One More Before the Holidays

It's been a while since I last made a post on this blog. I've been learning how to fly in instrument conditions (that means flying in the clouds - where there's no discernable horizon). Well, I wasn't kidding when I said that it's not all that exciting - hence my lack of posts.

Good news: instruments have come to an end. I passed my checkride today, just in time for the holiday break. So what comes next? Now things start to get exciting.

Gone are the days of flying at a couple thousand feet and landing on a prepared runway. Now, we start flying 100 feet above the trees and landing in farmer Joe's field. Shortly thereafter, we do this with another helicopter a couple hundred feet away (in formation). Welcome to the tactical phase of training.

I won't be starting tactical training until the new year. So for now, it's time for a much needed break! In the meantime here's a video to watch. It doesn't have much to do with what I'll be doing as a student, but it's pretty cool.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9SuWBE0PEg

Can A Helicopter Fly Without an Engine?

The answer to this question: yes, but not really.

When an airplane loses its engine, it can glide for miles before having to land. When a helicopter loses its engine, it falls out of the sky and enters something called an "autorotation."

The aerodynamics are way beyond the scope of this post, but suffice it to say that the rotor is being turned by incoming air - like a windmill. In other words, the helicopter is still flying, but not really. It's actually descending in a controlled manner, but descending rather quickly.

The aircraft can still land, but this requires an abrupt "flare" at the bottom of the descent. This "flare" slows the helicopter's descent so it doesn't crash into the ground and speeds up the rotor overhead. If the pilot flares at the correct altitude, he will be able to set the aircraft down without an operable engine.

Watch this video to see how an autorotation is performed. Pay particular attention to the last part of the descent where the pilot "flares" the helicopter to land. Notice how close the tail gets to the ground as well. Any error in judgement could prove to be disastrous, thus requiring the pilot to be spot-on when executing this maneuver.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phaWRjAVnes