Prior to the flight portion of an FAA exam, the applicant will be tested on their knowledge and ability to conduct a preflight on the aircraft being tested. It is imperative that a pilot understand the systems of the aircraft they plan to operate. The ability to determine airworthiness can only be accomplished when the pilot has adequate knowledge of their aircraft and knows what to look for (normal vs. abnormal) during the preflight process.
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Rotorcraft Checkride
When I flew for the Royal Oman Police, the British, Scottish, and Australian pilots I had the pleasure to fly with had a lovely saying. Whenever they wanted to convey an idea, but wanted you to know that you may already know it, they would preface their statement by saying, “Now, I don’t want to teach Granny to suck eggs but….”
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My Two Cents Worth
I was lucky in some ways. Before I arrived in the Tuna Fields, my nerves had been stretched taut many times. I was -and am- a determined, pretty cool, methodical thinker under extreme stress. But lest this sound like a vain boast, or foolish self congratulation, let me quickly add my ability to cope is due to (all too frequent) practice. And let me also frankly confess to having been -too often- scared to death. When you think you are a dead man, your body reacts. Afterward, people who see your face, without a word being spoken, can often tell. It's in the pallor of the skin, the gray, and in the eyes, hollow, sunken, haunted, bloodshot, and staring. Eyes that have seen.... the approaching shadow.
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Moggy's Musings
Looks like the FAA regulation of the drone industry is ramping up. The new FAR Part 107 went live the end of August, and the new Drone Advisory Committee will hold its first meeting September 16th.
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ROTORwrench
The Height/Velocity Diagram indicates the combination of height above ground and air speed that should be avoided due to safety concerns related to emergency landings. For new helicopter pilots, the height-velocity (H/V) diagram can be confusing. From one Instructor to another, the understanding of the H/V diagram may differ, which will affect how the subject is taught. Even when referring to the FAA’s Helicopter Flying Handbook, the entire subject is covered in only two pages (FAA H-8083-21A Chapter 11 Pg. 11-8 & 11-9).
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Rotorcraft Checkride
I have a professional Facebook page that deals solely with crew resource management and helicopter safety issues. I hope I don’t disappoint visitors to my page if they don’t see pictures of my breakfast, lunch, or dinner, my cat, dog or car or learn that I am in a departure lounge somewhere awaiting my flight home. I ‘built’ my Facebook page for one purpose—as a tool to keep CRM and helicopter safety foremost in air crew member’s minds.
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My Two Cents Worth
I’d been awake for 17 hours when the phone rang at 12:45 a.m. The communications specialist said, “There’s a scene call on Palomar Mountain. Will you be able to take the flight?”
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My Two Cents Worth
A few months ago I was visiting a large helicopter flight school. While touring the school, I had the opportunity to sit in on a ground school class. The students were training toward their helicopter instrument rating, so the material being presented was on that topic. My initial impression was very positive. I thought: Wow, these young aviators are getting a great education in a highly standardized, quality-based training environment.
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Rotorcraft Checkride
Back when the only inlet filter option for an Arriel engine was the bleed air type, it was a pain to comply with ground runs as the cowling had to remain installed with the filter bleed air line connected. There supposedly was a factory cap for the fitting on the engine that enabled removal of the cowling/filter assembly. But we, nor the tech reps, could ever procure one.
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ROTORwrench
ATA 76 - Rolls-Royce 250-C20 Series - Found another booklet, but this one is a real collector item: Chandler Evans (CECO) MC-40 Fuel Control System Questions and Answers. I still shudder when I hear the word CECO. Bleed, bleed, bleed…starts running through my mind. And I don’t mean the red stuff. For those who hadn’t had the pleasure, a CECO system used fuel pressure to control function instead of air pressure like a Bendix system. Air in the control side would cause all kinds of problems. One tiny bubble of air and it seemed like you were bleeding the system for hours, days, weeks…. [Submitted by Rw]
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Categories:
ROTORwrench