Hello Sir, we met a few years ago in Las Vegas when you spoke at Helisuccess and I have been a follower of your teachings ever since. One aspect of your most recent post regarding scud running with the R-44 video raised a nagging question for me. As a very conservative pilot who has spent most of my time in the wire environment I have discovered that the error chain starts way before the pilot enters the cockpit. It appears that many chief pilots or managers publicly preach safety, but when it comes down to the brass tacks, they often chastise their pilots who have the maturity to just say "no". They often bend or do not follow their own SMS and SOP manuals and tell their pilots – “You should have at least given it a try.”
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Categories:
My Two Cents Worth
Last week, I was speaking at a helicopter safety event when a young flight instructor asked me a question. His question began with a statement…”I was told that it was far safer to conduct operations requiring a hover in the Height/Velocity Diagram (HV Diagram) in a turbine engine helicopter instead of a piston engine helicopter”. The HV Diagram is a graph that provides the ability for a pilot to conduct pre-flight planning of a helicopter so if the engine fails in flight, the ability of the helicopter to complete an autorotation is known. The follow-up question was directed at me. “Which type of helicopter engine do you believe is safer and why”? he asked.
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Categories:
Rotorcraft Checkride
Randy, your article struck a nerve in me because of an incident that nearly caused me to lose my life recently in an OH 58 flying from Orlando to Sarasota. Looking back, my actions were selfish and dangerous and could have deprived my 5-year-old of her daddy and my wife the tragic loss of her husband.
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Categories:
My Two Cents Worth
I was talking to a local helicopter pilot that had recently obtained his private pilot helicopter
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Categories:
Rotorcraft Checkride
The next time you run across a pilot who complains about the navigation equipment in his aircraft—right after he enters his coordinates into the panel mounted Garmin 430, the backup windshield RAM mounted Garmin 695, and the backup-backup glare shield mounted I-Phone—ask him what he would have done during the time of the Transcontinental Airway System.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transcontinental_Airway_System
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Categories:
ROTORwrench
The eccentrics are an offset center adjuster that allows the taking up of play at the MRH damper fixed-lever, or damper piston anchor point. They are set at overhaul of the MRH, however it has been demonstrated repeatedly that the factory adjustments change after the MRH has been “run-in.”
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Categories:
ROTORwrench
The Designated Pilot Examiner (DPE) program is a key component to the Federal Aviation Administrations (FAA) ability to administer pilot certification within our current system. The largest majority of FAA pilot examinations are conducted by DPEs, however the DPE pool is shallowing. There are a multitude of reasons why there are less DPEs available with the difficulty of being selected to fulfill the role being at the top of the list. Since the FAA is potentially making changes to the DPE program, I thought I would throw out a few recommendations.
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Categories:
Rotorcraft Checkride
In the Jan/Feb 2016 issue of Rotorcraft Pro magazine in my ‘My Two Cents’ Worth’ column entitled “Not So New CRM” I talk about the easy to use and understand Risk Resource Management decision-making tool that the pilots at Southwest Airlines use when making decisions. You can access that article at the following link. It begins on page 8.
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Categories:
My Two Cents Worth
Since I’m writing this three months in advance, it’s a bit hard to find a “current” topic to throw out there. However, one issue I noticed recently is the increase in incidents and accidents due to tool FOD.
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Categories:
ROTORwrench
During a recent Private Pilot examination, I asked the applicant to show me his planned cross-country route and associated planning documents. The applicant pulled out an iPad that was mounted to a kneeboard and said, “I’m ready!” As an opened-minded person, I was intrigued by the applicant’s quick study and preparedness for the task at hand. However, I was concerned the applicant hadn’t properly heard my request and restated that I desired to review all aspects of the pre-flight planning to include plotting the course, wind correction, etc. “Yes Sir” was the applicant’s reply. “I’m ready to go. It’s all right here” he said while holding up his iPad. The lack of materials the applicant had brought with him for the examination caught my attention.
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Categories:
Rotorcraft Checkride