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Lesson 29 – 10th September 2009 – 1125 – 1 hour 6 minutes – Total so far – 30 hours 16 mins

Thursday, September 10th, 2009

The whole of the UK enjoyed a magnificent day of September sunshine today due to a massive high pressure system. It was gorgeous for flying. As smooth as a mill pond !

The order of the day was mainly instrument flying. It’s an area I feel quite comfortable with, probably due to my fixed wing days.

So, slightly different start to the flight as Steve accompanied me out so I could test my headset in various different helicopters and different radio/helicopter headset combos. It worked swimmingly in each. With that complete, he headed in and I did the startup checks.

The Lightspeed Zulu headset felt great on, a real comfy fit and when ANR is switched on, a lovely calm settles in your ears, quite an eery silence. Even with the rotors turning, it was a huge improvement on a school headset.

Usual startup done, the headset had their first real test. Normally, I am straining so much to hear what’s being said, that there is a sense of slight panic as I try and catch every word Tower is saying to me. Today, I could hear them so clearly, I could actually _listen_ to what they are saying even if it was different to what I was expecting. And that happened..…

I had got the QNH from the ATIS, and it was a very high 1038mb. When Tower gave it me with the taxi clearance, they gave it me as 1033mb. Now, normally, I would just be so grateful to have understood what they said that I would have repeated it back to them. But today, I had the wherewithal to ask them to confirm the QNH was 1033mb. They corrected the QNH to 1038mb and I was chuffed that the painful purchase was already paying dividends.

As Steve did his final walkaround under the fast-spinning rotor, I did the final “Low RPM Horn” checks and we were ready for off once he’d took his seat.

Steve wanted me to do all the checks once in the hover (lights out, temps etc in the green) and then record “power required to hover” and state “CoG and Controls feel fine”. I did that. Before I even took off, he checked I knew the maximum Manifold Pressure we could tax the engine to. It was 24.5 for 5 minutes, because of the high pressure system.

Short Taxi to Foxtrot with Steve now onboard. The hover lift was fine, and so it should have been with the Surface Wind less than 5kts. Today, I had decided I was going to do things more by the book. Hold altitudes, follow taxi lines etc etc…. Normally, I don’t tax myself too much and enjoy the moment. But, as I found today, I can do both.

For the first time, once we were cleared for takeoff, I didn’t skip the corner (over the grass) as I normally do, we did a precision transition, akin to fast taxi following the taxiway line (ish), turn into wind and off we went. It was so smooth today. Today’s are the kind of days you don’t want to come down.

At 500 feet, I had Scott’s FREDATT (Fuel, Radion, Engine, Direction, Altimeter, Trim & Transponder) checks running in my ears, so I did them.  And then off we flew to the North. Initially 2300ft but once out of the zone, it was instrument time. We first did a couple of turns (180 degree at 15′ rate). They went fine, and then it was time to put the goggles on. They are goggles that allow you only to see the instruments and a bit of land either side of the instrument pedestal, but nothing that would help you fly. I suppose if you see blue sky either side of the pedestal column, it’s a clue to commence panicking.

I had to remove my headset to put the goggles on – WHAT A RACKET !!!!! I’ve never removed any headset before in a helicopter, and blimey, you can tell why you need them. So with the goggles (and headset) on, Steve gave instructions. First off a 180′ turn to the right (15′ rate), whilst maintaining the current height. And then same in the other direction. They went fine.

Then we did a climbing 180′ turn and a descending 180′ turn. Again, they went fine, although I did notice they were getting sloppier and I could sense I was losing concentration. But, they were safe.

We ended up at about 3200 feet and Steve suggested we leave it there as he didn’t foresee any difficulties with instruments and for us to do some autos, but first he suggested going upto 4000 feet to see what it looks like from that altitude.  Off we jolly well went to 4000 feet and WOW !!!!!! There were a few clouds about and we were above them. That’s a first for me in a helicopter.  It felt awesome. I suggested to Steve that we land on one as they were nice firmly shaped puffy ones, but he didn’t seem keen. :-)

Once past the clouds, we did a 180′ autorotation with me doing the throttle again. They still feel so new to me (autos). Whereas it doesn’t tax me much to fly the helicopter generally, even to hover now is RELATIVELY stress free, but autos seem to need 100% cpu cycles. So, HASEL checks then collective down and roll off the throttle. I rolled it off, but they crept back on because I hadn’t rolled off enough and the governor was kicking in. But, eventually I got it to a steady 70-75% rpm. We were nicely in autorotation, now the turn. Whilst the turn was under way I called the fake mayday. I seemed to get everything out. Pretend to turn the fuel off, the magnetos, the master switch after first pushing the ident button and we were down to picking a field to land in. With that picked, we came out of the auto at about 1000 feet and proceeded to the plateau. Just as I write this, I have remembered that I forgot to “check above” (for the climb away) which is the last thing I’m supposed to do in an auto. I did remember cancelling carb heat. Note to self!

So, once at the plateau we practiced a steep approach. 30 knots indicated and a steep angle of approach. I was aiming for a certain point, but overshot it by about 50 yards, but I’m good with that. It was good practice keeping 30 knots and the high angle of approach. Apparently, these skills will be used shortly for Confined Area Landings shortly.

Once in the hover at the plateau we did a hover taxi back along the plateau, a 180′ yaw and then we did a practice quickstop. That went ok. It was then time to head back to the airport.

An uneventful trip back (we like them) and a chance to catch up with a bit of chatting. We were asked to report overhead Stannington, which I did, and then to report base leg. A bit farther on and before I had chance to report base leg, Tower advised us we were number 1 to land, to report finals and be aware of an Easyjet who was entering the zone from the south and who would be coming in behind us.  So we kept on the speed (about 90kts). I said to Steve, it would have been better if they’d let us join midway.

Steve :- Ask them Dave. Say “Northumbria01 request midjoin”
dp :- Tower, Northumbria01 request midjoin

And we got it, which basically meant we didn’t have to cross the numbers at the bottom of the runway,and we could cut the corner and “land” midway up the runway. We did that and transitioned to a taxi just before Foxtrot and then taxi in. We didn’t even get chance to fully vacate before Tower was granting the Easyjet landing clearance.  All good though !

The landing was ok. It wasn’t a dp spesh i.e. up and down 10 times, but neither was it a 10/10 like I have done before. It was an 8/10 in my book. I went down to land and sensed sideways movement and then pulled up and went down again for a toe landing. It felt like the front skids touched down first and then the rest gently touched down after that. It felt very safe and I was pleased.

So, great lesson. Days like today are meant for flying. I would have had another lesson, but they were fully booked. I’ve turned my single lesson tomorrow into a double. Already looking forward to it !!!

Video to follow

Lesson 27 – 24th August 2009 – 1450 – 60 minutes – Total so far – 28 hours 4 mins

Monday, August 24th, 2009

Well, my head was buzzing and in overload after this lesson.

It wasn’t so much a lesson, although I did learn stacks, rather a mini trial practical test with the senior instructor (soon to be examiner) Scott.

To say I wasn’t ready for the onslaught that is Scott is probably an understatement. A very different style to Steve, but not in a bad way. Steve had said that I’d benefit from some time with another instructor and as per usual, he was right.

Steve has a very easy going relaxed way. He never comes on the controls these days unless he’s demonstrating a maneuvre and is subtle when I cockup, staring at a button I’d forgot to click, or something along those lines. Scott, on the other hand, was very full on. But, it really challenged me and I liked that. It gave me a new perspective and I certainly learned a lot. There was one downside, I got flustered which translated into what I thought was a poor performance.

I’ll not remember everything that happened in the hour, but I’ll try……

Scott wanted to be there when I started her up. I’m glad about this, because I think I’ve been doing the startup procedures in a bit of a non-standard way. Note to self…..

Consult the Flight Manual to work out how much manifold pressure I can pull continuously and at max, given temperature and pressure altitude.
Before starting, turn the radio off.
After starting and checking starter motor has disengaged, flick all the switches on (incl clutch)
Scott gets the clearance when he’s ready to go, whereas I’d been doing it while waiting for the clutch to fully engage.

So, with the engine started, I lifted off. I don’t think he helped at this point, so that was a good sign. Post liftoff checks were done. All fine so far.

Taxi to Foxtrot ensued, and then I called that we’re ready for departure. Cleared to depart north, I headed off (as I normally do), but Scott later pointed out that I should have done some pre-departure checks. I was too flustered to remember what they were. I’ll have to ask next time.

Normally, I don’t forget trim and transponder at 500ft, but it was 800ft before I remembered. God help me for the real test !!

He suggested FREDATT checks (Fuel, Radio, Engine, Direction, Altitude, Trim and Transponder) at 500 feet, which normally I’ve only been doing approaching the airfield on return.

So, we did them. He asked me what altitude I was going to fly…2300 feet I told him.

Which I kept initially, but I think I lost it later on.

Once out of the zone, we did a set of maneuvres. REAL BASIC STUFF !!! STUFF I SHOULD BE ABLE TO DO WITHOUT A PROBLEM. First off, was a turn. 15′ degree rate of turn in one direction through 360′. Well, I gained or lost (can’t remember) 200 feet during the turn. Come on David, get a grip !!!

Scott explained a few things and then I did the same turn but in the other direction. This time, it was much better, but there could have been less error.

Oh, before I forget !! I had been using the slip ball for seeing if we were in balance or not. Scott explained that it doesn’t work !!! And it’s not a problem with the helicopter, it’s because the heli is set to show balanced when on the ground, but an R22 flies left skid low, so it doesn’t read correctly in flight !! So, I need to get used to using the string on the bubble. Note to self…..

Pedal to the window with no string in !!!!

So, of course, that threw me completely, because all this time I’d been using the balance ball thing. In fact, in hindsight, that was the thing that probably made me flustered for the whole thing, because all my flying was requiring this new skill of “watching the string” ! ;-)

We then did some climbs and descents. For the climbs, I went over the manifold pressure I should have a few times, until I understood that I shouldn’t go over 23. For all the descents I remembered Carb Heat 50% of the time. 50% of the time would definitely be a fail !!! You need to rememeber it 100% of the time. The risk of icing today was particularly bad, because we went through rain a few times !!

Another interesting thing he said was if there is any rain, no questions, apply Full Carb Heat !!

We then did an autorotation to lose height ie a gradual lowering of the collective. I remembered Carb Heat this time !! :-) That went fine. But of course, I was watching the string which caused me to have to think too hard to worry about everything else (rotor rpm), but thankfully either Scott did rotor rpm, or I did it without thinking. Can’t remember, I was too flummoxed ! ;-)

Apparently, an auto is not complete until you look upwards (for the climb away) and cancel carb heat (NOTE TO SELF!)

We then did an autorotation for range as if the engine failed (75 knots). Faster lowering of the collective and maintaining 75knots went ok, but then I was thrown when he asked me to keep the throttle closed. I’ve never done any throttle work in the autorotation before, but pleased I got a chance to do it. It’s started me thinking on new trains of thought.

I think we then did another one. They felt ok.

By this stage, it was time to return and the rain was falling heavily over EGNT.

Scott made lots of R/T calls because I couldn’t understand things. I really must get my own headset. It was much worse today, and I’m normally comfortable with the Newcastle R/T so either the headset’s at fault (or more likely I was too flustered).

We were asked to hold at the northern airport boundary for 2 inbounds. And then we were asked to nip in before another big jet. Scott asked what would I do if asked to expedite when I was solo. I had previously expedited solo, so I suspected that that wasn’t the right answer and I was right. Don’t expedite solo !! Shame, ‘cos it’s lots of fun, but I knew where he was coming from !

Taxi next to the bowser and then I was gagging for another perfect landing like the other day, but it was messy. Not a 30-second messy dp special that I have previously done consistently, but it wasn’t like the beauties that I’d managed at Carlisle and Eshott.

I did a couple of attempts, but aborted them. Scott then demo’ed one and explained something which has now been lost in fluster land, but it stayed with me enough to do a half decent final landing based on whatever he’d said.

After we’d shut it down, he took me around the helicopter asking me what bits and bobs were. That was very interesting. I think I got 1 or 2 things right, but the other 6 were half-decent guesses that were wrong !! ;-) WHY DIDN’T HE ASK ME WHAT THE THING THAT GOES ROUND ON THE TOP IS ? OR THE FAN THING AT THE BACK END !? He probably didn’t know himself I expect ! :-)

So, all in all, a huge learning experience, but I left feeling a bit bamboozled. It’s that feeling where I know I’ve learned LOADS, but it’s not all sunk in yet. I’m pretty sure that, tomorrow, things will keep coming back to me, with a “oh yes” kind of moment as they sink in.

Thoroughly enjoyable and extremely valuable lesson in terms of things learned, but not showing my best skills ‘cos of being flummoxed. But, no pain, no gain. If I hadn’t learned the countless things I did, I may have flown better because I wasn’t flummoxed, but not have been a better pilot because of it (if that makes sense). I know what I mean ! :-)

But, to end on a positive, and to my big surprise, as the whole lesson felt like I was doing things wrong, Scott was very complementary. He asked me how many hours I’d done, and said I was “well ahead of the game and flying excellently” or something like that.

Video to follow when time permits