July 2005 Issue 4

Robinson Helicopter Safety Course

Queenstown 23-24th July
November 12th - 13th November

We are proud to present our first safety courses based on the factory course and run in conjunction with Rob Rich, the President of the HAA, who has been successfully running these courses for the past 12 years in Australia.

Our course’s are aimed at improving  the current standard of safety awareness training which has to be completed every two years for all Robinson pilots, but with the higher aim of helping to reduce the accident rate and increase awareness all round.

The course’s run in Australia over the past twelve years have done just that, reducing the accident rate by over 60%. Some of the topics covered are unfriendly principles of flight, limitations, emergency procedures, maintenance updates, insurance awareness and more.

The insurance companies are also coming on side and looking to match the offer they give in Australia, by covering the majority of the course fee and check ride.

Places are limited, so call or email us today for more information and book your place on these highly anticipated courses.

Did you know?

• Part 12 of the CAA rules relate to “Incidents and Accidents”
• The NZ helicopter register is growing by over 8% per annum 1” less of MAP equates to 1 average person, dirty blades or landing 1000ft higher
• Newton first discovered the three laws of motion in 1665, but they were not fully understood until 1680 when he published "Principia"
• Amelia Earhart was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic in 1932. Whilst attempting the around the world record, she and her co-pilot disappeared into the Pacific ocean in 1937
• Robinson Helicopter Company has just delivered it’s 6000th aircraft and will produce over 700 in the forthcoming year.

Up Coming Events

8th July - Whenuapai Tower Tour

Join us on this long awaited visit to the Air Traffic Control tower at Whenuapai military airfield and see how the professionals handle the motley crew that barrel through their airspace.  Book early to avoid disappointment on this restricted tour.

12th –13th July Heli Pacific Conference - Coolum Australia

The conference is specifically aimed at local, regional and international companies and individuals to bring themselves up to date with the latest trends, equipment and benefit from some outstanding network opportunities and listen to speakers from around the globe. Call us now for details and we look forward to seeing you there.

Autorotations— controlling RPM

Autorotation training can make the difference between walking away from an emergency…. or not.

They require currency and remembering the basics, but to be good at them, you also need to practice different flight profiles with your instructor.

Once you have gained the basics, and are ‘comfortable’ doing them, you then need to expand your envelope and start to appreciate the differing effects of speed, height and wind to truly master this potentially life saving procedure.

The “secret” of a good auto is the entry.

It is amazing what a smooth entry can do for you. When you enter the auto , make sure you hold the cyclic aft, with level attitude, looking out towards the horizon. The slightest nose down will destroy the “good feeling” of entering a perfect auto. You should have a feeling of sailing when you lower the collective correctly. Smoothly lower the collective, don’t “dump it”, keep level and in balance with right pedal.

If the aircraft is allowed to nose over, do a recovery and practice until you are able to do a perfect entry. If you nose the helicopter up, you will end up with rpm too high and airspeed too slow. Try again!

To practice the glide, climb to 2000ft and enter autorotation and allow your instructor to show you how to control rpm with firstly the cyclic and then the collective.

Finally, practice using both the collective and cyclic together. Slow down the airspeed and watch the gauge as rpm increases, then increase airspeed and note the falling rpm. Practice 360 degree turns, watching the rpm gauge to see how the rpm increases in the turn and decreases after the turn is made. This is all vital practice to ensure you have an intrinsic understanding of how rpm reacts to the changing conditions.

The third stage in an autorotation is the flare. At 40ft and 65 knots airspeed, with the rpm in the lower green arc, start the flare by looking out at the horizon, keeping the heading straight. The flare must be done nice and gentle during practice. If you flare too hard or abrupt, the rotor disc will make you climb rather than getting you closer to the ground which is the whole purpose of  the flare.

Start out slow and progressively increase the flair until the aircraft has descended to about 5ft, then level the ship and perform a running landing on any firm,  smooth terrain, or do a hovering auto on any rough terrain.

With an experienced instructor, under ideal conditions and to practice to reach optimum proficiency, practice to a full stop hovering autorotation Develop the flare enough to wash off all forward speed and rate of descent, level to about 5ft and finish off with a hovering engine off landing.

Make sure you are looking out at the horizon to keep the aircraft straight. If not you might roll the aircraft if you perform full touch down landings.

In both recoveries during the flare, make sure you do not overspeed the rpm. If you move the cyclic aft too fast you will end up with too high an rpm and the only way to decrease it is with by raising the collective.

The last portion of the autorotation is the power recovery. After you have leveled the ship at 5ft, start to raise the collective smoothly, apply left stick and left pedal to keep straight and bring the rpm back to the top of the green arc. If the warning horn and light come on, don’t panic, but increase the throttle to help raise the rpm and lower the collective.

Autorotations are part of the normal flight envelope and if practiced on a regular basis, will ensure you have the upper edge if you are unfortunate to have an emergency for real.

Different aircraft have different entry attitudes, glide speeds and flare characteristics. Make sure you read the pilot’s operating manual for every helicopter type you fly, attend the safety course’s and ensure you keep current on this important man oeuvre with a professional instructor. Happy landings.

CFI’s BIT - REMEMBER!

Remember in a turn...
You either need more power,
Or you need to slow down,
To maintain a given radius of turn.