Aero-Tips!

A good pilot is always learning -- how many times have you heard this old standard throughout your flying career? There is no truer statement in all of flying (well, with the possible exception of "there are no old, bold pilots.") It's part of what makes aviation so exciting for all of us... just when you think you've seen it all, along comes a scenario you've never imagined.

Aero-News has called upon the expertise of Thomas P. Turner, master CFI and all-around-good-guy, to bring our readers -- and us -- daily tips to improve our skills as aviators, and as representatives of the flying community. Some of them, you may have heard before... but for each of us, there will also be something we might never have considered before, or something that didn't "stick" the way it should have the first time we memorized it for the practical test.

It is our unabashed goal that "Aero-Tips" will help our readers become better, safer pilots -- as well as introducing our ground-bound readers to the concepts and principles that keep those strange aluminum-and-composite contraptions in the air... and allow them to soar magnificently through it.

Look for our daily Aero-Tips segments, coming each day to you through the Aero-News Network. Suggestions for future Aero-Tips are always welcome, as are additions or discussion of each day's tips. Remember... when it comes to being better pilots, we're all in this together.

Aero-Tips 05.06.06

I like to hear from readers (especially those like the one I’ll cite who sign their notes as “a fan” and say “I never miss your column” <g>). Now that I’m all buttered up it’s time to learn something important about helicopter instrument approaches.

In that article I wrote “helicopters may not be able to ‘descend vertically over the MAP’ like I earlier thought, but they can fly much slower than fixed-wing airplanes, and may be able to pull into an out-of-ground-effect hover if needed...” This was admittedly from “my ignorance of rotary-wing aerodynamics” and the point of the article was to note that insturment minima are much lower for rotary-wing aircraft.

Although he acknowledges that slowing on the approach is a small point in the article, a good (and flattering) reader wrote to set me right. I pass this along for our mutual benefit.

The Reader Writes:

"I am a 19,000 hour helicopter ATP with 8,000+ hours in the (Sikorsky) 76 series. All transport category helicopters have minimum IFR speeds in Section 1 of the flight manual. SK-76s range from 50 to 60 KIAS depending on the variant. This is close to the Bell 212/412 and 214ST. If you approach or slow below this speed, you will experience degraded control and high sink rates. If you "zero out" the airspeed (in IMC), you will meet a legendary killer called settling with power. Engineer-speak for this is the "Vortex Ring State". You will see a violent stall break, roll off to the right, sloppy controls and vertical speed more than 3,000 fpm down. The nastiest stalling airplane can't come near a helicopter in this state. I can recover a 76 in a bit more than 500 feet when under the hood. A Bell 214ST takes much more, even at a fraction of its 17,500lb gross wt. I ‘crashed’ a SK-76D+ last summer in the simulator. It was a night circling approach and I was feeling bad about it until my buddy took his turn and did the same. It is SOOO easy to do. Watch your airspeed."

Thanks, reader!

Aero-tip of the day: Every type, and for that matter, each individual aircraft will have distinct operating characteristics... fly according to the needs of the aircraft you’re flying, not based on generalities.

FMI: Aero-Tips