Helicopter Flight Information
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Helicopter Flight Information |
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Look Mom, No Hands!When can you take your hands off of the controls while flying a helicopter?The Cyclic:If the rotor is turning, you may never, that is never, let the cyclic go. This is true even if the friction is locked down. And NO, you may not lock down the controls, and exit the helicopter with the rotors turning, never, never, never. If you are sitting on the ground, you may hold the cyclic between your knees while you accomplish certain necessary tasks. In flight the cyclic must be held constantly, with one hand or the other. It is necessary in some helicopters to switch hands on the cyclic while you accomplish tasks such as radio tuning (Bell 47), and this is acceptable. The Collective:When sitting on the ground, if the rotor rpm is at or below warm up speed, and an operational friction is locked, you may take your hand off of the collective to accomplish necessary tasks such as checklist duties. At all other times, your left hand should be on the collective. When in flight above 300 feet AGL, you may briefly remove your hand from the collective to complete any necessary duties. You must however, keep an eye on the instruments and return to the collective if there is a change in manifold pressure. It is never acceptable to fly with the collective frictioned for a cruise control. You are supposed to be a pilot, remember? If you have completed an approach, and you need to accomplish a task which requires that you remove your hand from the collective, you must land, reduce the rpm to warm up speed or less, friction the collective, and then complete the task. No exceptions. The only time that it is permissible to remove your hand from the collective below 300 feet AGL is when at 100 feet AGL for the removal of the carburetor heat in preparation for the termination of the approach. The Pedals:Why would you take your feet off the pedals anyway? Your feet get tired, and sometimes, your heals become numb. Never take your feet off of the pedals in the hover. When in flight, you may carefully put your feet flat on the floor with your toes against the shafts for some temporary relief, but don't make a habit of it. Sometimes it is necessary to land and walk around a bit. Helicopter flying can be very fatiguing to say the least. |
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