of clearance from blade tip to hull!
The aircraft nosed very sharply over to 90 degrees nose down, by about 400 ft agl. Once fully vertical, full right cyclic (to the mechanical stop) and some right yaw pedal rolled the aircraft 180 degrees whilst maintaing the 90 degrees nose down descent. It was then just a matter of a natural easing out of the dive, on the reciprocal heading, to level flight at about 50 agl and 120 kts.
Unfortunately it was latter banned as another display pilot (well two others actually, on separate occasions) managed to get the tail rotor blades to hit the inclined tail structure, even though when the blade hinges hit their stops there should have been about 12 inches of clearance from blade tip to hull!
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I thought I'd seen a Lynx do a loop somewhere back when I was still at school. I'd dismissed it as a hallucination, or false memory syndrome, but know I know it might just be true - thanks guys! Now, where did I see this happen? Or was it just on TV? I wish my memory was better.
Bugsmasherdriverandjediknite
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I once managed some spectacular aero's in a R22 once.
I was trying to hover during my very first time at the controls
Sorry Dave, I hope your over the initial shock and will let me try again mate, gotta finish this damn licence ya know.
(and I know ya reading this)
I was trying to hover during my very first time at the controls
Sorry Dave, I hope your over the initial shock and will let me try again mate, gotta finish this damn licence ya know.
(and I know ya reading this)
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Hi Heli Aerobatic fans.
Just a little more info for the pot.
I co piloted for Mike Meger, Enstrom test pilot in the 70's for the world championships in 1973. He won the freestyle event. (PFM won't allow the routine to be called - aerobatics) He took me through the handling so I was able to display a semi aero routine at Farnborough 1974- 1980.
Since then I've completed the same display on Enstrom 280, Hughes 300, Hughs/MD 500 and Enstrom 480. I'm up to 378 public displays, plus as many practices. Every three years or so a World Freestyle championships is held, but it is always a little publicised, little attended event. I've been placed 5th, 1st and a most recent third at the eleventh championships in Austria last year. I feel if the Lynx boys had been allowed to take part, a military first place would have been achieved every year. Q Smith has won this event and a Japanese pilot took the 2002 title on a R22 !! But a fine display.
The real master was of course, Charlie Zimmerman - the German who won the event in two consecutive events using the fixed head B105. A phenomenal display routine.
All the types I fly can be looped and the handling I use on the Enstrom is as follows.
Up to 100 knots S & L, with aft cyclic, although translational flap back also brings the nose up. At the 90 degree point with the disc level and at 70 knots, firm aft cyclic looking over the shoulder for the horizon to come round. At 60 knots, lever is going down and providing the disc is still held level AND a minimum of 40 knots is on the dial, aft cyclic can be maintained to pull through to the descent with lever still being down. As the vertical is passed speed will build to 60 knots which is monitored with cyclic and raised lever. The S & L attitude is usually reached at the entry speed of 100 knots.
This routine is only adviseable over 1000 feet, since any speed error results in considerable height loss. Being a small helicopter, my full display is performed at 400 feet for an effective show. I have 'split the needles' with too much down lever when inverted, but overall all my manoeuvres have been observed by Enstrom flight test department and considered safe. On a personal basis, I have flown the full routine with an eight inch balsa wood dorsal fin extension to check on blade travel and tell tale markings on M/R dampers, so I am happy to go on displaying until the doc tells me to stop !
Mott Stanchfield in Florida flew my routine a few good years before me and quite a few other 'nutty pilots' also enjoy showing off the capabilities of the various articulated head marques.
A final note. Please don't try this at home without some guidance.
Good flying out there.
Rotorboy.
Just a little more info for the pot.
I co piloted for Mike Meger, Enstrom test pilot in the 70's for the world championships in 1973. He won the freestyle event. (PFM won't allow the routine to be called - aerobatics) He took me through the handling so I was able to display a semi aero routine at Farnborough 1974- 1980.
Since then I've completed the same display on Enstrom 280, Hughes 300, Hughs/MD 500 and Enstrom 480. I'm up to 378 public displays, plus as many practices. Every three years or so a World Freestyle championships is held, but it is always a little publicised, little attended event. I've been placed 5th, 1st and a most recent third at the eleventh championships in Austria last year. I feel if the Lynx boys had been allowed to take part, a military first place would have been achieved every year. Q Smith has won this event and a Japanese pilot took the 2002 title on a R22 !! But a fine display.
The real master was of course, Charlie Zimmerman - the German who won the event in two consecutive events using the fixed head B105. A phenomenal display routine.
All the types I fly can be looped and the handling I use on the Enstrom is as follows.
Up to 100 knots S & L, with aft cyclic, although translational flap back also brings the nose up. At the 90 degree point with the disc level and at 70 knots, firm aft cyclic looking over the shoulder for the horizon to come round. At 60 knots, lever is going down and providing the disc is still held level AND a minimum of 40 knots is on the dial, aft cyclic can be maintained to pull through to the descent with lever still being down. As the vertical is passed speed will build to 60 knots which is monitored with cyclic and raised lever. The S & L attitude is usually reached at the entry speed of 100 knots.
This routine is only adviseable over 1000 feet, since any speed error results in considerable height loss. Being a small helicopter, my full display is performed at 400 feet for an effective show. I have 'split the needles' with too much down lever when inverted, but overall all my manoeuvres have been observed by Enstrom flight test department and considered safe. On a personal basis, I have flown the full routine with an eight inch balsa wood dorsal fin extension to check on blade travel and tell tale markings on M/R dampers, so I am happy to go on displaying until the doc tells me to stop !
Mott Stanchfield in Florida flew my routine a few good years before me and quite a few other 'nutty pilots' also enjoy showing off the capabilities of the various articulated head marques.
A final note. Please don't try this at home without some guidance.
Good flying out there.
Rotorboy.
Nice post, Rotorboi 
If you were to ask most helicopter pilots what the technique would be to perform a loop, they'd probably recite that for a fixed-wing: dive for as much airspeed as you can get and then pull, pull, pull. But most helicopter pilots also probably misunderstand just how much pitch power the cyclic has. Rotorboy ("Fair Flair") tells us that he started his loop from straight and level flight!
And if an Angst-rom...sorry, Enstrom can be looped from 100 knots S&L, imagine the loop a 206 could do! (Uhh, if the deck fittings kept the transmission attached to the airframe, that is.)
Granted, a helicopter loop will probably not be symmetrically-shaped like that of an airplane, but hey- a loop's a loop.
I never saw Mott or Mike Meager or Rotorboy do their routine, but I've heard from those who have that it is awesome to see a helicopter doing what we've always assumed was "impossible."
I understand Nick is working on a Comanche airshow routine with a maneuvre called the "hover roll." Reportedly, he's gotten it to work, but the downside is that is uses up an hellacious amount of altitude
If you were to ask most helicopter pilots what the technique would be to perform a loop, they'd probably recite that for a fixed-wing: dive for as much airspeed as you can get and then pull, pull, pull. But most helicopter pilots also probably misunderstand just how much pitch power the cyclic has. Rotorboy ("Fair Flair") tells us that he started his loop from straight and level flight!
And if an Angst-rom...sorry, Enstrom can be looped from 100 knots S&L, imagine the loop a 206 could do! (Uhh, if the deck fittings kept the transmission attached to the airframe, that is.)
Granted, a helicopter loop will probably not be symmetrically-shaped like that of an airplane, but hey- a loop's a loop.
I never saw Mott or Mike Meager or Rotorboy do their routine, but I've heard from those who have that it is awesome to see a helicopter doing what we've always assumed was "impossible."
I understand Nick is working on a Comanche airshow routine with a maneuvre called the "hover roll." Reportedly, he's gotten it to work, but the downside is that is uses up an hellacious amount of altitude
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Display Flying Advice
I am about to get a display authorisation for my B47 and keen to do a few Northern airshows next year. Got the provisional DA number and fully digested CAP 403, but now giving thought to the actual display routine.
Anyone done any display flying and have any advice for a newbee?
It would also be good to hear opinions on what constitutes a good display.
Leaving aside 'edge of envelope' aeros in Gazelles and Lynx's and the fantastic display of personal skill by Dennis Kenyon, how do you think a classic (and precious) Bell 47 should be displayed?
Anyone done any display flying and have any advice for a newbee?
It would also be good to hear opinions on what constitutes a good display.
Leaving aside 'edge of envelope' aeros in Gazelles and Lynx's and the fantastic display of personal skill by Dennis Kenyon, how do you think a classic (and precious) Bell 47 should be displayed?
It's a bit hard to make a 47 display look interesting, when the difference between a high-speed pass and a low-speed pass is only 30 knots!
Whatever you choose to do, start with each segment by itself and practice, practice, practice. There are plenty of display pilots in the ground because they attempted something they had not practiced - an impromptu display. "It seemed like a good idea at the time."
Torque turns look good when well done, and a hovering "waltz" done downwind shows off some manoeuverability. Doing it downwind gives you a bit more tail rotor authority.
Somebody with more 47 time than me could tell you what to do, but in a Huey for a short display, we would fly in at 100 kt at 50' downwind along the crowd line, pull up into a torque turn, recover from that around 100' back into wind about 80 kt, pull around into a tight descending 360 to do a skidding landing to stop in front of the crowd. Pull up vertically and allow the tail to turn through 360 as you go. Nose down, pull around in another descending turn to finish in a hover at about 30'. Hoist one person down to the ground, recover the cable. Bow to the crowd, pull the nose up, pedal turn 180, depart downwind.
A reasonable amount of action, and the only time the crowd loses interest is while the cable is being winched back up.
Whatever you choose to do, start with each segment by itself and practice, practice, practice. There are plenty of display pilots in the ground because they attempted something they had not practiced - an impromptu display. "It seemed like a good idea at the time."
Torque turns look good when well done, and a hovering "waltz" done downwind shows off some manoeuverability. Doing it downwind gives you a bit more tail rotor authority.
Somebody with more 47 time than me could tell you what to do, but in a Huey for a short display, we would fly in at 100 kt at 50' downwind along the crowd line, pull up into a torque turn, recover from that around 100' back into wind about 80 kt, pull around into a tight descending 360 to do a skidding landing to stop in front of the crowd. Pull up vertically and allow the tail to turn through 360 as you go. Nose down, pull around in another descending turn to finish in a hover at about 30'. Hoist one person down to the ground, recover the cable. Bow to the crowd, pull the nose up, pedal turn 180, depart downwind.
A reasonable amount of action, and the only time the crowd loses interest is while the cable is being winched back up.
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Try talking to other B47 pilots who have done display flying. There was a lady pilot who had a B47 she used to display (G-MASH). Not seen her lately, but she may still be around the bazaars.
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Ring up those awfully nice chaps in the CAA Air Display section. Every time I've had dealings with them, they've been very helpful..Very un-CAA like.
As Tim Nice-but-Dim would say, "Awfully, bloody nice blokes"
Zzzzzz526
As Tim Nice-but-Dim would say, "Awfully, bloody nice blokes"
Zzzzzz526
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Try and get in touch with a fellow by the name of Al Gwilt. He displayed the sioux with the Army Air Corps and should be a goldmine of information for you.
I last heard of him at [email protected] or try 01708-688115.
I last heard of him at [email protected] or try 01708-688115.
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I believe the lady pilot in G-MASH who Helinut refers to is Tracy Martin who displayed at Aerofair earlier this year. I think she may have been based at Redhill... Not sure if she's a PPRuNer. Great display.
B47 asked:
Static.
Leaving aside 'edge of envelope' aeros in Gazelles and Lynx's and the fantastic display of personal skill by Dennis Kenyon, how do you think a classic (and precious) Bell 47 should be displayed?
Senis Semper Fidelis
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Take us all back to early life, get two people in the bubble , dress on like PT and the other like Chuck, get some big rubber floats , and Hey, instant nostalgia, whatever else you do you caught the attention of most of the older guys!!
