Book reviews: Helicopters, Principles of Flight etc
 

I know this subject has come up in the past, but...


We're looking at putting together a helicopter book & video library. Aimed at single pilot or crew, IFR, VFR, NVG, low level flying, utility work, EMS, and SAR (I know, kind of vague).

We're looking for stuff that will help professional development.

Oh yeah, and we have to be able to obtain it within one month.

Any ideas?

Shawn Coyle's new book CYCLIC and COLLECTIVE - More Art and Science of Helicopter Flying will be available shortly -within your deadline.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...collective.jpg

The author is Chief of the Rotary Wing Branch, and Rotary Wing Test Pilot Instructor, at the National Test Pilots School in California - and a contributor to this forum!
His first book ‘The Art and Science of Flying Helicopters’ quickly became established as the helicopter pilots 'bible' and, having read an advance copy of his second book, I have no doubt this will too.

It's not a book you can put down easily once started, but you're not going to get through it in one session either - we're not talking flimsy handbook here.
It's a substantial tome which covers everything from fundamentals, through flying at private level to advanced topics for professional pilots who operate helicopters rather than just fly them.

This isn't the sort of book you only read once, and then put on a bookshelf to gather dust - it's a reference work you'd keep going back to time and time when the need arises.

To give an idea of what the new book contains, the chapter headings are:

Some Fundamentals
Introduction to Helicopter Aerodynamics
The Rotor Blade
More Basics of the Helicopter
Air, Wind and Weather
Basic Helicopter Performance
Balance and Weight
The Aerodyamics of Autorotation
Instruments and Warning Systems
The Piston Engine

Dear Student
Before You Strap In
Helicopter Flying - The Basics
The Divine Art of Hovering
'Twixt Heaven and Earth'
Lift-off and Touchdown

Introducing Emergencies
Engine Failures for Beginners
Peculiarities of the Helicopter
Flight Manuals, Rules and Regulations
Miscellaneous

For the Professional Helicopter Pilot / Instructor
Advanced Helicopter Aerodynamics
Flight Controls and Rotor Heads
Advanced Performance
Other Components
Advanced Helicopter Flying
More Instruments
The Turbine Engine
Advanced Engine Failures
Advanced Emergencies
Multi-Engine Helicopters
Stability and Control of the Helicopter

Further Peculiarities of the Helicopter
Other Helicopter Types
Night and Instrument Flying
Automatic Flight Control Systems
Miscellaneous Musings

There are some people who have that wonderful gift of being able to explain things in such a way everyone can understand. We're lucky to have a number of such people on Rotorheads. Nick Lappos is one, Shawn Coyle is another. And Shawn Coyle has written this book!

In my opinion, no 'helicopter library' would be complete without this book.
Recommended. :ok:


Heliport

"The Helicopter Pilot's Handbook" by Phil Croucher, ISBN 0-9681928-3-1, published by Electrocution.

Also by the same author, "The Professional Pilot's Manual", ISBN 1-85310-082-X published by Airlife books.

And just for the record I have no financial interest in Airlife, Electrocution or Amazon where you should find them quite quickly.

And does anyone have an ISBN for Shawn's book ?

Autopilot books.
 

Anyone know of any good books dealing with helicopter autopilot systems.

Already have Art & Science of flying helicopters(Coyle) and Automatic flight control (Pallet/Coyle).

Thanks

GR
:cool:

Depends upon the level you want. If you want to go back to basic principles, Donald McClean's "Automatic Flight Control Systems" is reasonable but it won't go into the actual electronic and mechanical design issues.

G

The ISBN for the first book is: 081382169X.

I have been unable to find anyone selling the new book yet, only the last edition.

Shawn, anyone near Mojave selling it?

As the author / contributor of the two books quoted earlier, the question I would have is 'What do you want to know?'
Most of the books on automatic flight control systems concentrate on the design / engineering aspects, and precious few (read none) on the actual piloting aspects.
So, if you want to know more about the engineering aspects, look at the texts, but if you want to know how to use them, not much out there will help.
But what do you really want to know?

Helimark, and others who've emailed me asking for the IBSN reference of Shawn's new book:
It's ISBN 0-9726368-0-3.

The book is available on the web at www.helobooks.com

I understand there was a small error in printing which is being corrected, and the book should be available in about two weeks.


Heliport

Thanks for the response chaps

The above listed books were good but I am looking to supplement this info.

I am a maintenance engineer currently studying for further licences, and as such my requirement is for books detailing the fundamentals of automatic flight control systems, representative working systems and system interfaces.

Texts also dealing with how the systems are actually used would also be benificial, but as Shawn has pointed out, these do seem to be few and far between.

Purchasing these type of books is a tad hit and mis as inevitably if you buy on line you do not get to flick through it first. They are also erring on the expensive side. I guess knowledge does'nt come cheap these days.


GR

Any truth in the rumour that the printing error was to leave out the words "helicopter demi-god" in Shawn's bio ?

Your mention of 'demi-god' made me think how lucky we are with the contributors to this forum.

Not only do we have the obvious stars like Nick Lappos and Shawn Coyle, but we also have lots of other professional pilots from all over the world who may not be as well-known, but have years of experience in every conceivable sphere of helicopter operations. They too are truly experts in their various spheres.

Heliport

Demi-god???

You should be able to see the glow of the blushing from anywhere in the world following words like that.

I'm not even trying to be a semi-, part time, aspiring, hopeful, somewhat wannabe slightly-tarnished-and-bent-halo minor diety, thanks.

The amount I don't know far outweighs what I do know about helicopters. Just that I had some spare time on my hands and knew how to operate a word processor...

I'd suggest that looking at the maintenance manuals that apply to the various systems by Honeywell and so on are a good starting point.
If in the UK, you might look at picking up AP3456 - not sure if it has anything on AFCS, but it is normally pretty comprehensive. Talk to the manufacturers to see if they have any training material, too.

In thanks for Heliport's kind comments. Taking the liberty of speaking for both Shawn and myself (Shawn is a close friend of many years), let me say that true demi-gods prove their status by flying WITHOUT the need of a helicopter!

The great strength of pprune is that we learn from each other. There is not a time that I log on and can't learn something from those who participate. line pilot, Instructor, student of wannabe all have lots to offer!

EXCELENT BOOK!!!
 

:D Hi, to all readers,
Just got my SIGNED copy of Cyclic & Collective, more art and science of flying helicopters, and what a truly excelent book it is!!!!
The work is great, and written with great humor, and I will no doubt spend my easter pouring over it, rather than doing anything productive, like being out in the sunny weather for sure (we don't get any of that here in CYQX anyway!).
So to all, it is well worth taking the time and money to pick it up, because it is very good, thoroughly written, and not overly technical

:ok:

Good Morning

Is there a reommended title for non-pilots to read that explores the history of helios and how they work? I'm not a pilot but I'm pretty technical especially when it comes to airfoils since I am by birth a sailor. Everything I looked at in the library is about 30 years old.

There are some very good websites that have stuff on the history of the helicopter. Can't remember them right now, but do a search for helicopter history etc.
I seem to recall a book that had some good stuff that was reasonably modern, but can't remember the title.
But if it is history, why does having a book that is 30 years old matter....

I thought of websites, researched the birth and demise of the deHavilland Comet that way. A book is more portable. Iwas looking for something that was all inclusive, sort of a "everything you ever wanted to know" type. I figured if it existed, you guys would know based on some of th resumes I have read about here including you own, Mr. Coyle. I guess you have flew a bit, huh?

Civil, military experiences
 

Hi all! :D

New here, thought this an appropriate thread for my question.

I've just read Chickenhawk by Robert Mason and Low Level Hell by Hugh Mills Jnr (both on Vietnam), and would like to tap into your collective wisdom an any good books about helicopter flying experiences, civil or military.

Cheers,
Poe :ok:

So what's so great about Shawn's book?
 

Well, everything, frankly. It's been reviewed here before, but not until I got my sticky fingers on the pages did I discover what I had been missing!

CYCLIC AND COLLECTIVE. Not an easy book to find on bookstore shelves. I finally got mine this week by stopping in at the National Test Pilot School in Mojave, where Shawn is chief helicopter instructor. (And got a fascinating tour of the facilities and their fleet of extraordinary aircraft. Dazzling. Not to mention the challenge of trying to keep up with a brilliant expert in the field.)

The book: actually structured informally as Book 1 (pp 1-200, text for beginners w/piston-engine helis) and Book 2 (in same binding, pp 201-480, advanced & turbine operations). All 480 pages contain in-depth analysis of what goes on with rotors beating atmosphere into submission; and every page has at least one bit of delightful HUMOR (beat that, FAA Rotorcraft Flying Handbook). Example: "There is no doubt the first ten or so hours of helicopter flying are among the most humbling experiences one can go through. There are many parallels to learning to ride a bicycle . . . [footnote here says 'Except the falling off part'] or windsurf [footnote: 'except drier']"

Good news is, the inherently deep technical subjects can be read with enjoyment by nearly any helicopter pilot--if the material is too technical for you to understand, at least the sideline humor keeps it light--and additionally punctuates essential, or ignorable, subjects to keep you on track. And that inherent easy digestibility, in turn, allows a noticeably deeper and more thoughtful analysis of everything-helicopter.

The anecdotal reports of strange-accidents-that-happen are invaluable lessons in Murphy's Law--for instance, the middle-European sightseeing helicopter that crashed & killed 8, for unexplained reasons. EXCEPT that its normal tiedown was on a slope, so any water getting into the fuel tanks would be in the downslope corner of the tank, undiscovered during preflight--AND at takeoff the water would flow (downhill) to the front edge of the tank, away from the outlet; and then at approach-to-landing pitch-up the water would flow downhill to the outlet at aft edge of tank AND THENCE TO THE ENGINE! Exactly where the aircraft crashed!

And other jewels. "That helmets save lives should not be questioned. What should be questioned is the mental health of anyone who says they won't wear one." On immersion suits: "How long can you tread water? (With apologies to Bill Cosby and the Noah sketch.)" The lift equation: "Aerodynamicists use calculus to estimate the toatl lift on a single blade and then the whole rotor disk. We won't be doing that - the reader will probably be delighted to find we will hardly touch the formula again."

I've only read 10% of the book so far, but just had to share the fun. I could go on and on--as a matter of fact, I have. More to follow, but the only way to get the full thrust is get your own copy--www.helobooks.com, P.O. Box 787, Mojave, CA 93502, 661-823-8068. $44.95 (and no, I don't get a commission of any kind--but just think of all the complicated arguments we can get into here on pprune once we have a common--er, un-common?--frame of reference.)

Dave
helimaverick-at-large