EC225 MGB outcomes?
 

Anything from that meeting today at Eurocopter in Aberdeen?

Nr/ILS
 

Does any of you use NR ILS button after landing on rigs ? It seem to reduce the noise significantly and at the same time reduce ff from 370 to 330 kg/hr.

We just do that onshore when rotors running picking up passengers etc. I think the slight worry would be that someone, one day, would take off from a rig with NrILS on. Less likely (for us with a long taxi to the runway), and less critical onshore.

Yep, we do it on and offshore.

We've put it in our pre-takeoff checklist to make sure the Nr is normal for departure

We use the Nr ILS both onshore and offshore but personally I always leave the Nr ILS off when I am on an unstable helideck. Nr ILS check is on the pre take off and after landing checks.

Many thanx for the information :ok:

Ah so as long as its on the checklist, there is no possibility of missing it on the 5th takeoff of the shuttle. Sorted.

Max TOT difference between engines
 

It is not stated in the Flight Manual but I would like to compare notes as to how much TOT difference between No 1 and No 2 eng is considered acceptable. Recently I flew an aircraft with a 30 C difference between both engines with N1 equal and Torque about half % difference. It is not pleasant as this reduces the power margin available for take off and landing .

Hi Gnow

Are both engines passing the engine power check? If so, then there is no problem and you will get the required OEI performance. In my experience, the TOTs are normally fairly close. I don't think I have seen more than 20degrees difference. You will get a DIFF PWR warning if the TOT difference reaches 80degrees bit I am sure the EPC would flag up an out of spec engine before that.

I suspect the maintenance manual may have a figure above which maintenance action is required but as a mere pilot I have no knowledge of it.

I've seen TOT differences like this on G/runs and airtests post maintenance, usually traced to a P2.4 or P3 pipe not seated/sealing correctly or a P3 pipe gasket that's been damaged during installation.

We did have an interesting one some years ago - power assurance check gave massive TOT margin on one engine, and it ran really cool in flight. However it transpired it was one of the 8 TOT probes not correctly bolted down so it was not in the hot gas flow (new engine from the factory!)

EC225 type rating in the US
 

Gents, quick question: other than American Eurocopter Training Center and ERA Training Center is there anyone else providing EC225 Initial / Recurrent training in the States?

Interesting to notice that an Initial EC225 type rating conducted at Eurocopter Training Services in Marignane takes 23 hours of flight time (FFS + Flight Instruction including IFR extension + Checkride) whereas American Eurocopter quotes 28 hours (!) and ERA 15 hours (!!)

Can't answer your first para, but regarding the differences in flight times it is worth bearing in mind that Sim vs aircraft makes a big difference. In the aircraft, all the time you spend strapping in, starting up and shutting down doesn't count and since it can take 40 mins for a beginner to complete startup drills under instruction, you effectively get a lot of "free" training. In the sim the clock starts when you step into the box and stops when you exit, so it takes a lot more sim time than aircraft time to achieve the same thing. Plus of course in the Sim you can do a lot of stuff that you just can't do in the a/c.

I don't know if there are differences in the sim and aircraft proportions of the 3 courses you mention, but that is one factor that might explain the differences.

On that topic, are the ABZ simulators full of pilots staying current, or half unused?

EC sim was busy last week and is being used this week for recurrency training.

Ditto the Bristow one, new pilot training, command course training, getting ahead on OPCs etc

I hear you HC, point taken about Sim vs A/C

Well according to ETS website an Initial EC225 type rating consists of 18.5 hours in the Sim (IFR extension included), followed by 3 hours in the a/c & 1.5 hours checkride (In Sim presumably?)

The breakdown for American Eurocopter must be similar to ETS though it is not clear where the Sim portion is conducted (Presumably in either ABZ or MRS)

Since ERA has no EC225 Sim I would guess the 15 hours are a/c time?

One day .....
 

....... regulators will wise-up and acknowledge that pilot training for certain complex types with so much built-in redundancy and complete system monitoring (HUMS etc) CANNOT be accomplished satisfactorily in the aircraft alone without a simulator contribution. I often come across customers who have virtually no emergencies training beyond touch drills. Not even autorotations. Not good!! :ugh:

G.

Geoffers, I quite agree. Imagine what it was like for us introducing the EC225 into service in mid 2005, with the first sim in the world being available late 2008. Of course at the time we didn't know what we didn't know about the aircraft. Apart from anything else, the Sim revealed the flaws in the RFM emergency procedures that we had previously had to take as gospel.

I don't have to imagine too hard....;)