7.7 down, 2.3 to go!

[RotaryWingBob]

Hours, that is, of R44 transition training.

Yesterday's session was with Phil Norton, who flies for Channel 3 here in Philly, and who is also the DPE who gave two of us our PP-RH checkrides.

This was my second session with Phil, and we've been doing a bunch of stuff which isn't included in either the PP-RH or CP-RH PTS.

One of things we worked on yesterday was hydraulic system failures. This is about the only scenario where the pilot has a struggle on his hands -- in straight and level flight it's no big deal, but the landing process requires significant control pressures, particularly on the collective. There's also a lag in the cyclic, so it's almost like learning to hover all over again. What Phil had me do (repeatedly) was run-on landings with the hydraulics off. It was good training, and if I ever do have a hydraulics failure, might mean the difference between banging up the helicopter versus a safe landing.

We've also been working on enhanced autorotations including throttle chops on short final and on takeoff.

So far the 7.7 hours have been with three different CFIs and have consisted almost entirely of things which weren't done in my primary training. All of which is both fun and good -- I'm learning new skills and getting familiar with the R44 at the same time

Oh yeah. There was a 1300' MSL ceiling yesterday (850 AGL), and there was no, as in zilch, nada,nichts, fixed-wing traffic! The FARs say that helicopters only have to avoid impeding the flow of fixed-wing traffic, so we made both left and right traffic on 9 just to liven up things a little

 

[poadeleted20]

I hope you logged all 7.7 as PIC time.

 

[RotaryWingBob]

I hope you logged all 7.7 as PIC time.

You betchum, Ron!

 

[gismo]

One of things we worked on yesterday was hydraulic system failures. This is about the only scenario where the pilot has a struggle on his hands -- in straight and level flight it's no big deal, but the landing process requires significant control pressures, particularly on the collective. There's also a lag in the cyclic, so it's almost like learning to hover all over again. What Phil had me do (repeatedly) was run-on landings with the hydraulics off. It was good training, and if I ever do have a hydraulics failure, might mean the difference between banging up the helicopter versus a safe landing.

JOOC, how do you "turn off" the hydraulics in an R44? I would think the FAA would be as unhappy about allowing such a control as they are about putting a shutoff on the suction line to the gyros in airplanes (for training).

We've also been working on enhanced autorotations including throttle chops on short final and on takeoff.

Given the low rotor inertia in an R22, I suspect that this is something you wouldn't want to try in the smaller ship. How well does the R44 handle it?

 

[RotaryWingBob]

JOOC, how do you "turn off" the hydraulics in an R44? I would think the FAA would be as unhappy about allowing such a control as they are about putting a shutoff on the suction line to the gyros in airplanes (for training).

Lance, there's a hydraulics on/off switch on the pilot's cyclic stick. In the event of a hydraulics failure, the POH calls for switch to go to the off position. The reason is that you're putting lots of muscle into the controls and if the hydraulics suddenly came back to life, you might lose control. The POH also allows certain systems, noteably the hydraulics and governor, to be turned off for training purposes.

Given the low rotor inertia in an R22, I suspect that this is something you wouldn't want to try in the smaller ship. How well does the R44 handle it?

The R44 has lots more rotor inertia than the R22, so you've got more time to react, though not that much more -- the RRPM will decay fairly fast.

The difference is enough though that, for example, hovering autos are more difficult in an R22 than an R44 -- in an R44 it all happens much more slowly.

 

[RogerT]

One of things we worked on yesterday was hydraulic system failures. This is about the only scenario where the pilot has a struggle on his hands -- in straight and level flight it's no big deal, but the landing process requires significant control pressures, particularly on the collective.

When I took my RH add-on check ride for my commercial the DPE
required me to do a complete circuit of the pattern with the
hydraulics off. Failure on takeoff, pattern, landing. In a 1946 Bell 47. I thought my arm was going to fall off. My solution was to grip the stick tightly between my legs to relieve some of the pressure.