I Learned About Flying From That (ILAFFT)
Right Pedal3,
Since the Sea King hasn't an outside rail, you've probably heard the antics of various Wessex backseaters who were prone to liven up a sortie. Leading Seaman Edge (leading edge, amongst other AKA's) was notorious: usually on a dark and stormy night, whilst in a 30 ft auto hover, he would sneak the sliding door open, climb up the pilot's steps, and hammer loudly on the pilot's window.
More effective than an enema, I'm told
Since the Sea King hasn't an outside rail, you've probably heard the antics of various Wessex backseaters who were prone to liven up a sortie. Leading Seaman Edge (leading edge, amongst other AKA's) was notorious: usually on a dark and stormy night, whilst in a 30 ft auto hover, he would sneak the sliding door open, climb up the pilot's steps, and hammer loudly on the pilot's window.
More effective than an enema, I'm told
Last edited by John Eacott; 12th Jun 2002 at 23:49.
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I've done many dumb things in my time, but I can't think of any quite as good as this one, which is true. Someone please correct me if any of the facts have become distorted in the mists of time ........ about 3 or so years!
'Bill' (name changed to protect the guilty
) an experienced freelance and TA pilot was hired to collect a B206 from a private house, pick up the owner from somewhere else, and take him back home. Everyone was away but, no problem, just take the helicopter from the paddock etc.
Bill arrived. The B206 looked in better nick than some he'd flown. Obviously well-maintained. A quick walk-round, and off we go.
Bill climbed in, the 206 heli started without a problem. Sweet! It wasn't always like that. All going to plan so far. But, what's that?! A rather strange noise, like nothing he'd heard before. Should he lift? Running a bit late, damn traffic! Gettign light on the skids. No, it doesn't feel right. That would be silly. Best to shut down, and have a look. But what he was expected to do without an engineer on hand? Oh well, this just doesn't sound right anyway, I'll call the owner and explain.
As he walked from the JetRanger, something caught his eye - and all became very embarrassingly clear. What Bill discovered later was that the owner had a friend who also owned a B206. He needed to use his helicopter for an important trip earlier that week but sh*t, it wouid happen now, the b****y thing's u/s. 'I know', the friend thought to himself, 'brilliant! Why didn't I think of it before? George is away on holiday for the week. He won't mind. I'll borrow his tail-rotor!" The moral of the story is .......... obvious!
'Bill' (name changed to protect the guilty
) an experienced freelance and TA pilot was hired to collect a B206 from a private house, pick up the owner from somewhere else, and take him back home. Everyone was away but, no problem, just take the helicopter from the paddock etc.Bill arrived. The B206 looked in better nick than some he'd flown. Obviously well-maintained. A quick walk-round, and off we go.
Bill climbed in, the 206 heli started without a problem. Sweet! It wasn't always like that. All going to plan so far. But, what's that?! A rather strange noise, like nothing he'd heard before. Should he lift? Running a bit late, damn traffic! Gettign light on the skids. No, it doesn't feel right. That would be silly. Best to shut down, and have a look. But what he was expected to do without an engineer on hand? Oh well, this just doesn't sound right anyway, I'll call the owner and explain.
As he walked from the JetRanger, something caught his eye - and all became very embarrassingly clear. What Bill discovered later was that the owner had a friend who also owned a B206. He needed to use his helicopter for an important trip earlier that week but sh*t, it wouid happen now, the b****y thing's u/s. 'I know', the friend thought to himself, 'brilliant! Why didn't I think of it before? George is away on holiday for the week. He won't mind. I'll borrow his tail-rotor!" The moral of the story is .......... obvious!
The old man just dropped by my office, and just to show there's nothing new in aviation, he related a couple of stories. The first is the usual 'learning aerodynamics the hard way', when he was solo in an Oxford, couldn't reach the P tube, so he made the usual mistake of 'going out of the window' with subsequent inflow rather than outflow. What made it a tadge more unusual was the slow roll to an inverted dive before he managed to get back into his seat and regain control 
On posting as a very junior pilot to 219 Sqdn (night Beaufighters) he was sent to pick up a Magister. Before getting back to Tangmere, he found a secluded spot for a bit of (unauthorised) aerobatics, and had a bit of fun.
The subsequent summons to the Boss, without a cup of tea, did enlighten him as to the location of the requisitioned country club, then used as Officer's Mess for Group: slap bang under his secluded spot
On posting as a very junior pilot to 219 Sqdn (night Beaufighters) he was sent to pick up a Magister. Before getting back to Tangmere, he found a secluded spot for a bit of (unauthorised) aerobatics, and had a bit of fun.
The subsequent summons to the Boss, without a cup of tea, did enlighten him as to the location of the requisitioned country club, then used as Officer's Mess for Group: slap bang under his secluded spot
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Could never match Mr Eacott (we are not worthy)
My humble contributions;
Going out looking for bad guys in a surface search in a SK and finding a yacht to hover alongside to say hello to, staying there just long enough to arrive back on deck of the ship with BOTH fuel low captions illuminating.....
Same exercise; having 'Arrival' competitions back over the deck between the pilots, unfortunately I misjudged the wind, instead of coming to the hover alongside 4 spot on the flat top thingy, it went something like, 4 spot, 3 spot, 2 spot, 1 spot, ramp, phalanx... backed down the flight deck to the marshaller and duly got a scorecard of 0.0 held up in the window of flyco. Luckily no 'grown ups' were on watch!
Not one of mine, but quite a while ago at a Culdrose air day, two QHIs did the 'old lady wins the flight in a hiller competition'. The QHI wearing the wig and dress, after 'Stealing' the aircraft from the other QHI took off, and in the process, the wig slipped down to give him a 2inch view of the world. His simulation of an old lady not quite in control of a helicopter was apparently VERY realistic!!
My humble contributions;
Going out looking for bad guys in a surface search in a SK and finding a yacht to hover alongside to say hello to, staying there just long enough to arrive back on deck of the ship with BOTH fuel low captions illuminating.....
Same exercise; having 'Arrival' competitions back over the deck between the pilots, unfortunately I misjudged the wind, instead of coming to the hover alongside 4 spot on the flat top thingy, it went something like, 4 spot, 3 spot, 2 spot, 1 spot, ramp, phalanx...
backed down the flight deck to the marshaller and duly got a scorecard of 0.0 held up in the window of flyco. Luckily no 'grown ups' were on watch!Not one of mine, but quite a while ago at a Culdrose air day, two QHIs did the 'old lady wins the flight in a hiller competition'. The QHI wearing the wig and dress, after 'Stealing' the aircraft from the other QHI took off, and in the process, the wig slipped down to give him a 2inch view of the world. His simulation of an old lady not quite in control of a helicopter was apparently VERY realistic!!
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Not rotary, but...
My father in law, a naval commander, was offered a flight from a carrier many years ago (probably not long after WW2).
Fully kitted up, he and the pilot were leaving the crew room when the pilot threw a coin into a huge sack full of identical coins.
Curious, he asked the reason.
Apparently there were seven arrestor lines on the carrier. The first pilot to pick up the seven lines, in the right order, in seven consecutive flights got all the money in the sack.
Fine, said Mike, what happens if you miss the last one? "We go swimming", he's told.
"Which line are we going for this time?"
"The last one"
He never did get his flight from a carrier.
Fully kitted up, he and the pilot were leaving the crew room when the pilot threw a coin into a huge sack full of identical coins.
Curious, he asked the reason.
Apparently there were seven arrestor lines on the carrier. The first pilot to pick up the seven lines, in the right order, in seven consecutive flights got all the money in the sack.
Fine, said Mike, what happens if you miss the last one? "We go swimming", he's told.
"Which line are we going for this time?"
"The last one"
He never did get his flight from a carrier.
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Early 1980's I was a Lynx crewman (LHS) on a flight from Bessbrook to Crossmaglen. As it was an underslung load flight I decided to con the hook up from the rear cabin. It was a rare warm summer day so I elected to stay there for the remainder of the flight with my legs dangling out of the LHS cabin sliding door (instead of the usual practice of climbing back into the LHS).
Apologies to RAF and RN crewmen, but we Army crewmen were not familiar with the aerodynamics in the cabin area and so I was most surprised when the airflow against my legs pushed me towards the rear of the aircraft.
As I was about to ask the pilot to slow down I slid far enough back to cause my helmet jack lead to become unplugged. Normal IC voice communication being impossible, the further back I slid, the louder I shouted until I was at the limit of my monkey strap and my vocal range.
With my fingers stretched in a death grip against the troop seats I had visions of an embarrassing approach into XMG of an Army Lynx with two underslung loads. Fortunately the reduced airflow against my legs during the approach enabled me to crawl back into the cabin and breathlessly con the aircraft into the base to drop off the sling load!
First time I've admitted to that one but the moment is still very clear to me!
Apologies to RAF and RN crewmen, but we Army crewmen were not familiar with the aerodynamics in the cabin area and so I was most surprised when the airflow against my legs pushed me towards the rear of the aircraft.
As I was about to ask the pilot to slow down I slid far enough back to cause my helmet jack lead to become unplugged. Normal IC voice communication being impossible, the further back I slid, the louder I shouted until I was at the limit of my monkey strap and my vocal range.
With my fingers stretched in a death grip against the troop seats I had visions of an embarrassing approach into XMG of an Army Lynx with two underslung loads. Fortunately the reduced airflow against my legs during the approach enabled me to crawl back into the cabin and breathlessly con the aircraft into the base to drop off the sling load!
First time I've admitted to that one but the moment is still very clear to me!
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I've done more than my fair share of silly things, but here's one....
The tea pot at Dungannon had seen it's last days..the bodge tape and the fablon had finally given way and the crews at Dung decided to give it a decent burial...the next task was a pick up from near Keady lakes..so we droppped it there...it was like a scene from the Dambusters movie...well nearly..anyway one wessex flew point with the pot and the other formated to take phots....it was dropped a tad late down the lake...bounced well enough to make Barnes Wallis cry with pride...and missed a fisherman at the end of the lake by microns!
Dropping a water balloon onto the range wardens car at STANTA...took the back window out...yes it was you Jules!
The tea pot at Dungannon had seen it's last days..the bodge tape and the fablon had finally given way and the crews at Dung decided to give it a decent burial...the next task was a pick up from near Keady lakes..so we droppped it there...it was like a scene from the Dambusters movie...well nearly..anyway one wessex flew point with the pot and the other formated to take phots....it was dropped a tad late down the lake...bounced well enough to make Barnes Wallis cry with pride...and missed a fisherman at the end of the lake by microns!
Dropping a water balloon onto the range wardens car at STANTA...took the back window out...yes it was you Jules!
Grandpa Aerotart
I knew a guy years ago who had flown Army Bell 47s in Vietnam very early in that conflict as part of an Australian combined sevices thingy. From memory he was actually RAAF.
In those days they were absolutely forbidden to have 'armed' aircraft so apart from their personal weapons were of little danger to the enemy.
He likened it to the very early days of WW1.
Boys being boys they decided that this was a little rediculous so 'perfected' various ways of taking the fight to the Vietcong. One was straffing with their rifles out the door and another was throwing handgrenades at the little dratsabs.
The Ob would lean as far out the door as his loosely adjusted straps would allow to pull the pin...thus minimising the possibility of him being hit by ground fire and dropping the bloody thing on the floor. The little Bell would be put in a dive and when the pilot yelled now the Ob would lose said ordinance
Well one day the grenade didn't fall away but sat tumbling around in some sort of swirling air...right outside the door...the Ob slapped him in the arm and pointed out the door wth wide eyed horror...he pulled all the pitch he could and it exploded right under them peppering the aircraft with shrapnel...holing the fuel tanks and causing an early return to terror firma...luckily far enough away from the baddies to allow rescue of both them and later the little Bell.
Then there was the time they took an Oz Army C180 to Cam Ranh Bay to pick up supplies. the aircraft was fitted with 250lb bomb racks underwing to which were fitted 'Storepedeos'. The managed to talk a big 'Negro' chap gaurding a HUGE dump of 250lbs to give them a couple.
"Hey sure man what you flyin?"
"Well that over there"
"Goddamn....well sure I guess"
He refuses to say what they did with said bombs but laments that the little Cessna was not fitted with a 'Stuka siren'
Or the time they decided to build a really huge bomb from various chemicals, mostly detergent, and drop it on an island in a lake that was VC. The upper ranks heard about this unauthorised use of 'chemical weapons' and nearly went berserk...when things had quietened down they completed construction of their bomb in a 44 gallon drum.
The secretly dropped it on said VC with a huge and very satisfying bang late one afternoon. The next morning they flew a recon to observe the results of their labours only to find that the lake was covered in soap sudds and 100s of 'black pajama' hanging drying from every tree branch.
He's thinks that there may have been a mistake with the quantities
Chuck.
In those days they were absolutely forbidden to have 'armed' aircraft so apart from their personal weapons were of little danger to the enemy.
He likened it to the very early days of WW1.
Boys being boys they decided that this was a little rediculous so 'perfected' various ways of taking the fight to the Vietcong. One was straffing with their rifles out the door and another was throwing handgrenades at the little dratsabs.
The Ob would lean as far out the door as his loosely adjusted straps would allow to pull the pin...thus minimising the possibility of him being hit by ground fire and dropping the bloody thing on the floor. The little Bell would be put in a dive and when the pilot yelled now the Ob would lose said ordinance
Well one day the grenade didn't fall away but sat tumbling around in some sort of swirling air...right outside the door...the Ob slapped him in the arm and pointed out the door wth wide eyed horror...he pulled all the pitch he could and it exploded right under them peppering the aircraft with shrapnel...holing the fuel tanks and causing an early return to terror firma...luckily far enough away from the baddies to allow rescue of both them and later the little Bell.
Then there was the time they took an Oz Army C180 to Cam Ranh Bay to pick up supplies. the aircraft was fitted with 250lb bomb racks underwing to which were fitted 'Storepedeos'. The managed to talk a big 'Negro' chap gaurding a HUGE dump of 250lbs to give them a couple.
"Hey sure man what you flyin?"
"Well that over there"
"Goddamn....well sure I guess"
He refuses to say what they did with said bombs but laments that the little Cessna was not fitted with a 'Stuka siren'
Or the time they decided to build a really huge bomb from various chemicals, mostly detergent, and drop it on an island in a lake that was VC. The upper ranks heard about this unauthorised use of 'chemical weapons' and nearly went berserk...when things had quietened down they completed construction of their bomb in a 44 gallon drum.
The secretly dropped it on said VC with a huge and very satisfying bang late one afternoon. The next morning they flew a recon to observe the results of their labours only to find that the lake was covered in soap sudds and 100s of 'black pajama' hanging drying from every tree branch.
He's thinks that there may have been a mistake with the quantities
Chuck.
Last edited by Chimbu chuckles; 16th Jun 2002 at 15:27.
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John Eacott - victim statement
There was a daytime version to the Wessex window gag.
Think: brand new squadron pilot on his first solo trip since joining squadron in Singers.
Beaut of a day off the coast getting some basic ping-time.
Just enough breeze for good doppler hover hold; head down trying to suss what really makes all this really work; when in over my right shoulder comes a thermos cup full of lemonade.
Lets just say that the dampness evident on the front of my flight suit, after landing, was not due entirely to spilled lemonade.
Think: brand new squadron pilot on his first solo trip since joining squadron in Singers.
Beaut of a day off the coast getting some basic ping-time.
Just enough breeze for good doppler hover hold; head down trying to suss what really makes all this really work; when in over my right shoulder comes a thermos cup full of lemonade.
Lets just say that the dampness evident on the front of my flight suit, after landing, was not due entirely to spilled lemonade.
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Collective Friction
Not one of my own, thank goodness, but heard of a teeny-weeny helo pilot who dropped off a photographer at a landing site. Not wanting to waste any time he pushed the collective down and then opened the door for his passenger.
As the photographer climbed out, the shoulder strap from his camera bag caught under the collective lever. The helo back-flipped.
At least the pilot was still strapped in, otherwise it might have been difficult to explain
As the photographer climbed out, the shoulder strap from his camera bag caught under the collective lever. The helo back-flipped.
At least the pilot was still strapped in, otherwise it might have been difficult to explain
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Oh well here goes...
Not as good as some of the military ones, but a learning curve none the less..
As a new flight instructor on a Bell 47, very keen. Had an uneventful flight to a local airport, nice landing by the student, all going very well.... got out a looked at the tail boom which is now completely covered in oil!! AARRGGHH what the hell happened here!.. Well now I always make sure the oil dip stick is in before I get in! and not resting the frame. God it took ages to clean.. who was the dip stick then!!
Darren
As a new flight instructor on a Bell 47, very keen. Had an uneventful flight to a local airport, nice landing by the student, all going very well.... got out a looked at the tail boom which is now completely covered in oil!! AARRGGHH what the hell happened here!.. Well now I always make sure the oil dip stick is in before I get in! and not resting the frame. God it took ages to clean.. who was the dip stick then!!
Darren
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This one comes under the category "dumbest things passengers have done when flying"!!
At the time i was a about a 350hr pilot i was flying tourist in central australia. just to fill you in on our helipad and its surrounds. departing to the east we had a strip cut from the edge of the pad by dozer straight through the mulga trees and scrub to give us a nice profile on our departure path to the west the departure was fine except for the camels in the yard with their 20 foot tall necks!!
anyway loaded up and breifed the pax on a scenic flt, on this particular day we had to depart up the strip to the east. into the hover all ok!..start to transition and at about 25-30kts and 20ft or so the front pax next to me gets a bit excited!!
Next minute i know we are heading straight for the trees!..she had braced herself and her right hand went straight onto the collective with hercules like downward force. i then proceeded to yell and carry on! eventually i arrested the decent with elevated heart rate and i kindly explained to her not to do it again!!
quite a scary moment...i now make certain every time to breif about controlls!
At the time i was a about a 350hr pilot i was flying tourist in central australia. just to fill you in on our helipad and its surrounds. departing to the east we had a strip cut from the edge of the pad by dozer straight through the mulga trees and scrub to give us a nice profile on our departure path to the west the departure was fine except for the camels in the yard with their 20 foot tall necks!!
anyway loaded up and breifed the pax on a scenic flt, on this particular day we had to depart up the strip to the east. into the hover all ok!..start to transition and at about 25-30kts and 20ft or so the front pax next to me gets a bit excited!!
Next minute i know we are heading straight for the trees!..she had braced herself and her right hand went straight onto the collective with hercules like downward force. i then proceeded to yell and carry on! eventually i arrested the decent with elevated heart rate and i kindly explained to her not to do it again!!
quite a scary moment...i now make certain every time to breif about controlls!
Gatvol
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Heliport has been around, as the dumbest thing one could ever do is to confess to something on an Internet Forum..........
(With nobody buying you a Beer to hear your tale of Woe.)
(With nobody buying you a Beer to hear your tale of Woe.)
Avoid imitations
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I was told this one by my RAF QHI, true story as it happened to him in the Whirlwind (single turbine).
He was to fly an army WO pax who had been briefed how to strap in rotors running. The WO climbed up the left side, sat down and began strapping in, with the QHI helping him using his left hand to pass the harness straps. Suddenly, the aircraft launched itself vertically upwards. The QHI, assuming the aircraft had a fuel computer runaway up, immediately went computer out (pulled in the big "bike brake lever" on the cyclic) and concentrated on controlling the aircraft which was now rapidly (well, as rapidly as a Whirly could do) approaching level with the hangar roof.
Having now put himself in a manual throttle situation, which made no difference, he realised that the collective was way high and tried to lower it, without success, it was stuck fast.
As he transitioned over the hangar roof (!) it became apparent that the WO had somehow put his left hand leg strap UNDER the collective and pulled it up tight, jamming it in a high position! Unfortunately he was not yet on intercom and not surprisingly, was petrified! The QHI had to yell at him and finally convinced him to unstrap, which was no mean feat considering the pax thought he was going to die in the next few seconds!
Yehaa! They got it down in one piece with the only damage to self respect and pride....
Stupidest thing I ever did was to swap hands on the controls in a Gazelle when I was flying as QHI from the LHS. I was asked to fly for a few seconds by my student as he had got his maps in the wrong order as we approached the departure point. He had the friction far too tight for my liking (friction situated on the right collective) so I stupidly tried to hover with my left hand whilst I wound it off with my right.
Well I shan't ever do that again!! The next few seconds went very quickly and my life flashed before my eyes. If anyone wants more detail, I can say why!!
He was to fly an army WO pax who had been briefed how to strap in rotors running. The WO climbed up the left side, sat down and began strapping in, with the QHI helping him using his left hand to pass the harness straps. Suddenly, the aircraft launched itself vertically upwards. The QHI, assuming the aircraft had a fuel computer runaway up, immediately went computer out (pulled in the big "bike brake lever" on the cyclic) and concentrated on controlling the aircraft which was now rapidly (well, as rapidly as a Whirly could do) approaching level with the hangar roof.
Having now put himself in a manual throttle situation, which made no difference, he realised that the collective was way high and tried to lower it, without success, it was stuck fast.
As he transitioned over the hangar roof (!) it became apparent that the WO had somehow put his left hand leg strap UNDER the collective and pulled it up tight, jamming it in a high position! Unfortunately he was not yet on intercom and not surprisingly, was petrified! The QHI had to yell at him and finally convinced him to unstrap, which was no mean feat considering the pax thought he was going to die in the next few seconds!
Yehaa! They got it down in one piece with the only damage to self respect and pride....
Stupidest thing I ever did was to swap hands on the controls in a Gazelle when I was flying as QHI from the LHS. I was asked to fly for a few seconds by my student as he had got his maps in the wrong order as we approached the departure point. He had the friction far too tight for my liking (friction situated on the right collective) so I stupidly tried to hover with my left hand whilst I wound it off with my right.
Well I shan't ever do that again!! The next few seconds went very quickly and my life flashed before my eyes. If anyone wants more detail, I can say why!!
Last edited by ShyTorque; 19th Aug 2004 at 18:27.
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I Learned About Flying From That (ILAFFT)
Hi all!
A few days ago, there was a great thread from a guy that managed to save the day when his R44 beltdrive gave up in the early stages of a climbout.
The discussion that followed made som great points about maybe not having to be in that difficult situation in the first place. Unfortunately, the points made where not made in a nice tone and in the end the thread that gave many helicopterpilots something to think about was deleted by the originator. I think that's a great shame, so let's try this instead:
What have you done?
You didn't listen to your inner voice, telling you something is wrong?
Made a bad decision?
Made a good decision?
Crashed a helicopter or just bent it a little bit?
Wished you had said no?
And so on...
I guess that some of you does it daily, while others never have anything happen to them. (Why is that?) Instead of only reading AAIB-reports about other pilots hard learned experiences, how about sharing your worst or best moments in a helicopter, from a safety-point of view?
There will of course be some very experienced pilots who seen most of it anyway, so nothing will be new to them. Imagine if the newcomers could be able to tap into some of that experience that otherwise have to be learnt the dangerous and expensive way, it might actually save lives. And if you think that you know and seen it all, I hope you have retired...
The best thing is if it's your own experience, so that the thoughts and actions are accurate. The next best thing is if it's happened to a "friend"
. If you want to comment on someone elses mistakes, feel free to do it, but keep it polite. By using that 20/20 hindsight, we might actually have a better vision of what's going on when, or if, it happens in realtime.
Let's make this a great thread
/2beers
A few days ago, there was a great thread from a guy that managed to save the day when his R44 beltdrive gave up in the early stages of a climbout.
The discussion that followed made som great points about maybe not having to be in that difficult situation in the first place. Unfortunately, the points made where not made in a nice tone and in the end the thread that gave many helicopterpilots something to think about was deleted by the originator. I think that's a great shame, so let's try this instead:
What have you done?
You didn't listen to your inner voice, telling you something is wrong?
Made a bad decision?
Made a good decision?
Crashed a helicopter or just bent it a little bit?
Wished you had said no?
And so on...
I guess that some of you does it daily, while others never have anything happen to them. (Why is that?) Instead of only reading AAIB-reports about other pilots hard learned experiences, how about sharing your worst or best moments in a helicopter, from a safety-point of view?
There will of course be some very experienced pilots who seen most of it anyway, so nothing will be new to them. Imagine if the newcomers could be able to tap into some of that experience that otherwise have to be learnt the dangerous and expensive way, it might actually save lives. And if you think that you know and seen it all, I hope you have retired...
The best thing is if it's your own experience, so that the thoughts and actions are accurate. The next best thing is if it's happened to a "friend"
. If you want to comment on someone elses mistakes, feel free to do it, but keep it polite. By using that 20/20 hindsight, we might actually have a better vision of what's going on when, or if, it happens in realtime.Let's make this a great thread
/2beers
Hey, I'll bite.
You know, it's cool to have a gazillion hours of flight time. The trouble is, you can't ever mention it because people think you're just bragging. "Oh what are you, some kind of know-it-all? You have 10,000 hours? Big f'ing deal." Yup, big f'ing deal.
Having a lot of flight time does not mean I know everything, nor does it make me immune from mistakes. I have to guard against making them every bit as diligently as a guy with 1/10th of my flight time. Maybe even more diligently, because I know more now than I did back then.
I look at the accident reports every day. Not just helicopters, but fixed-wing too. I study each one, trying to put myself in that pilot's place, wondering if the same thing would have resulted with me at the controls? Often, I cannot say for sure that it would have not. Sometimes the "accident chain" begins...or the dominoes start to fall if you will prior to take off.
The other thing that comes to mind when I scan the accident reports is: How many "situations" come this close to being an accident but don't result in bent metal? Like Raven's little clutch failure. How easily that could have been an accident! The decision to turn back from 200 feet surely was gutsy. And risky. There have been many aircraft lost in such a maneuvre. How many times have we ourselves been in similar situations? When high-time pilots like myself get together, we often marvel that we've been able to survive to this level without killing ourselves. It's no joke; it didn't happen because we're such nice guys. Not that I haven't crashed...
Early on, when I was just a private pilot I was flying a Bell 47. We all knew it had a weak engine, weaker certainly than it's sister ship, but not by much. I flew out to a friend's farm (who was a student pilot), loaded him up and proceded to show him an ag-turn. Only... Only nobody had showed me. Oops!
Took off and made my "swath run." Due to the weak engine and the load of the two of us, I was only at about 45, not 60 mph at the end of the field. Little did I know that wasn't nearly enough airspeed. Hauled back on the stick. The helicopter climbed up a bit and then just stopped. I pedal-turned around. We were now pointed directly at the ground and it was very clear that we didn't have enough altitude to get some airspeed and fly away. Gulp! Pulling max power, I leveled and braced for impact. And impact we did! Spread the skids, cut the boom and rolled it over. Totalled that little G-2. And it was all me, baby!
The FAA came, and I made weasley excuses about a "power problem." Turned out that one of the six cylinders was completely dead. Off the hook! But you know, it was still my fault. I wrecked a perfectly good Bell 47 (well, almost perfect) nearly killed myself and a friend and I have to live with that for the rest of my life. Do not think that it doesn't weigh heavily, for it does. I made a dumb mistake due to overconfidence and cockiness. I've spent the rest of my career trying to atone for it.
You know, it's cool to have a gazillion hours of flight time. The trouble is, you can't ever mention it because people think you're just bragging. "Oh what are you, some kind of know-it-all? You have 10,000 hours? Big f'ing deal." Yup, big f'ing deal.
Having a lot of flight time does not mean I know everything, nor does it make me immune from mistakes. I have to guard against making them every bit as diligently as a guy with 1/10th of my flight time. Maybe even more diligently, because I know more now than I did back then.
I look at the accident reports every day. Not just helicopters, but fixed-wing too. I study each one, trying to put myself in that pilot's place, wondering if the same thing would have resulted with me at the controls? Often, I cannot say for sure that it would have not. Sometimes the "accident chain" begins...or the dominoes start to fall if you will prior to take off.
The other thing that comes to mind when I scan the accident reports is: How many "situations" come this close to being an accident but don't result in bent metal? Like Raven's little clutch failure. How easily that could have been an accident! The decision to turn back from 200 feet surely was gutsy. And risky. There have been many aircraft lost in such a maneuvre. How many times have we ourselves been in similar situations? When high-time pilots like myself get together, we often marvel that we've been able to survive to this level without killing ourselves. It's no joke; it didn't happen because we're such nice guys. Not that I haven't crashed...
Early on, when I was just a private pilot I was flying a Bell 47. We all knew it had a weak engine, weaker certainly than it's sister ship, but not by much. I flew out to a friend's farm (who was a student pilot), loaded him up and proceded to show him an ag-turn. Only... Only nobody had showed me. Oops!
Took off and made my "swath run." Due to the weak engine and the load of the two of us, I was only at about 45, not 60 mph at the end of the field. Little did I know that wasn't nearly enough airspeed. Hauled back on the stick. The helicopter climbed up a bit and then just stopped. I pedal-turned around. We were now pointed directly at the ground and it was very clear that we didn't have enough altitude to get some airspeed and fly away. Gulp! Pulling max power, I leveled and braced for impact. And impact we did! Spread the skids, cut the boom and rolled it over. Totalled that little G-2. And it was all me, baby!
The FAA came, and I made weasley excuses about a "power problem." Turned out that one of the six cylinders was completely dead. Off the hook! But you know, it was still my fault. I wrecked a perfectly good Bell 47 (well, almost perfect) nearly killed myself and a friend and I have to live with that for the rest of my life. Do not think that it doesn't weigh heavily, for it does. I made a dumb mistake due to overconfidence and cockiness. I've spent the rest of my career trying to atone for it.
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Stop hanging yourself Prune1 - we've all done silly things. I've flown across the Florida Pan Handle at 2 in the morning, right across the Everglades, looked in the Left tank on landing and it was empty. Had two friends on board. Simple fuel miscalculation. Stalled a TB9 on the flare out onto the runway with 4 up and scraped the tail. Yep, had sleepness nights for a while but i'm still here. Made dumb mistakes but these mistakes have made me a dedicated safety conscious pilot, so at least something good has come of it.
TFS
TFS
