Good Article

So it's been a long time since I last made a post - last year, in fact. We've hit off the new year with full force and I haven't had much time to keep you all updated.

I'm learning how to fly a helicopter in formation. The mission planning is time consuming. Instead of planning a mission for one helicopter (which is time consuming in itself), now you must mission plan for two. I'm finding out that I have a lot of work ahead of me, so I should get down to it and start planning for tomorrow.

In the meantime, the Air Force wrote an article on the 23rd Flying Training Squadron here at Fort Rucker. It spells out the steps student helicopter pilots take to get their wings in the USAF. And it has a lot of cool pictures. Check it out!

http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123185924

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

My Flag is up Again

The Block O hangs proudly in my driveway once again. There are only a few things more fun than flying a helicopter. And one of those things is watching Ohio State stomp the life out of Michigan.

All these SEC fans down here sneer when they see scarlet and gray. I suppose it's because they know that their teams will never come close to being this good. GO BUCKS!!

A Close Call

So there I was, fat dumb and happy, flying along at 800 feet and 90 knots, enjoying the view.

Suddenly, the helicopter yawed to the right, the nose dropped, and the controls began to shudder violently. Audio alarms screamed at me to return the aircraft to normal flight or it would soon lose irrecoverable energy from the rotor turning overhead.

Only seconds ago, the ground was 800 feet away. Now it is 500 feet and rapidly approaching the windscreen. Despite my herculean efforts to return to level flight, the nose only pitched down further. Crap!! It dawned on me that I may not recover from this incident - and I didn't.

Then the instructor paused the computer, turned up the lights, and asked me what had just happened to my aircraft. Welcome to day one in the simulator: emergency procedures.

If any of you are still wondering if I'm alive, I am. However, if this was a real-life emergency, I would be nothing more than a smoking hole in the ground. That of course, is one purpose of the simulator - to expose student pilots to in-flight malfunctions that could very well occur on any day.

To sum things up, I won't be flying in the air very much for the next few weeks. Instead, I'll be participating in an expensive, full-motion video game and hopefully building my skills with respect to aircraft emergencies.

If you're wondering what happened to my aircraft in the above emergency, I lost components from the tail rotor - not a good day by any means!

Below is a picture of the helicopter simulator. It's a full-motion video game with a 270 degree field of view. Despite all the advanced technology that goes into making the simulator as real as possible, it is nearly impossible to hover, land, or take off! Nothing beats the real aircraft.

Option 3: Osprey

This post expands on the last of three airframes that I may receive upon graduation from helicopter training: the CV-22 "Osprey."

The Osprey is brand spankin' new. It replaced the MH-53 "Pave Low" (shown below). The Pave Low is massive - bigger than the Osprey. The picture does not do it justice. Despite its smaller size, the Osprey came online because it flies quieter, farther, and faster than the Pave Low. However, it carries less troops and does not have any means of self protection (i.e. guns!)

The Osprey is not a helicopter; it is actually a tilt-rotor. The two rotating propellors on the outer edges of the wings are called nacelles. They are initially positioned for vertical take off. As the aircraft leaves the ground, the nacelles rotate and the "helicopter" transforms into a propellor-driven airplane. The process reverses itself for landing. In other words, it's kind of like a transformer!

See it in action here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OI3oE422C4Y&feature=related (This is the Marine's version of the Osprey, the MV-22. It still flies the same as the Air Force version).

What would you do as an Osprey pilot?

Currently, the Osprey is used for infiltration & exfiltration. These are fancy names for picking up and dropping off combat troops - usually in hostile environments, behind enemy lines. Many of these troops will be special forces from all service branches.

At less than two years old, some of the first operational CV-22 squadrons are in the process of being deployed. Only time will tell if this aircraft can stand its own ground. It certainly has some big shoes to fill.

Where will you be stationed?

Since the CV-22 is new, the only Air Force location with an operational squadron is Kirtland AFB, New Mexico (near Albuquerque). This will change as more squadrons are stood up at different locations. As these birds begin to deploy, they'll spend most of their time in sandy and/or mountainous environments.

Do you have your flag up?

This post has nothing to do with flying. It has to deal with something far more important - Ohio State football.

If you're reading this post and you're not an Ohio State fan, do me a favor and leave now. Only fans from Ohio State are allowed. I don't want any non-believers stinking up my blog.

Now that that's out of the way, the Buckeyes have managed to overcome Iowa and secure a trip to Pasedina. However, we all know that the most important game still lies ahead: Michigan. The season is not complete until we crush those weenies from up north.

O - H !