Helicopters
How do helicopters fly?
Helicopter flight controls
A nice walk-around
Becoming a helicopter pilot
Back to top
R22 - Cockpit ATC messages
Oil line issues
Hydraulic failure training
Rotor blades fall off
Bird strikes
As one would expect, the front canopy of a helicopter — and the windscreen in particular — is the most likely area to be hit by a bird strike. Typically, the flight integrity of the aircraft is not directly compromised; the concern is the impact on the pilot. The situation immediately becomes critical if the pilot’s sight is affected or he/she is injured or even knocked unconscious. If the pilot or pilots are unharmed, they must be able to quickly regain their composure in order to safety land the aircraft. Remember to report all bird strikes.
What can pilots do to physically protect themselves? Experts on bird strikes recommend that pilots fly using a helmet with the visor down — or with some type of eye protection at least. And, as echoed by the NTSB report on the fatal crash near Morgan City, there are some who are calling for windscreens to be designed to better withstand the impact from a larger bird. There is interest from the original equipment manufacturers in bringing these to market — for example, Bell Helicopter enlisted component manufacturer Texstars to produce a “bird-strike resistant” windshield for the Bell 525 Relentless early in the helicopter’s development. The new windshields are made of polycarbonate as opposed to the older cast acrylic, and this “softer” material should not be prone to shattering.
Knowledge is Power
With bird strikes being a problem along flight routes and actions aimed at the birds being impractical, knowledge of bird whereabouts and activity can be hugely beneficial. Where are we most likely to find birds? Food sources such as farm fields and landfills should be avoided if possible, as should wildlife sanctuaries. Migration routes are fairly well known and should be avoided during those times of the year when birds are en route to a new location. Take a look at the details of wildlife strike events that have taken place in your area of operation to give yourself an idea of any patterns in terms of when and where strikes are more likely to happen.
Read more about it on Vertical Magazine
Helicopter Somatogravic Illusions
Somatogravic and Somatogyral illusions are the two most common forms of vestibular or ‘false sensation’ illusion which may be encountered when no clear horizon is present and flying wholly or partly by visual external reference is attempted.
Whilst there are many situations in which these illusions can occur, one of the most likely, and certainly the most dangerous, is when the positive changes in acceleration, which accompany the initiation of a go around or the transition to initial climb after take off, are occurring. In both cases, the consequences can rapidly lead to CFIT if the condition is not recognised or to LOC if the situation is recognised but the complexities of recovery are mishandled.
Click ont the picture above to watch the animation and learn much more about the topic.
Ground resonance
Ground resonance is an imbalance in the rotation of a helicopterrotor when the blades become bunched up on one side of their rotational plane and cause an oscillation in phase with the frequency of the rocking of the helicopter on its landing gear. The effect is similar to the behavior of a washing machine when the clothes are concentrated in one place during the spin cycle. It occurs when the landing gear is prevented from freely moving about on the horizontal plane, typically when the aircraft is on the ground.
Read more about it on Wikipedia
Running landing
This maneuver is used to transition from forward flight to a landing on the surface when there may not be sufficient power available to sustain a hover. This might occur if the helicopter is underpowered, is at high gross weight, or high density altitude. The helicopter might be underpowered if it has sustained a partial engine failure in flight. This maneuver is also useful in some helicopters for some emergency situations such as certain tail rotor failures or stuck pedals.
This maneuver can be performed with either wheeled or skid equipped landing gear. In the case of skid equipped helicopters, the skids are equipped with skid "shoes" which are made of a very hard material. The shoe can be replaced when it is worn through, preventing any wear of the landing gear itself, which would typically be made of soft aluminium.
Read more about it on copters.com
Rotor Wash
You're probably familiar with the dangers of wake turbulence. It's powerful, invisible, and can linger in the air for several minutes.
But what you may not know is that wake turbulence caused by the rotor wash of a helicopter is something to be equally aware of.
Read more about it on the Bold Method blog
Dangerous goods
Dangerous goods may also be transported by helicopter when the company has procedures and permits for this. Strict rules apply to dangerous goods.
Examples of dangerous goods :
- Batteries ( battery acid )
- Containers with gas under pressure
- Gas burner for waxes
- Flammable liquids
- Fireworks
- Explosives and blasting caps
- Ammunition and weapons.
- Oxygen containers
Learn more from Heliwing
Landing without engine
Parachute or Autorotation?
Refueling
Nearmiss
Organising traffic after helicopter crash
Accident on the PanAm building
Crash in Fiji
Some Pictures
Training
Fire
Blade strike
Read a little about it here
Broken nose gear
Read about it here
Airprox
Landing offshore
Rescue
Too bad
Broken boom
More about this on Flying Way
What helicopters are for
Useful links
Helicopter Flying Handbook
Download the FAA Helicopter Flying Handbook here
Helicopter Flight Instructor Guide
Download the EASA Helicopter Flight Instructor Guide here
What will future helicopters be like?
You don't want to go flying into the future in yesterday's helicopters.
That's the gist of several projects under way at the Pentagon, which is looking ahead several decades toward future fleets of helicopters -- or more broadly, rotorcraft -- and working now to lay the plans for getting there.
It all starts with design. Most immediately, the Army has just awarded technology investment agreements with four aviation companies as an early step in the Defense Department's Future Vertical Lift initiative, which is meant to sketch out the route toward next-generation vertical-lift aircraft for all the branches of the US military for the next 25 to 40 years.
Starting now, those four companies -- the two better-known are Bell Helicopter (working with Lockheed Martin) and Sikorsky Aircraft (working with Boeing), the two lesser-known, AVX Aircraft and Karem Aircraft -- are cleared to start refining their initial designs, some shaping up more or less like traditional helicopters, some favoring tilt-rotor designs like the MV-22 Osprey. This stage, which is expected to take about nine months, is the risk-mitigating, drawing-board precursor to FVL known as the Joint Multi-Role Technology Demonstrator (JMR TD) program, Phase 1. (You probably already had a sense that bureaucracy would play a role here.)
Read about it on CNET
Skybrary:
many pages related to helicopter safety
Flight training manual
Helicopters Magazine:
Vertical Mag:
Vertical Reference:
Welcome to the Helicopter Industry's Vertical Reference Website. This website is for all of us in the helicopter world. Through visitor contributed and dynamic content, we at Vertical Reference hope to make better the helicopter industry through the professional exchange of helicopter information.
Whether a Helicopter Pilot, Helicopter Student, Helicopter Mechanic, Employer, Helicopter Flight School, Helicopter Business, or an enthusiast, we hope VR has something for you! Information on helicopter jobs, helicopter employment, helicopter flight training, helicopter career development can be found throughout the website and helicopter message boards.
You don't want to go flying into the future in yesterday's helicopters.
That's the gist of several projects under way at the Pentagon, which is looking ahead several decades toward future fleets of helicopters -- or more broadly, rotorcraft -- and working now to lay the plans for getting there.
It all starts with design. Most immediately, the Army has just awarded technology investment agreements with four aviation companies as an early step in the Defense Department's Future Vertical Lift initiative, which is meant to sketch out the route toward next-generation vertical-lift aircraft for all the branches of the US military for the next 25 to 40 years.
Starting now, those four companies -- the two better-known are Bell Helicopter (working with Lockheed Martin) and Sikorsky Aircraft (working with Boeing), the two lesser-known, AVX Aircraft and Karem Aircraft -- are cleared to start refining their initial designs, some shaping up more or less like traditional helicopters, some favoring tilt-rotor designs like the MV-22 Osprey. This stage, which is expected to take about nine months, is the risk-mitigating, drawing-board precursor to FVL known as the Joint Multi-Role Technology Demonstrator (JMR TD) program, Phase 1. (You probably already had a sense that bureaucracy would play a role here.)
You don't want to go flying into the future in yesterday's helicopters.
That's the gist of several projects under way at the Pentagon, which is looking ahead several decades toward future fleets of helicopters -- or more broadly, rotorcraft -- and working now to lay the plans for getting there.
It all starts with design. Most immediately, the Army has just awarded technology investment agreements with four aviation companies as an early step in the Defense Department's Future Vertical Lift initiative, which is meant to sketch out the route toward next-generation vertical-lift aircraft for all the branches of the US military for the next 25 to 40 years.
Starting now, those four companies -- the two better-known are Bell Helicopter (working with Lockheed Martin) and Sikorsky Aircraft (working with Boeing), the two lesser-known, AVX Aircraft and Karem Aircraft -- are cleared to start refining their initial designs, some shaping up more or less like traditional helicopters, some favoring tilt-rotor designs like the MV-22 Osprey. This stage, which is expected to take about nine months, is the risk-mitigating, drawing-board precursor to FVL known as the Joint Multi-Role Technology Demonstrator (JMR TD) program, Phase 1. (You probably already had a sense that bureaucracy would play a role here.)