"boB" wrote in message
...

I had the fortune of flying helicopters during Vietnam. Back in the days
where pilots passed along their experiences and how to survive getting the
helicopter shot out from under them. I did not fly in Vietnam. My orders
were to report in Feb 1973. In January they ended the war (so to speak)
and my orders were canceled.

But before I knew my orders were going to be canceled I flew with all Vets
and soaked up everything they would teach me. One maneuver many of them
had experience with was an engine failure at 50 ft AGL at a hover and
moving forward. Both situations required the same response in the UH-1.
The collective was slammed down and without a pause, was raised quickly to
cushion the landing. It was almost a continuous movement, down and then
back up. These were pilots teaching me, not IPs. By the time I started
instructing in 1978 the world of Army Aviation had changed. Even as an IP
I could not teach, or even demonstrate, some of the maneuvers that combat
veterans had learned the hard way.

Some of the other maneuvers I was taught turned out to be a bit on the
extreme side of the coin. An OH58 hovering at 500 feet AGL, engine
failure, lower the collective and apply aft cyclic until backing up a few
knots, then lower the nose to get at least 40 knots and apply collective
to cushion landing directly under the point of the engine failure. As I
remember the minimum rate of descent in an OH58 is 43 knots. I remember at
that airspeed there was no deceleration, only a quick and continuous
application of collective to keep the skids from wrapping around the
fuselage.

I was not required to remember how to react to those situations in Desert
Storm. I flew OH58D's and as far as I could tell I was never seen or shot
at.

--

boB
copter.six


Thanks a lot boB... It means a world of difference having someone with real
life (or even better - combat) experience giving their opinion... Sadly I
have never done anything but power recovery autos and I'm currently passing
through 550 hours (Bell206B) - so any answer I give to my students is purely
theoretical. And sometimes it's hard to be convincing Not to mention the
discussions that go on once the subject is open between my coworkers
If you or anyone else has any info on theese "nonstandard" procedures I'd be
happy to hear them out...