Chapter 9
Basic Flight Maneuvers
Increased throttle means increased torque, so you must add more pedal pressure to maintain the heading. This can easily lead to overcontrolling the helicopter.
However, as your level of proficiency increases, problems associated with overcontrolling decrease.
Common Errors
- Failing to ascend vertically as the helicopter becomes airborne.
- Pulling through on the collective after becoming airborne, causing the helicopter to gain too much altitude.
- Overcontrolling the antitorque pedals, which not only changes the handling of the helicopter, but also changes the r.p.m.
- Reducing throttle rapidly in situations where proper r.p.m. has been exceeded. This usually results in exaggerated heading changes and loss of lift, resulting in loss of altitude.
Hovering
Hovering is a maneuver in which the helicopter is maintained in a nearly motionless flight over a reference point at a constant altitude and on a constant heading.
The maneuver requires a high degree of concentration and coordination.
Technique
To maintain a hover over a point, you should look for small changes in the helicopter’s attitude and altitude.
When you note these changes, make the necessary control inputs before the helicopter starts to move from the point. To detect small variations in altitude or position, your main area of visual attention needs to be some distance from the aircraft, using various points on the helicopter or the tip-path plane as a reference. Looking too close or looking down leads to overcontrolling.
Obviously, in order to remain over a certain point, you should know where the point is, but your attention should not be focused there.
As with a takeoff, you control altitude with the collective and maintain a constant r.p.m. with the throttle.
Use the cyclic to maintain the helicopter’s position and the pedals to control heading. To maintain the helicopter in a stabilized hover, make small, smooth, coordinated corrections. As the desired effect occurs, remove the correction in order to stop the helicopter’s movement. For example, if the helicopter begins to move rearward, you need to apply a small amount of forward cyclic pressure. However, neutralize this pressure just before the helicopter comes to a stop, or it will begin to move forward.
After you gain experience, you will develop a certain “feel” for the helicopter. You will feel and see small deviations, so you can make the corrections before the helicopter actually moves. A certain relaxed looseness develops, and controlling the helicopter becomes second nature, rather than a mechanical response.
Common Errors
- Tenseness and slow reactions to movements of the helicopter.
- Failure to allow for lag in cyclic and collective pitch, which leads to overcontrolling.
- Confusing attitude changes for altitude changes, which result in improper use of the controls.
- Hovering too high, creating a hazardous flight condition.
- Hovering too low, resulting in occasional touchdown.
Hovering Turn
A hovering turn is a maneuver performed at hovering altitude in which the nose of the helicopter is rotated either left or right while maintaining position over a reference point on the surface. The maneuver requires the coordination of all flight controls and demands precise control near the surface. You should maintain a constant altitude, rate of turn, and r.p.m.
Technique
Initiate the turn in either direction by applying antitorque pedal pressure toward the desired direction. It should be noted that during a turn to the left, you need to add more power because left pedal pressure increases the pitch angle of the tail rotor, which, in turn, requires additional power from the engine. A turn to the right requires less power. (On helicopters with a clockwise rotating main rotor, right pedal increases the pitch angle and, therefore, requires more power.)