R22 Total Electrical Failure (Anybody else see this ever?)
 

Hi there everybody; this is my very first post. Some background:

I am a CFII who has taken a check-ride in a Schweizer Cbi, C, CB, R22, and R44. I have about 400 hrs total time, 50 in each Robinson, but most time in the Cbi. Graduated a NESCAC college with an Economics degree (useless in this Economy and furthermore, everybody I know working at JPMorgan this or Goldman Sachs that are pretty miserable.)

My flight school did hire me, NEHA (great school), but unfortunately there isn't enough work for me to make a living so I was driving a Taxi when my old mentor called me and asked me if I wanted to do this epic ferry flight.

I ferried an R22 HP from a seller in Rochester, NY to Long Beach, CA. I flew solo until Kansas City, MO, where I picked up a private pilot going for his commercial license. It would have taken twice as long without the Garmin 796, and I can't say enough about that unit, but let's talk about that later.

The failure:

Everything was working beautifully until thunderstorms in texas delayed a departure. As I was paying for fuel, the desk was slow, so my student was sitting in the helicopter with the strobe on and the Garmin sucking power from the 12V outlet. When we started, after switching on the alternator, the ammeter showed well into the positive, as would be expected from a battery that was a little discharged. Everything normal, let's go.

As we flew, the Ammeter started to return to its usual, neutral position, as expected, as the battery charged up.

The problem is that when it returned to its usual position, and the alternator light came on. When I cycled the alternator, the ammeter dipped into the negative, and then back to neutral when I flipped it back on.

Okay, so the alternator is doing its job, as in, it's creating juice for the battery, right?

I decide to unplug the Garmin and let it run on its own battery for awhile to be gentle to the aircraft battery while it charged. The alternator light stayed on but--because I witnessed the ammeter deflect left, and then back to neutral when I cycled the alternator--I ignored the light, being confident that the alternator was in fact working.

This is the part where I admit my mistake. Never ignore a warning light.

As we were flying through the desert in New Mexico, I noticed suddenly that the rotor and engine tachs where at the very top, indicating RPM too high. I was annoyed that I didn't notice sooner. There was no change in sound; that was why it took me so long, I figured out later. So I think [governor malfunction].

I rolled off throttle, over-riding the governor back to the top of the green, but the noise sounded low, and the low RPM horn went off, so I immediately rolled back up and thought "I will trust the low RPM horn and my gut feeling in regards to the sound of the RPM. Better to overspeed a rotor system than stall it." So now I'm thinking [tachometer malfunction]

I put it down in the middle of the desert (we are ETE 5 minutes to our next leg, a tiny airport). I roll the throttle all the way into detent thinking that, perhaps if I roll all the way off, then back up, it might straighten the tachs out. As we're sitting there, everything dies. So now I'm thinking [battery is dead and I am an asshole for thinking I knew better than the alternator warning light]

We don't have food, water, cell service, or power to call for help on the radio, and I am desperately trying to do a great job on my first big job, so that they can recommend me, or perhaps even hire me.

I make the decision to continue flying for 5 minutes to the airport. Using the sound as my new tachometers, I lift off and go to the next airport. Nervous about stalling the rotor, I keep it on the high side. The buyer of the aircraft later told me that overspeeds usually only cause damage when people severely screw up an autorotation. He's happy. The aircraft in the middle of the desert in a town that doesn't even have taxi service or a place to rent a car would have been a logistical nightmare. He later flew out and swapped out the voltage regulator, alternator, and aircraft battery. Everything worked fine. We got an identical battery at a hardware store to get it to the next airport. Identical is a strong word, and I still need to look up if...hypothetically..., somebody put in a tractor-trailer battery of the same size to get to an airport with mechanics.

We're thinking it's the voltage regulator, as the tachs jumped around for one moment causing me to take controls from the student on the last leg from an airport with no mechanics to an airport WITH mechanics. Today mechanics will bring out a multi-meter and troubleshoot.

Anybody else experience anything like this? Anybody want to critique the decisions I made? Despite being a CFII, I humbly call myself new to flying. Maybe in ten years I'll stop saying "I'm new to this."

Thanks!

-Colin

colincolby DOT com for my resume. I am willing to move anywhere world-wide immediately to be a full time pilot or instructor. If anybody knows anybody out there looking, I'd appreciate a referral.

Hi there,

Pleased to hear your story and for you to be so honest about what happened which is commendable. There are a few lessons here I think to take away from this, no doubt everyone will have there own idea, but here is my take.

1. The alternator light is a land as soon as practical item, I.e. divert to a base where maintenance may be available, but also extended flight is not recommended as assuming its not working you have 30-40 minutes battery power or so.
So I personally would have done exactly that i.e. diverted, deciding yourself that it was OK even thought the light was on was clearly a mistake I think.
You didn't say how long you flew like this but I am guessing it was for an extended time ?

2. When you noticed the tachs were high although no change in sound, this is the part that can be v.dangerous i.e. overreacting to benign indications, and in the situation you describe if you form the judgment that both tachs are misbehaving you should in accordance with POH allow the governor to maintain RPM and again land as soon as practical, but I would agree that if you think the RPM has increased from a governor issue that again in accordance with POH that switching governor off that cautiously reducing throttle taking note of the sound and low RPM horn is not unreasonable but in this situation with no RPM information and not knowing what is going on you should be landing immediately.
So think your decision to land in the desert at that point was good, but probably overdue.

3. I think this was a v.poor decision, there is a limitation in the POH that you must have a functioning alternator and to delibarately takeoff without RPM information and other systems is dangerous in my opinion.
You didn't at this point know if you had oversped it or no so it needed to be looked at by an engineer before it flew again, in my experience of over speeds many have been by private pilots gripping the throttle too hard and having the ERPM/RRPM off the top of the clock and causing damage to the aircraft.

Overall I think you need to follow the emergency procedures as set out in section 3 of the POH, and the limitations in section 2 more closely.

Regards CF

Defo voltage regulator.

Anyway, wha did you do your IR on? Can't see it in your resume, unless.......

Scary thought though, as an IRI could you teach a commercial pilot some IF in actual weather?

You've more quals than I had with a zero on the end of your numbers:D

In the US, do quals like this carry the same gravitas as military medals?

You don't lift off when everything went black. It's illegal and very unresponsible. If you're 5 minutes flying from the nearest airport that's probably a 7.5 miles walk at the most. You should have been prepared when flying in hostile terrain bringing at least water, but you do need to bring survival equipment. You always need a plan B and C. Now you'd better take this post of Colin because I don't think it's good advertising. Interesting to see in your resume you haven't got Blue Hill Helicopters up there as a reference, after all that's where you did your CPL/IR.

Thanks for the input
 

Well, the owner at Blue Hill Helicopters took over my training once CFI began, and because we didn't agree with the training plan going forward, I left the school for the competitors across the street. Hi Steve! I like Steve but there's a reason your very own CFII, Adrian, did not list you as a reference either, and he worked for you for years. But let's not get childish on a public forum, shall we?

To SilsoeSid regarding simulated instrument--helicopters being dynamically unstable make the associated autopilot systems very expensive, and none of the three primary helicopters used for flight training (Robinsons R22, R44, and Schweizer) are FAA approved for IFR flight. None of my "simulated instrument" time was in a simulator but rather was simulated in that I was wearing a hood and simulating IFR flight by not using outside visual references. You can still get vestibular illusions and the first time you fly at night you notice it's much harder. Also, I spoke to a pilot who did some real IFR flight in a helicopter for a few hours and he told me, despite being a very experienced pilot, that the vestibular illusions were so severe it was unnerving.

I do understand the emergency procedures in the PoH, and I admit I made mistakes, but neither my student pilot (a German F1 race-car driver who knows engines very well) nor I felt particularly unsafe, but on paper, going against the PoH is a nono.

The helicopter would still be sitting out there if I didn't do what I did, and furthermore, I can't help but think most pilots would have done exactly what I did. I've seen a pilot fly a helicopter halfway into a hangar because we couldn't get it up an icy incline. I've seen a Robinson test pilot demonstrate low G (he has earned it, being a super-pilot with tens of thousands of hours). I've heard airline pilots lie about having the weather information and I've heard people have long conversations both on Approach AND Class Bravo tower frequency. And I don't see people using checklists. Not for Robinsons or Schweizers. Yet I do see some flight schools cross the line from training excellent students to the immoral zone of keeping them as long as possible in order to maximize revenue, with no interest in finishing the student.

I will never make the mistakes I made on that flight ever again, and just because I see other people doing things the wrong way doesn't mean it's okay for me to do it too.

I appreciate the input, and also the scolding that I deserve.

For legal purposes everything I wrote is fiction. :-)

Well, back to driving a taxi until the next job. Not much work out there for CFIIs not having been hired from within (the flight school I work at is very very low volume because the competition is excellent at internet marketing).

By the way, the Garmin 796 is the bomb. Did you know that at one point, a pilot in KPYM was on a flight plan, talking to approach, and still got in trouble for busting a Presidential TFR? His briefer didn't warn him, nor did approach. So in order avoid legal liability for busting a TFR, you HAVE to call FSS. I don't see people calling FSS very often, so does that mean we're all gambling with our pilots licenses every time we go flying? They need to fix that. If your Garmin unit fails to display a TFR, or even if you go to TFRcheck.com, does not constitute "checking" for TFRs. Even going to FAA PilotWeb does not release you from liability. You have to talk to FSS on the phone or frequency. This is my understanding. Is this correct?

Here's to not wearing a suit and sitting in a cubicle. ...or being stuck at a flight school that keeps you forever.

Cheers,
Colin

I'm not Steve := I do know you however.....

Well I wish you the best with your career. But as I said before this is not good advertising and I will certainly not hire you, and I do own a very busy flightschool but not at Norwood Memorial Airport

I will disagree. 7.5 miles in the desert with no water or survival gear is no easy task.

He thought through the problem, analyzed it to the best of his ability and made a decision. There was no damage to the aircraft and all turned out well.

What was irresponsible, (and you can guarantee he will never do it again---therefore chalk it up to a learning experience), is flying over unforgiving terrain with no survival pack and/or water.

Also he will learn to NOT plug in ANY electronics until the alternator/generator is up and running......do your planning in the hotel at night.

No big deal---this used to be a required maneuver on the FAA check rides, it was only removed in the late 90's I believe.

This will not protect you either----not all FSS are operated by the FAA. I know of a pilot who did call and was still busted.....beware of contract flight service stations---they are also not subject to FOIA rules and can get out of giving you information.

You still sound like you know better than the POH, if it says land as soon as practical then land as soon as practical, it's not just on paper it's for real.
And if you make a habit of flying without RPM information you will end up dead.

Also if you get a professional flying job and you start ignoring the MEL for despatch you will soon get fired.

Thanks Colin. I think it's just the way that it seems strange to me that to be able to instruct IF, one doesn't have to have ever been IMC. I take it that you mean that the aircraft types aren't approved for IMC flight, as night flying is usually IFR?

Maybe it's just me, but actual conditons are a totally different ball game than flying under the hood, whether it's an unstabalised Gazelle or a kitted out EC135.

Thanks for clearing that up Tqstripe and also for leaving off my question mark.
It was a question as opposed to a statement.

Hold your horses people.
 

I understand the concept of following easy-access highways and forced landing areas. I was trying to compete with experienced ferry pilots by analyzing live, ::INTERLOLATED:: (go ahead and look up the word interpolated--i'll wait)...surface winds and winds aloft. I was flying straight lines at optimal altitudes. I had no interest in following highways. I was interested in delivering the ******* aircraft. And I don't know why old school heli pilots pussy out of altitudes over 4500 feet. I hit 10k feet with my student and drooped the RPM just to show him that it's not a big deal. I did explain that a throttle chop at that altitude would result in rotor stall at one second due to high pitch and ****ty engine performance. Maybe a stalled main rotor is recoverable if you respond perfectly and flare the **** out of it, but no pilot will put that to the test. Think of 90% as your hard-deck and 80% as death.

I thank everybody who praised or chastised me, gave me constructive criticism and to the people who don't know what they are talking about or hold childish grudges personal attack deleted...to those people: look directly at my elite education and suck it.

Maybe those net-jets pilots I met were right. Maybe I should get out of aviation while I still can. Apparently 50% of you are assholes, 40% are incompetent, and the last 10% are expensive to hire away.

Whatever. I'm going to knock the GMAT out of the park and go to Harvard business school. HBS. Might as well own the aircraft.

Personal attack deleted

I regret posting on this forum.

Personal attack deleted




We, too, regret you posting on our Forum. You were offered support and advice to which you have chosen to insult others.

For a <400 hour pilot you have a great deal to learn, and I despair for your future as a pilot after openly denigrating your fellow helicopter pilots in a public forum.

As for your personal attacks: you signed up to Terms and Conditions which seem to mean as much to you as the POH and limitations of your aircraft.

Bye

Senior Pilot

Colin,

I actually stuck up for you.......

You have now just LOST ANY and ALL respect I had for you.

To be honest, yes you should get out of aviation as you clearly think someone s out to get you----reality check----no one cares about where or with whom you trained. I do hire pilots and I take 99% of what I hear with a grain of salt, but you have just now publicly bashed someone, and called the rest of us either "assholes, incompetent or too expensive"---THAT was out of order.

You actually had some good points before you went downhill. Good luck in your aviation career---by your own doing---you will now need it.

Übersicht von Colin Colby

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Zusammenfassung von Colin Colby


When I grow up I want to be a helicopter pilot!


Berufserfahrung von Colin Colby


Pilot

New England Helicopter Academy



September 2011 – Present (9 months) Boston area, KOWD, KPYM (Norwood, Plymouth)
I have every helicopter license. I am the best pilot I know, and I know a lot of pilots.





Projekte von Colin Colby


Perfect Landing



Team Members: Colin Colby
I land a helicopter with zero airspeed, zero wind, and zero power at 600AGL while directly over the spot, and I do it perfectly. This is one of the hardest maneuvers one can perform in a helicopter, and it was a piece of cake because I rule.





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Colin, the internet never forgets :ugh:


"I have every helicopter license. I am the best pilot I know, and I know a lot of pilots."


"

I land a helicopter with zero airspeed, zero wind, and zero power at 600AGL while directly over the spot, and I do it perfectly. This is one of the hardest maneuvers one can perform in a helicopter, and it was a piece of cake because I rule."


"look directly at my elite education and suck it"


Quite an attitude, I see :rolleyes:

Colin, I have just the job for you.
Nasa unveils bold plans to send humans 'one-way to Mars to colonise planet'
I am sure there are plenty here that will be happy to give you a referral :ok:

I am actually offended by this "dude"...Nice to know that I am either an $§hole, or incompetent or too expensive to hire...Ahm, I got news for you; contrary to popular believe, and luckily I still have a job, and am competent enough to do what I am assigned for. And above that, I think you take your mouth too full considering that you are still green behind your ears.

Colin probably told the German F1 driver how to do his job better as well;) What a c**k!

Ah shame, I was just sharpening my knives........

I suspect his time on here lasted a little longer than his career.:D

Bye Colin XXX Miss you.

:sad::sad::sad: A$$holes? Incompetents?

Oh my God...someone have just fired himself. Colin, regarding the first post, you REALLY made some of the worst decision I've ever heard of! I accept the lack of experience, but not th lack of knowledge on the heli you fly.

:D:D

Short landing roll
 

Say colin, I've seen shorter landing rolls with an airplane. Keep practicing.