Dolly landing gone wrong.
Avoid imitations
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Wandering the FIR and cyberspace often at highly unsociable times
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Parking into the prevailing wind is also a given, why anyone would not do so is beyond me: a problem of their own making! If the wind shifts before landing, get the trolley moved before you land on it
A bit of skin damage caused by a skid lifter can be repaired; a bent heli lying on its side with all the blades gone is a different prospect altogether.
I'm glad to have wheels on the heli I now fly. Worst I'm likely to do is ding it into the boss's jet when putting it away in the hangar with the tow truck.
Feel sorry for the pilot. I thought it was just me on dolly landings. I used to land Gazelles on dollies but always with a CPL in left seat , they never had to help and as the platforms were quite large I didn,t find them a problem. Later a friend bought an R44 and kept it on a much smaller dolly. He let me use this aircraft on occasions and said I could just go and take off from the platform without being checked out. I was not too sure about this so enlisted a good friend CPL/ IR / CFI who Had a lot of Dolly experience .He showed me how this Dolly had a yellow rod protruding form the front which you lined up between your feet on approach as you went sort of zero zero forward and down and a yellow rod at the side that as it came into your periferal vision at the side approx in line with your shoulder you set it down perfect every time.
If it was very windy with the turbelence around the hangar it still was tricky especially if the aircraft was ligthly laden.I rember one day as I was out the wind really got up and changed direction which would mean landing on the grass shutting down getting out and repositioning the dolly.Not too much of a problem but then I had to come in over a fence and set down on the platform with a shed just in front of the blades. Guess what I did . I left aircraft on the grass and phoned the owner and told him I wasn't confident in this manouvere so he said no problem and came down from the house and popped it on himself no problem after all he was more used to it than me. But for me if there is any doubt then there is NO doubt and I just don't do it.
Tell you what landing on these things is great practice. Landing on normal sites afterwards was a lot easier.
Fly safe
R
If it was very windy with the turbelence around the hangar it still was tricky especially if the aircraft was ligthly laden.I rember one day as I was out the wind really got up and changed direction which would mean landing on the grass shutting down getting out and repositioning the dolly.Not too much of a problem but then I had to come in over a fence and set down on the platform with a shed just in front of the blades. Guess what I did . I left aircraft on the grass and phoned the owner and told him I wasn't confident in this manouvere so he said no problem and came down from the house and popped it on himself no problem after all he was more used to it than me. But for me if there is any doubt then there is NO doubt and I just don't do it.
Tell you what landing on these things is great practice. Landing on normal sites afterwards was a lot easier.
Fly safe
R
Join Date: Sep 2005
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To err is human......
Spelling mistakes - no excuses, hit taken fair and square.
On reflection, I should have used the phrase 'probable lack of training' to end my last input. What training is given to those who are likely to use a dolly? My instinct would be to treat it as a CA, establish forward and lateral markers and carry out a sloping-ground style landing, then any unusual attitude that developed during the landing could be dealt with by taking off again and repositioning. Where to look during the landing is an area of concern, as to look close in to the right could lead to a forward and right drift during the descent. Should that movement be anticipated by positioning slightly left and back and a good vertical descent was carried out, a mis-landing could result. Question is, are the actions to be taken in case of a mis-landing taught?
Pilot DAR - refer to line one please.
On reflection, I should have used the phrase 'probable lack of training' to end my last input. What training is given to those who are likely to use a dolly? My instinct would be to treat it as a CA, establish forward and lateral markers and carry out a sloping-ground style landing, then any unusual attitude that developed during the landing could be dealt with by taking off again and repositioning. Where to look during the landing is an area of concern, as to look close in to the right could lead to a forward and right drift during the descent. Should that movement be anticipated by positioning slightly left and back and a good vertical descent was carried out, a mis-landing could result. Question is, are the actions to be taken in case of a mis-landing taught?
Pilot DAR - refer to line one please.
