old days

John Doe wrote:


Please do ramble... I have been reading the posts on this group for some
time and find it interesting at times. Unfortunately I haven't read the
posts in "the old times" and you could say I'm a frequent lurker
I'm currently working as a military instructor too.. but I suppose I haven't
got the hours or the experience like the guys in the USA.
Anyway, to start off a discussion - have been doing the what ifs and there
are several opinions on the particular emergency that I need to solve.
Engine failure during transition to forward flight. Specificaly after the
transverse flow effect (say doing 40 knots, around 50 feet AGL). What to do
with the collective? Do you slam it down to maintain as much RPM as you can
and then quickly pull it up to cushion the landing or is there not enough
time to lower the collective fully? Maybe a newbie question but as you
probably know once you ask the question a dozen theories pop up. Thanks...



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