A REAL chopper pilot today.
First, I wore my flight suit. hehehe. But it was MUCH more comfortable than jeans...and the added bonus was when I looked at my feet it looked like a real helicopter pilots feet down there. ;)
But the main reason...
I spent the entire flight off the airport. Started on semi confined areas...well, real ones actually, they are just more known..hence not having to inspect every time.
Anyway, I had to approach into this 'little' area...(I'm sure I'll see much smaller in the near future), follow the 'path' between some trees...down to the log pad. Land... Take off again. Then turn, fly sideways into my departure point..turn into wind again..and then cyclic forward to acheive translation and try to get out of there between the trees.
It was freaking awesome. I had so much fun I can't even verbalize it just yet.
My instructor took me up first, just to show me where I was going, and see if I was a moron or not. So then I just headed to the field, dropped him off, and away I went to practice it on my own.
Oh, and I was worried I wasn't 'practicing' things enough on my solo flights, but that is now gone. According to J, 'whatever you have been doing, keep doing it, I'm REALLY happy about what I see'. *insert big smile here*
So yeah, off I went. Down to the pad. Back up. cyclic forward, hit translation, start to get out of there. He wanted me to pull as little power as possible so I would get used to the fact I'll never be lightly loaded when I'm working in the future. So I kept it at about 20" (needed 24" with him on board). A little scary at first, but I got the hang of it.
Tomorrow I will hit the other spot...it's a much steeper approach, and then to leave you have to follow a path over and old bus..then turn into wind as you get to the tree tops....I was a bit chicken today. ;) But after all I did I'm feeling MUCH more confidant now.
I'll try to remember to bring my camera along tomorrow so when I'm sitting on the log pad I can snap a few shots of exactly where I am...you know, the place with all the trees, shrubs, ravens and a swamp. :D
6 comments:
Sounds like a ton of fun! I'm a bit jealous, lol :)
LOL. It's the most fun thing I have ever done. I always knew it would be...but I honestly never thought I'd be in the position to do it.
Thank you WSIB, and my former employers for being jerks and not taking me back. :D
Yup, it's all the flight suit. Couldn't be that those ARE the feet of a chopper pilot.
BTW, I think I know (because, well I know everything), but I really am interested in your take on, and what your instructor had to say about, why you need to translate into and out of landing areas.
Well, if I understand what you are asking, here goes. :)
You CAN do hover takeoffs, I have done them a few times...however, if you are really heavy, and the weather is hot, you might not be able to do that. So if you have a bit of room, you can push forward on the cyclic and once you hit translation your power requirement is reduced, so you have more available.
did I make any sense? :)
That makes sense, but I'm more interested in why that is. Like so many of the things I've learned I have only one source. Most things in aviation there are several ways of looking at things, the more viewpoints one has the better one can understand. So, I'm interested in what you instructor has to say on the subject, but I'm not in a hurry.
well, in all cases, you'd rather have some forward speed in case of engine failure. If you are in a hover and it packs it in...then you are in a much worse situation than you would be if you have a little a/s.
I think I might be confused on what you are asking. From what I know, you ONLY do hover takeoff's when you have no other option. Because as you get higher off the ground, you enter that BAD area of the graph...the one where an auto would not really be happening. So to stay out of there is the goal, as much as possible.
Much like you don't want to cruise a few feet off the ground at high speed...if the engine quits you will find out as you hit the ground....
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