Hover checks and clearing turns
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Hover checks and clearing turns
In this age of everyone posting video of their every flight on various helicopter sites.
Whatever happened to hover checks and clearing turns before departure?
Seems a lot of folks just yank it off the ground ( a darn good way to roll over ) and commence an immediate combined pedal turn and nose down attitude and depart.
They are also doing commentary on the flight will doing this.
Whatever happened to hover checks and clearing turns before departure?
Seems a lot of folks just yank it off the ground ( a darn good way to roll over ) and commence an immediate combined pedal turn and nose down attitude and depart.
They are also doing commentary on the flight will doing this.
I agree, they are not getting shot at.
To not pause briefly and make sure you are good for the sky before you go, I think is foolish and most probably reflects poor training.
To not pause briefly and make sure you are good for the sky before you go, I think is foolish and most probably reflects poor training.
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Some things are too easy?
Agree with what others are saying. The hover check is too easy maybe? I am frustrated sometimes by pilots saying “clear right/left” as they have already begun to turn, they don’t wait for verbal confirmation that it is indeed “clear”.
Some don’t even announce which way they are turning. Whether operating as a single pilot or with a crew of 4 these things are important.
FltMech
Some don’t even announce which way they are turning. Whether operating as a single pilot or with a crew of 4 these things are important.
FltMech
Over-confidence and paying lip-service to checks/procedures - you'll get away with it for a while but eventually it will bite you in the arse.
Every pilot makes errors sometimes but when those errors become habits you are cruising towards an accident.
Every pilot makes errors sometimes but when those errors become habits you are cruising towards an accident.
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60,
In my time the pilot flying announced his intentions and called for clearance by the crew before moving the aircraft and received notice from the crew that all was clear in all directions...including upwards...before initiating the movement.
Should your Pilots be falling short in following your Unit SOP's.....take it up with the Unit Safety Officer in a discrete manner as possible.
Holding your peace and going along for the ride carries far more risk over time than having that chat with the ASO.
Aviation Safety Meetings are supposed be occasions such concerns can be brought up and be formally addressed.
Likewise, periodic review of SOP's to ensure they include "Best Practice" procedures should also be done as part of the Unit Safety Program.
One method for that is to do an Audit....take the SOP as written and interview Flight Crews or Maintenance Crews to see if the printed SOP is exactly how business is conducted on a day to day basis and if a difference is noted....determine which is the better method....the written one or the one being used.....and make sure the best one becomes the written one in the SOP.
Safety is an All Hands effort with no Sacred Cows.
In my time the pilot flying announced his intentions and called for clearance by the crew before moving the aircraft and received notice from the crew that all was clear in all directions...including upwards...before initiating the movement.
Should your Pilots be falling short in following your Unit SOP's.....take it up with the Unit Safety Officer in a discrete manner as possible.
Holding your peace and going along for the ride carries far more risk over time than having that chat with the ASO.
Aviation Safety Meetings are supposed be occasions such concerns can be brought up and be formally addressed.
Likewise, periodic review of SOP's to ensure they include "Best Practice" procedures should also be done as part of the Unit Safety Program.
One method for that is to do an Audit....take the SOP as written and interview Flight Crews or Maintenance Crews to see if the printed SOP is exactly how business is conducted on a day to day basis and if a difference is noted....determine which is the better method....the written one or the one being used.....and make sure the best one becomes the written one in the SOP.
Safety is an All Hands effort with no Sacred Cows.
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SASless,
we sorted those issues out, all is well. But you are right, sometimes you have to speak up and make your concerns known.
I heard someone from the air medical community on a podcast say “if it’s important enough to think it, it’s important enough to say it”.
FltMech
we sorted those issues out, all is well. But you are right, sometimes you have to speak up and make your concerns known.
I heard someone from the air medical community on a podcast say “if it’s important enough to think it, it’s important enough to say it”.
FltMech
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Never understood these socmed pilots, who are lauded online for their skills and excellence, with their stick-stirrings & lack of pause when lifting into the hover only to proceed with the GoPro viewers favourite nose-down, max-power, turning take off.
An instinctual pause for instrument & power checks and a spacial awareness looksie for any stationary or moving obstacles appearing in the ever changing world outside the cockpit within the period between walking-round to lifting, could save many a potential occurrence.
Of course there wouldn’t be any of these ‘little’ embarrassments posted on socmed, which leads me to think that considering the video postings to flights made ratio, we are probably missing a few tricks that are going on out there; although the stick stirring and obvious lack of trimming seem to be acceptable practises to post by these skilful (in the minds of the socmed viewers) pilots.
I guess a stringent training background and operating from very busy dispersals creates a mindset of ‘if nothings going wrong, it’s just about to’ and ‘where’s the next hazard coming from’… rather than one of; ‘that’s the engine started, let’s go!
As for take off checks; once had the occasion when lifting in the hover the handling (RHS) pilot calling out ‘torque, NC, T4, CWP’, turned head, checked the tail and began a spot turn. I enquired what the torquemeter was reading.
’Looks like it’s failed’ came the reply!
(it had failed pre skids off)
An instinctual pause for instrument & power checks and a spacial awareness looksie for any stationary or moving obstacles appearing in the ever changing world outside the cockpit within the period between walking-round to lifting, could save many a potential occurrence.
Of course there wouldn’t be any of these ‘little’ embarrassments posted on socmed, which leads me to think that considering the video postings to flights made ratio, we are probably missing a few tricks that are going on out there; although the stick stirring and obvious lack of trimming seem to be acceptable practises to post by these skilful (in the minds of the socmed viewers) pilots.
I guess a stringent training background and operating from very busy dispersals creates a mindset of ‘if nothings going wrong, it’s just about to’ and ‘where’s the next hazard coming from’… rather than one of; ‘that’s the engine started, let’s go!
As for take off checks; once had the occasion when lifting in the hover the handling (RHS) pilot calling out ‘torque, NC, T4, CWP’, turned head, checked the tail and began a spot turn. I enquired what the torquemeter was reading.
’Looks like it’s failed’ came the reply!
(it had failed pre skids off)
Lol, yeah I noticed this too a while back (and apparently so did the FAA 'cause they issued a reminder about doing hover checks a number of years ago).
Sadly, a lot of these just pick it up and yank it away are training flights too. Oh well. Guess it makes sense though. I mean, if they're not teaching it, can't expect anyone to do it.
Sadly, a lot of these just pick it up and yank it away are training flights too. Oh well. Guess it makes sense though. I mean, if they're not teaching it, can't expect anyone to do it.
Even following checklists can become a ritual rather than a "doing" process. I have, on occasion, pulled the C/B for the engine instruments while Bloggs had his head out the window. He looks inside, says "Ts and Ps are good" and prepared to lift off. When challenged, he again said they were good, so I asked for the actual oil pressure reading. "Ohhh..."
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Some years ago i stopped one of my students who didnt do a clearing turn in the middle of the airfield, but went straight into a transition. I stopped him and made him do a turn, just as well really as a C 130 on low level ops ( about 200 ft ) had mistook our airfield for a disused one 3 miles away and were using as a turning point. Can still see vividly ,the smile on the loadmasters face sitting on the ramp.
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Preflight can become a ritual too, “looking” but not “Seeing”. I’ve caught myself thinking “I don’t remember checking….” So I start over from that point.
Back to the subject at hand, I don’t recall ever flying with someone who hasn’t performed a hover check. There is one thing I have observed at my base field that is baffling: aircraft departing and immediately entering a sharp right hand turn, before the stabilator starts to program.
I don’t understand why someone would want to take a risk like that. Why in such a big hurry? And teaching others bad habits. Are people so convinced of the reliability of the aircraft that they don’t think there can be malfunctions?
fltmech
Back to the subject at hand, I don’t recall ever flying with someone who hasn’t performed a hover check. There is one thing I have observed at my base field that is baffling: aircraft departing and immediately entering a sharp right hand turn, before the stabilator starts to program.
I don’t understand why someone would want to take a risk like that. Why in such a big hurry? And teaching others bad habits. Are people so convinced of the reliability of the aircraft that they don’t think there can be malfunctions?
fltmech
I began my r/w training in the mid-1970s, and I was mostly taught by guys who had recently returned from Vietnam. They INSISTED strenuously that I do a "hover-hang" check immediately after lift-off. It did not need to be lengthy - just a quick check of the c.g., instruments and lights with one last glance at the fuel gauge just to be sure. Maybe a couple of seconds. It was a lesson I never forgot.
But late in my career I see that this practice is all but gone. Pilots do a pre-takeoff check on the ground, and then use the pull-and-go technique. I was discussing the issue with the owner of a large fleet of helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. He scoffed and said that he could glance at the torque gauge as the ship broke ground, and he felt that it was the equivalent of an actual pause-and-note-hover-power check. I've concluded that many pilots do not consider such information important anymore. It's a good thing they never had to fly with some of my primary instructors!
But late in my career I see that this practice is all but gone. Pilots do a pre-takeoff check on the ground, and then use the pull-and-go technique. I was discussing the issue with the owner of a large fleet of helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. He scoffed and said that he could glance at the torque gauge as the ship broke ground, and he felt that it was the equivalent of an actual pause-and-note-hover-power check. I've concluded that many pilots do not consider such information important anymore. It's a good thing they never had to fly with some of my primary instructors!
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handling (RHS) pilot calling out ‘torque, NC, T4, CWP’
As FH-1100 correctly notes.....Hover Checks were very much SOP and practiced by US Army Aviators in all helicopters.
One caveat is that at times we picked up to a hover, completed the hover check to include noting Hover Power required (and what margins if any remained), and oft times landed back and then did a takeoff from the ground.
We did Instrument Take Offs from the Ground after doing a hover power check to calculate the Take Off Power setting as we assumed all takeoffs would be done in Zero/Zero conditions due to dust/fog or other restriction to visibility.
Carrying sling loads also included a hover check prior to starting the take off although at times the load might be allowed to touch the ground then the takeoff commenced with a vertical climb for a bit of height before translating to forward flight.
Simple thinking really....if it won't hover or will not handle right....no sense finding out when there is not much you can do to recover the situation.
One caveat is that at times we picked up to a hover, completed the hover check to include noting Hover Power required (and what margins if any remained), and oft times landed back and then did a takeoff from the ground.
We did Instrument Take Offs from the Ground after doing a hover power check to calculate the Take Off Power setting as we assumed all takeoffs would be done in Zero/Zero conditions due to dust/fog or other restriction to visibility.
Carrying sling loads also included a hover check prior to starting the take off although at times the load might be allowed to touch the ground then the takeoff commenced with a vertical climb for a bit of height before translating to forward flight.
Simple thinking really....if it won't hover or will not handle right....no sense finding out when there is not much you can do to recover the situation.
I have, on occasion, pulled the C/B for the engine instruments while Bloggs had his head out the window
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Some years ago i stopped one of my students who didnt do a clearing turn in the middle of the airfield, but went straight into a transition. I stopped him and made him do a turn, just as well really as a C 130 on low level ops ( about 200 ft ) had mistook our airfield for a disused one 3 miles away and were using as a turning point. Can still see vividly ,the smile on the loadmasters face sitting on the ramp.
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