.Evan. Posted September 27, 2011 Share Posted September 27, 2011 Heh, I think so! :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fly_tornado Posted September 27, 2011 Share Posted September 27, 2011 wait and see how well you fly that chopper first! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turboplanner Posted September 27, 2011 Share Posted September 27, 2011 I think it's more a question of 'will all of you still talk to me?'! When we can get a word in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest iPilot Posted September 27, 2011 Share Posted September 27, 2011 Try and get into a Robbie, with the governor it makes managing the RRPM a little easier! So where's the full write up and photos Darky? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkSarcasm Posted September 28, 2011 Author Share Posted September 28, 2011 So where's the full write up and photos Darky? No photos I'm afraid, I took my camera but forgot to grab a photo. I'm going to ask my FI to take a photo of me with the 300 on Sunday though :big_grin: So, the write up as requested... I did it at a place called The Helicopter Group at Moorabbin. I'd considered a couple of places but this one had better prices plus seemed to have a good rep on the internet. I arrived, met my FI. He asked why I was doing the TIF and I said I had my PPL(A) and felt like trying helis. So we had a chat about how a heli flies and differences between how they fly and an aeroplane. We headed out to the heli, a Hughes/Schweizer 300, did a walk around, had a look at how the controls moved the rotor, got in (sitting on the RHS is a bit odd). We went through the controls and the instruments then he went through how to start it up (which he said he wouldn't normally do for a TIF but since I had my PPL, I wasn't really his normal TIF). He took off (which felt *weird*) and we taxiied over to the helipad, got clearance and did a fast liftoff/takeoff that was FUN! We headed out to the training area and he handed me control of each control at the time. First he gave me control of the cyclic (the stick, which controls speed and roll) and it took some getting used to how sensitive it was (he gave me a demo on the ground, saying 'this is a right roll' with the barest move of the stick to the right that I could barely feel, so I had some idea that it was very sensitive). Then he took control of the cyclic and gave me control of the pedals (not rudder pedals as I was informed, anti-torque pedals) then took control of the pedals and gave me control of the collective (which makes you go up and down). Then he gave me control of all of them (he had said at the start that he'd keep control fo the pedals for the entire flight) and while I know he wasn't far away from the controls at any time (obviously) by the time we were cruising back to YMMB I had full control of the controls. One thing I found hard to get used to was the low nose attitude in the cruise, I kept trying to raise the nose to an attitude I was more used to. Another thing I found confusing was that moving the cyclic (stick) forward and back doesn't make it climb/descend, it makes it go faster/slower so when he said to climb/descend my initial reaction was always to move the cyclic. When we were cruising back from the training area, I was definitely getting the hang of it and slipping into 'normal' flying of making small corrections without even realising I'm doing it. Once we got back to Moorabbin, he showed me an auto-rotation (engine failure). Before the flight I'd asked him what happened when the engine failed and he said it did glide. There was a slight g-force as the engine 'failed' and then it did glide, a far far shorter glide than an aircraft, but the tradeoff is that you don't need nearly the same amount of space to land in and don't have to sit there thinking 'is that field long enough?'. After that we went to a patch of grass and tried hovering. The trick with hovering is that you need to control absolutely everything all at once - stop it going up, down, forward, backward, roll and turn. It was pretty all over the shop most of the time I tried it but for 5 seconds I held the hover perfectly! (My FI was like "Now you can go home and tell everyone you held a hover!"). I think hovering was the thing that really hooked me into wanting to learn more, after that 5 seconds where all clicked together and I held it properly, it was a challenge that I couldn't give up until I'd mastered it. We then taxiied back to the hangar and had to sit for 3 minutes letting the engine cool before shutdown. Got out, headed inside, I signed up for more lessons and discovered, to my delight, that since I have a PPL(A) I only need to do minimum of 38 hours instead of 50 to get a PPL(H).My FI recommended keeping a separate logbook for heli flying to make it easier to keep track of total time in each. I've got another lesson on Sunday, and can't wait! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dazza 38 Posted September 28, 2011 Share Posted September 28, 2011 Good Onya Darky.Was it a 300C or 300CBI the fuel injected Jobby ? The reason im asking is im just curious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turboplanner Posted September 28, 2011 Share Posted September 28, 2011 Is it true that by the time you were finished Darky, there were 2,000 people lined up at the back of DFO? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkSarcasm Posted September 28, 2011 Author Share Posted September 28, 2011 Good Onya Darky.Was it a 300C or 300CBI the fuel injected Jobby ? The reason im asking is im just curious. It has a mixture control so I'd say 300C Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkSarcasm Posted September 28, 2011 Author Share Posted September 28, 2011 Is it true that by the time you were finished Darky, there were 2,000 people lined up at the back of DFO? er....what for? If you mean to hide from me, then no Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turboplanner Posted September 28, 2011 Share Posted September 28, 2011 Watching - the back faces the airfield, although you fling wingers usually go over the Toorak side Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkSarcasm Posted September 28, 2011 Author Share Posted September 28, 2011 you fling wingers I've become 'one of them' have I? Can't I be in both camps? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turboplanner Posted September 28, 2011 Share Posted September 28, 2011 I've become 'one of them' have I? Can't I be in both camps? Yes, of course you can! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bandit12 Posted September 28, 2011 Share Posted September 28, 2011 I was flying at Moorabbin yesterday - gusting 35 knots. The poor little helicopters looked in a far worse shape than I felt in the wind. I watched one do an autorotation which appeared to almost stand still and drop vertically because it was so windy! Looking forward to more fling wing tales! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest iPilot Posted September 28, 2011 Share Posted September 28, 2011 Darky, I'm so excited for you!!! Some of the things you were describing were exactly the same as I was feeling on my TIF and my first couple of lessons!! It took me ages to get used to the nose down attitude! Now I do it, it gives me a rush! I love it! So now you've got the bug and you're on your way to getting a PPL(H), you're going to have a blast doing this! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suitman Posted October 2, 2011 Share Posted October 2, 2011 ... We headed out to the heli, a Hughes/Schweizer 300, did a walk around, had a look at how the controls moved the rotor, got in (sitting on the RHS is a bit odd). Welcome to the "Dark" side DS! - It won't take long before the RHS feels "proper", like a car (or an Aerochute, for that matter!). I really enjoyed your log of the TIF - please keep us informed of your progress. I'm jealous! Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkSarcasm Posted October 4, 2011 Author Share Posted October 4, 2011 I had my second flight/first official lesson on Sunday. We did a lesson on hovering. First was a bit of paperwork, starting a file for me and taking a photocopy of my licence (to prove I actually had one and wasn't just saying I did!) etc. They also gave me a USB stick with a copy of their flight training manual and the POH for the Hughes 300 and R44. Next, unsurprisingly, the briefing about hovering. We went through the primary/secondary effects of each control in normal flight, then the primary/secondary effects of each control in the hover. The trick with hovering is that you need to control everything at once - balance the primary/secondary effects of each control so that you don't go anywhere, you just stay in place. When you hover, you generally hover about 3ft off the ground (from the ground to the bottom of the skids) but we were practicing at 5ft at first then moving down to 3ft. The reason for that height is that if the engine fails, it gives you enough time to put in left pedal to stop the heli turning (from the tail-rotor) and straighten it up and slow down enough to stop safely. If you hover too low (say 1ft) then you won't have time to stop it turning and if you hit one skid before the other you can roll over, which isn't fun. Then we went out and did about 40 minutes of hovering practice. All I can say is, it's an interesting challenge! When it all comes together it's lots of fun, but when it all starts going over the shop, you're left trying to catch up. The main problem I had was stopping forwards/backwards movement with the cyclic, it kept going backwards when I didn't want it to, but when I moved the cyclic foward to make it stop it ended up going forwards! Very frustrating. It's obvious that you need tiny tiny movements of the control and I'm still trying to get used to how small, plus I'm not giving the heli enough time to respond to my control input so I'm putting a further input in which doesn't help. I did manage to hold a semi-successful hover a few times, other times I was going all over the shop and at one point I was slightly concerned that YMMB would be less one windsock! My FI said afterwards that I was hovering at a '3 hour' level. Whether that means 3 hours of hovering practice or 3 hours of general heli flying, I'm not too sure, but either way it's still more time that I have so I'm pleased. Next lesson is in 2 weeks (unfortunately I can't afford one lesson a week, the 40 minutes on Sunday cost $340 (ouch!)) and we'll be working on either elementary handling or more hovering. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fly_tornado Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 yikes, thats expensive! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turboplanner Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 Great story Darky, reminded me of your early question when you just couldn't put two good circuits together in the Jab. You soon mastered that, and sounds like you're ahead on hovering anyway. Very envious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest davidh10 Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 Interesting to hear the accounts of your progress, Darky. Keep up the posts and congratulations on your achievements so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest iPilot Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 Good work Darky! Sounds like it's coming along well. Some advice that really helped me, focus on a visual point about 20 to 50 feet away from you and when you're holding the cyclic, think of it as being something really disgusting and gross that you don't want to squeeze through your fingers, hold it lightly and just use gentle movements. I reckon you might have this nailed in the minimum amount of hours, but the adventure has only just begun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yenn Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 Darky, it looks as if you are doing well. Women are better than men at multi skilling I believe and that is something you need with a chopper, not that I know as I have never sat in the front seat, let alone been able to touch the controls. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dazza 38 Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 They way Darky is going.She will be a Captain of a A380 in Ten years.Well Done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guernsey Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 Hovering???.....doesn't sound like a moving experience to me Holy mackerel, I thought that Qantas was expensive but fancy paying $340 for a flight to nowhere Sorry about my sense of humour Darky, congratulations I am envious Alan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Howard Hughes Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 Very envious, if I had my time over I would be a 'heli-head'!:thumb_up: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomo Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 Most envious also! But my night rating comes before the Heli lessons... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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