Helicopter Trial Flight

[greaneyr]

I intend to dine out on this one. It's the first time in my life I've ever had any serious hands-on flying experience so I thought I should make the most of it.

For my 30th birthday, my wife bought me a trial flight at Helipro. I've developed a strong interest in helicopters over the last few years, and she was adamant that neither flightexperience nor a fixed-wing trial flight would be sufficient. I'd been waiting for the right weekend to use it, since I had to travel to Paraparaumu to take it and I live in Palmerston North, an hour's drive away.

This weekend, I went and did it. The last time I was in a helicopter fullstop was when I was 4 years old, so it was great just to even SIT in one again. First, we had a look around the machine and the engine bay to get an idea of how it works. The instructor asked how much flying experience I had, and I had to admit that I'd had some very limited fixed wing experience but a problematic addiction to flight sims, though I was trying to clear my head of that experience and approach this with a fresh perspective.

We hover-taxied then lifted off and he climbed us to about 700ft then let me take the pedals just to get a feel for it. Then he gave me the collective as well, followed lastly by the cyclic. What a change in flight attitude that created! We went from a nice smooth gentle climb into a less-than-attractive oscillation in no time! He then took over to bring the inherently unstable R22 (this applies to any helicopter) back into a steady flight, then he told me to try holding the cyclic against my leg to help steady it. After that, he gave me control again and things were very different. I also gave it a little more collective to enable more forward airspeed, then we settled into a gentle climb. I asked whether we needed to maintain 1500ft, but he said that any altitude was fine , but that we should try and stay below 2000ft. On I went up to 2000ft, following SH1 all the way up to Te Horo. We got a little higher than 2000ft at one point, so I just brought us back down again and pretty much held this alt until we reached our most remote point on the flight.

He said to me that this wasn't the type of flying he was used to seeing on a trial flight. Quite a nice feel-good moment for me, since I was picking my flying to bits quite hard and thought I was doing an average job. No, apparently he was most impressed. I was maintaining altitude, airspeed and keeping us well co-ordinated. It's amazing how flying a real helo can be both so very like FS and yet so different at the same time.

From there, we did a 180 degree turn and started our descent back down to circuit height of 1000ft. I told him to sing out when he wanted to take over as he'd already told me that he'd fly the circuit. He told me I was quite alright doing what I was doing, but that he didn't normally let guys fly this close in. I must have impressed him! I asked which position in the circuit we should head toward, and by that stage he'd worked out that I understood terms like 'Right hand downwind' so that was cool. From there we did a practice autorotation - those things are SO cool - then it was off to Helipro for some hovering.

If my in-flight handling was impressive, my hovering certainly was not! Although after a few goes, it did take me longer and longer to make a hash of the R22's attitude. I can certainly see that it's one of those things you'd take a long time to master, but afterwards it would be like riding a bike. It was still fun trying to make a machine sit still in the air.

And then, we returned to Helipro to shutdown. I had very sore muscles - from the classic first-time tensing of muscles obviously! I'd really like to have another go, knowing what I know now about what you can and can't do, to see how i'd go when I relaxed a bit more.

The purpose of a trial flight is to allow potential pilots to figure out whether flying is for them. It IS for me, I already know this. The view from a helicopter versus a fixed wing just can't be beaten, and the challenge of flying them is so great, but the sad reality is (and always has been) that I just don't have the money to do anything about it. I'm thinking about even just going flying once every couple of years with an instructor just as a fun thing to do. We'll see how the financial situation goes I think.

[Adamski]

Great post! Wot - no pics??? You'd never get ME in a chopper (or a hot-air balloon either, for that matter). Must've been a *great* feeling, though - and a great sense of achievement - having done so well on a maiden flight. I take it that you're now "hooked" - and that your finances are in a terminal nose-dive

I'm interested in the relationship between a sim and Real Life (aren't we all?). If nothing else - being familiar with procedures and terminology must help a lot.

I've done very little power-driven flying. A short spell in gliders ... then a *long* break. On my returning check flight, the CFI said "you've obviously not lost the knack ... what have you been flying?". I didn't *dare* mention FS, IL-2 ... ermmm Falcon4

From what I remember (and it's been way too long again) ... it really is a bit like riding a bike. The basics stay with you ... a feel for the controls ... the gentle touch etc. OK ... so why doesn't that work with parallel parking?

[greaneyr]

QUOTE (Adamski @ Dec 7 2008, 09:50 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Must've been a *great* feeling, though - and a great sense of achievement - having done so well on a maiden flight. I take it that you're now "hooked" - and that your finances are in a terminal nose-dive

I'm interested in the relationship between a sim and Real Life (aren't we all?). If nothing else - being familiar with procedures and terminology must help a lot.

Yeah to me that flight was proof in itself of the value of sims. I've spent thousands of hours on FS and just as many hours listening to my scanner. I've read the odd book about flying but never had any formal 'instruction', but once I got the hang of keeping the Robbie pointing in the right direction and staying there, there was never any doubt about what I needed to do in order to get it to do certain things. It's funny what pops into your head too. I dunno how well you know the Kapiti region but it's a reasonably narrow band between the hills and the sea. At one stage I asked the instructor where the wind was blowing from. My only concern was the effect the hills might have on down/updrafts close to the hills. I'd never even given it a moment's thought on FS, but since it was my body up there for real, it suddenly seemed important. There's no way he would have let me fly somewhere stupid, but it does show how knowledge can pop out when you need it.

[Adamski]

QUOTE (greaneyr @ Dec 8 2008, 12:06 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

At one stage I asked the instructor where the wind was blowing from. My only concern was the effect the hills might have on down/updrafts close to the hills. I'd never even given it a moment's thought on FS, but since it was my body up there for real, it suddenly seemed important. There's no way he would have let me fly somewhere stupid, but it does show how knowledge can pop out when you need it.

Interesting! I also remember being very conscious of the weather ... cloud formations etc. I've not looked at the sky in the same way since.

I haven't done any gliding here in NZ - all mine was done in a previous incarnation in the UK. To be honest - I'd be terrified. I'm in Auckland - and the thought of a strong sea breeze springing up ... and next thing I'm over the Hauraki Gulf ...

At least in th UK you could always plonk it somewhere. Not now, though ... too many damn' houses!!

[2fst4u]

helicopters are too hard to fly for me. i got a trial flight at paraparaumu helipro with Air Training Corps and i was allowed to [try and] hover. the thing would damn near flip all the way over with only tiny movements . the instrucotr would say "ok, you have control I have control. this time try small movements you have control i have control. ok one more time, you have control i have control" he didnt even have enough time to finish saying I had control before he took over again

[ardypilot]

QUOTE

The view from a helicopter versus a fixed wing just can't be beaten[/quote]
Have to agree with you there- I went for a scenic around the Gold Coast in the front lefthand seat of a Bell 206 (pics here) and it felt like I was enclosed in a glass bubble floating around above the earth.

Glad your flight went well greaneyr. I can barley handle choppers in FS, let alone the real world!

Last edited by ardypilot on Mon Dec 08, 2008 3:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[deaneb]

Great stuff - I'm glad you enjoyed your flight so much (heck who wouldn't). There is certainly no doubt FS experience helps, not in the feel but in the understanding of whats happening and co-ordination. Last year I went up a few times in an Iroquois (about 10 test flights over 3 days) in the LH seat and got some hands on time. I flew some patterns and managed (after two 5 min goes at hovering on separate flights) to hover taxi over the pad, but was just not quite steady enough to drop the last 6-8 ft to land. The pilot was very impressed and reckoned I could do in less than 30 mins, what a student would take about a week to achieve. He put it all down to FS. I want to repeat the exercise in a smaller machine - I'm more a H300 fan than the R22 though, but only coz it has a real cyclic !!
Helos are very cool to fly indeed - go greaneyr !!

[greaneyr]

QUOTE (deaneb @ Dec 9 2008, 06:49 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Great stuff - I'm glad you enjoyed your flight so much (heck who wouldn't). There is certainly no doubt FS experience helps, not in the feel but in the understanding of whats happening and co-ordination. Last year I went up a few times in an Iroquois (about 10 test flights over 3 days) in the LH seat and got some hands on time. I flew some patterns and managed (after two 5 min goes at hovering on separate flights) to hover taxi over the pad, but was just not quite steady enough to drop the last 6-8 ft to land. The pilot was very impressed and reckoned I could do in less than 30 mins, what a student would take about a week to achieve. He put it all down to FS. I want to repeat the exercise in a smaller machine - I'm more a H300 fan than the R22 though, but only coz it has a real cyclic !!
Helos are very cool to fly indeed - go greaneyr !!

Yeah indeed, the 'dual-control' cyclic of the R22 is a little annoying. I did wonder how it might feel if it had a real cyclic - I figured it might be like the difference between a front-wheel drive gearstick and a rear-wheel drive one.

Are Hueys more stable in a hover than many others, do you know? Man I'm jealous of you getting hands-on time in one of those! I think you're right about the aspects where FS does help too. It probably helps in all areas except for feel. I'm not really one to talk but I certainly don't have any reason to believe that it has a detrimental effect on things like situational awareness either. As I might have said in my original post, going from a bits and bytes situation to one where your life depends on it tends to make you so much more aware of what's really going on around you and where you are in the grand scheme of things. As I backed my car out from Helipro on the way home, I found myself surprisingly concerned for what obstacles might be behind me - this isn't something I ever give a moment's thought to when on FS.

It would make some interesting research - areas where simulation is beneficial to the learning experience.

[Adamski]

QUOTE (greaneyr @ Dec 9 2008, 08:45 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It would make some interesting research - areas where simulation is beneficial to the learning experience.

I made a great friend (in Real Life) through an Su-27 Flanker Ladder I once ran. He flew Greek F-16's then (he's commercial now) and was simply unbeatable in the [virtual] Flanker. Yet he said that every single manouvre he used could be replicated in Real Life (and vice-versa). For him - it was all about angles, corner speeds, climb rates etc. - not as much situational awareness as you might think. It was all about *numbers*. Basically - if you lost altitude or airspeed (your primary dogfighting currency) then no amount of s/a would help you.

The flight model in Flanker was particularly accurate, so he was able to say (quite categorically) that practising dogfighting techniques on a PC helped to concentrate his priorities when split-second timing was required in Real Life.

I'm not sure whether my control setup is a bit odd (even though I've smoothed it as much as I can in FSUIPC etc.) but I find all the helos in FS incredibly "twitchy" ... almost uncontrollable (to me). Are they like that in your FS?

[NZ255]

QUOTE (Adamski @ Dec 9 2008, 09:19 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I'm not sure whether my control setup is a bit odd (even though I've smoothed it as much as I can in FSUIPC etc.) but I find all the helos in FS incredibly "twitchy" ... almost uncontrollable (to me). Are they like that in your FS?

No mine are hardly sensitive at all.

You push full left stick (this would probably almost flip a real helo (maybe, never flown one)) but mine starts slowing banking left.

[deaneb]

QUOTE (greaneyr @ Dec 9 2008, 08:45 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Are Hueys more stable in a hover than many others, do you know?

That I'm not too sure which is one reason I want to try something smaller. Being heavier and with a heavier rotor there would be better stability, certainly with some breeze. I cetainly had no problem taking over the controls for the first time at 90 knots, 1000 ft, maintaining straight and level flight. the hardest part was the pedals, as they require a fair bit of positive movement, but in forward flight it was a matter of quickly getting things straight and holding it there. On my third time behind the controls I was given the controls on a down wind leg and the pilot said turn where you did last time, which I did and then on approach back to woodbourne he said just take us down and do what feels right !! From the previous flight I knew to lower the collective to a certain torque setting to descend. As we came down through 200 feet he warned me that it would take a bit of collective and back pressure on the cyclic to slow us up. This is where I found it hard as pulling on a bit of power meant some big pedal movements and he had to help me settle into the hover. In the hover I found yaw control ok, as well as height (hardly touched the collective) but you only have to think about moving the cyclic and you are off !! very sensitive. I had probably no more than 40 mins total time in all the flights I did, but I reckon with another 2 hours I'd probably be able to land.
An Air Force friend is a senior Helicopter Crewman. He has had a lot of stick time as a result and he used to team up with the Huey Captains when they had gung-ho new co-pilots. Sitting in the back, if the co-pilot botched a landing he'd heavily criticise and tease them, until they would finally say the magic words "bet you couldn't do better". This was his cue - swapping seats he'd take off and then come back and nail a landing. Co-pilot lesson learnt....respect the crewmen!!

[greaneyr]

QUOTE (Adamski @ Dec 9 2008, 09:19 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I'm not sure whether my control setup is a bit odd (even though I've smoothed it as much as I can in FSUIPC etc.) but I find all the helos in FS incredibly "twitchy" ... almost uncontrollable (to me). Are they like that in your FS?

By default with full realism, yes. There's one extremely minor change you need to make to the realism settings to change it all though :
http://www.hovercontrol.com/docs/gettingst...oc_page24.shtml

Then try flying again

Richard

[greaneyr]

QUOTE (deaneb @ Dec 9 2008, 10:53 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

An Air Force friend is a senior Helicopter Crewman. He has had a lot of stick time as a result and he used to team up with the Huey Captains when they had gung-ho new co-pilots. Sitting in the back, if the co-pilot botched a landing he'd heavily criticise and tease them, until they would finally say the magic words "bet you couldn't do better". This was his cue - swapping seats he'd take off and then come back and nail a landing. Co-pilot lesson learnt....respect the crewmen!!

Hahaha that's priceless. It reminds me of my days doing live sound for bands. I'm a drummer but as a sound man, people generally think you can't play an instrument to save yourself. It used to be quite a bit of fun when it came time to test the microphones on the drum kit. You'd start by hitting each drum one at a time until my mate on the desk got it sounding fine, then move on to the next. Once it was all finished, he'd say "Right, now the whole kit" and I'd then play the whole kit. It was always fun springing the surprise onto people that not only could I play, but that I actually knew what I was doing.

All of what you said about flying the Hueys I can now imagine in my head having flown a real helo, even if just for a short while.

[deaneb]

QUOTE (greaneyr @ Dec 10 2008, 09:27 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hahaha that's priceless. It reminds me of my days doing live sound for bands. I'm a drummer but as a sound man, people generally think you can't play an instrument to save yourself. It used to be quite a bit of fun when it came time to test the microphones on the drum kit. You'd start by hitting each drum one at a time until my mate on the desk got it sounding fine, then move on to the next. Once it was all finished, he'd say "Right, now the whole kit" and I'd then play the whole kit. It was always fun springing the surprise onto people that not only could I play, but that I actually knew what I was doing.

All of what you said about flying the Hueys I can now imagine in my head having flown a real helo, even if just for a short while.

The funny thing is I've never played an instrument, BUT I've always wanted to play the drums. Bizarrely on this forum and I think that at hover control, there is a very high incidence of helo flyers (both real and sim) that also play drums. I guess I'm not too old and I'd love to have a room to sit down and bang out some tunes. I don't think the neighbours would appreciate it in my big garage - its plenty big enough, but its metal construction !!

[greaneyr]

QUOTE (deaneb @ Dec 10 2008, 09:56 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The funny thing is I've never played an instrument, BUT I've always wanted to play the drums. Bizarrely on this forum and I think that at hover control, there is a very high incidence of helo flyers (both real and sim) that also play drums. I guess I'm not too old and I'd love to have a room to sit down and bang out some tunes. I don't think the neighbours would appreciate it in my big garage - its plenty big enough, but its metal construction !!

I'd never realised there was a correlation there but I do know a few helo flyers who also play them. Now i'm gonna spend my time trying to remember others!