Steve R.
December 3rd 04, 03:58 AM
Hey Kevin,
Great write up as usual. I particularly like the first paragraph. Normal
and steep approaches are getting "boring" huh? ;-) It's not that long ago
that you were kicking yourself for not getting them right. Now they're
boring! <bg>
It's great that you've got so many other folks around that are going through
the same process as you are. Having other people around that you can rib
back and forth with, compare notes with, and generally rely on for support
in the fun and serious times has got to be a big help. You know it's not
just you!! ;-)
Keep em coming and Fly Safe,
Steve R.
"The OTHER Kevin in San Diego" <skiddz "AT" adelphia "DOT" net> wrote in
message ...
> Nothing' but autos today. Well, ok, so I did a normal approach and a
> steep approach to start my time, but they're boring. :)
>
> Had a very busy morning and arrived just a few minutes before I was
> scheduled to fly so I ran up my paperwork and knocked out the
> preflight. Takeoff was a bit delayed as Q checked out my bike (I
> parked next to his) on his way to the ramp.
>
> We got settled in and I started down my pre-start checklist. I was
> about to turn the key when Q says "you forgot something".
>
> "Huh?" I ran down the checklist again.. "I hit everything on here."
>
> "You hit EVERYthing on that list?"
>
> "Yeah."
>
> "Read it again." I not only read it, but did it again - and there it
> was.. Duh. Forgot to put the mixture guard in place. Gotta love
> that ultra-high-tech device, huh?? You'd think I'd catch that the 1st
> time through.. Or at least the 2nd.. or 3rd...
>
> Got the ship started up and listened to ATIS as I waited for the cyl
> head temp to get into the green and once it was there, I did all my
> pre-takeoff checks and then had to wait for the helo on the pad next
> to me to depart. Once he was gone, I picked up, cleared my tail, did
> a left pedal turn and headed to the taxiway.
>
> I called up the tower and anticipating more autos, asked to join the
> pattern. It took a couple minutes to get cleared and then I was only
> cleared to taxi halfway and hold to let some fixed wing folks hog the
> runway. As soon as they were past, I was cleared to take off.
>
> Q's been pushing me pretty hard to hit my numbers in the pattern and I
> managed to do pretty good. Much better than on Tuesday so around I
> went for a normal approach. No worries on that one so back around for
> a steep approach. Those are cake 'cuz you get the ETL rumble to keep
> ya in the "slot" all the way down...
>
> Now for some autos. In our last episode, my entries weren't too good
> 'cuz I was letting the nose drop as the collective came down. Not so
> on the 1st one. Collective down, a little aft cycle to keep the nose
> up and roll off the throttle.. Let the RPMs build then stop 'em with
> a smidge of collective and ride it down.. At 100' RPMs at the bottom
> of the green arc, airspeed a tick over 65 knots and about 1700 FPM
> descent rate.. Q lightly followed in the flare then helped out with
> the recovery and around I went again.
>
> This time wasn't so nice. I let the nose drop on entry so the RPMs
> took a big dump and I had to flare and dump the collective to get 'em
> to start building again.. I got it fairly well sorted out but my 100'
> RPM was a bit low and the low rotor RPM buzzer was sounding. After
> the recovery I mumble "Let the damned nose drop again..." and Q
> responded with "Letting the nose drop is screwing you all up on the
> entry." Thank you Captain Obvious. :)
>
> The next one was better and I'm not entirely sure, but I think Q let
> me do pretty much the whole thing. I didn't feel him on the controls
> during the recovery at all.. Maybe I was just jazzed I hit the entry
> pretty good and not aware of Q following on the controls.
>
> I did a couple more and then repositioned to another unused runway to
> do some hover autos. MUCH better than I was doing them on Tuesday,
> but I'm still not quick enough with the forward and right cyclic to
> counter the drift as the throttle is chopped. I'm not hammering the
> right pedal on entry either.. I felt much much better about them
> today. I don't know how many I did, but well over half of 'em would
> have netted me a pass on my check ride.
>
> During this time, I had to set down for a sec - I don't know what it
> is about the seats in the R22, but my ass keeps slipping forward on
> 'em. Once I got my butt back in position, I started to pull power to
> pick up. Just as I was getting settled into a hover, Q chops the
> throttle on me. I was just a hair late with the right pedal, but the
> touchdown was pretty soft. It wasn't a check ride passing
> performance, but it was much better than the instant 180 a classmate
> suffered at Q's hands a couple months ago.
>
> Sitting on the ground, Q says "not bad: and I reply "It's a lot easier
> when I chop the throttle but at least I didn't swap ends like {name
> omitted to prevent embarrassment] did when you chopped him at the
> pad."
>
> "Yeah, he's still ****ed about that." I laughed 'cuz I still get
> comments from "him" about that day.
>
> I did a couple more hover autos and then it was time to head back.
> The ramp was empty and I hovered back to pad 3- my "favorite" pad
> right next to the hangar. I was a little higher than normal so I say
> "How about I do a steep approach to the pad." Q chuckled and then
> chopped the throttle on me. *******.. I got it down with a little
> yaw to the left and once it was down, I looked back to the hangar to
> see one of the instructors and a student sitting there gawking at me.
> I pointed to Q and yelled "It's his fault!!" and then picked up to get
> the ship repositioned properly on the pad.
>
> Q was having convulsions next to me - well, it looked that way because
> he was faking the moves to chop the throttle again - and I got it set
> down nicely where it was supposed to be. Once the ship was shut down,
> Q bolted for the hangar and I got the ship secured. On my way back to
> the hangar, a fellow student came up to me and says "Hey Mr. Hover
> Auto - how'd ya like those throttle chops?" Turns out I had an
> audience for almost all of the hover autos. Leave it to other
> students to poke fun at ya, right?
>
> I got my log book filled out and went into the classroom to retrieve
> my riding gear and was met with more comments about throttle chops
> from the guys in there. Jeezus, was the entire hangar population
> watching?? hehehe Thankfully, there's been nobody taking offense at
> the ribbing we give each other and the hangar talk is filled with
> self-deprecating stories. Makes for a good environment to fly in..
>
> Next week is 3 long cross countries. Hopefully I'll find time to wok
> too...
>
>
>
Great write up as usual. I particularly like the first paragraph. Normal
and steep approaches are getting "boring" huh? ;-) It's not that long ago
that you were kicking yourself for not getting them right. Now they're
boring! <bg>
It's great that you've got so many other folks around that are going through
the same process as you are. Having other people around that you can rib
back and forth with, compare notes with, and generally rely on for support
in the fun and serious times has got to be a big help. You know it's not
just you!! ;-)
Keep em coming and Fly Safe,
Steve R.
"The OTHER Kevin in San Diego" <skiddz "AT" adelphia "DOT" net> wrote in
message ...
> Nothing' but autos today. Well, ok, so I did a normal approach and a
> steep approach to start my time, but they're boring. :)
>
> Had a very busy morning and arrived just a few minutes before I was
> scheduled to fly so I ran up my paperwork and knocked out the
> preflight. Takeoff was a bit delayed as Q checked out my bike (I
> parked next to his) on his way to the ramp.
>
> We got settled in and I started down my pre-start checklist. I was
> about to turn the key when Q says "you forgot something".
>
> "Huh?" I ran down the checklist again.. "I hit everything on here."
>
> "You hit EVERYthing on that list?"
>
> "Yeah."
>
> "Read it again." I not only read it, but did it again - and there it
> was.. Duh. Forgot to put the mixture guard in place. Gotta love
> that ultra-high-tech device, huh?? You'd think I'd catch that the 1st
> time through.. Or at least the 2nd.. or 3rd...
>
> Got the ship started up and listened to ATIS as I waited for the cyl
> head temp to get into the green and once it was there, I did all my
> pre-takeoff checks and then had to wait for the helo on the pad next
> to me to depart. Once he was gone, I picked up, cleared my tail, did
> a left pedal turn and headed to the taxiway.
>
> I called up the tower and anticipating more autos, asked to join the
> pattern. It took a couple minutes to get cleared and then I was only
> cleared to taxi halfway and hold to let some fixed wing folks hog the
> runway. As soon as they were past, I was cleared to take off.
>
> Q's been pushing me pretty hard to hit my numbers in the pattern and I
> managed to do pretty good. Much better than on Tuesday so around I
> went for a normal approach. No worries on that one so back around for
> a steep approach. Those are cake 'cuz you get the ETL rumble to keep
> ya in the "slot" all the way down...
>
> Now for some autos. In our last episode, my entries weren't too good
> 'cuz I was letting the nose drop as the collective came down. Not so
> on the 1st one. Collective down, a little aft cycle to keep the nose
> up and roll off the throttle.. Let the RPMs build then stop 'em with
> a smidge of collective and ride it down.. At 100' RPMs at the bottom
> of the green arc, airspeed a tick over 65 knots and about 1700 FPM
> descent rate.. Q lightly followed in the flare then helped out with
> the recovery and around I went again.
>
> This time wasn't so nice. I let the nose drop on entry so the RPMs
> took a big dump and I had to flare and dump the collective to get 'em
> to start building again.. I got it fairly well sorted out but my 100'
> RPM was a bit low and the low rotor RPM buzzer was sounding. After
> the recovery I mumble "Let the damned nose drop again..." and Q
> responded with "Letting the nose drop is screwing you all up on the
> entry." Thank you Captain Obvious. :)
>
> The next one was better and I'm not entirely sure, but I think Q let
> me do pretty much the whole thing. I didn't feel him on the controls
> during the recovery at all.. Maybe I was just jazzed I hit the entry
> pretty good and not aware of Q following on the controls.
>
> I did a couple more and then repositioned to another unused runway to
> do some hover autos. MUCH better than I was doing them on Tuesday,
> but I'm still not quick enough with the forward and right cyclic to
> counter the drift as the throttle is chopped. I'm not hammering the
> right pedal on entry either.. I felt much much better about them
> today. I don't know how many I did, but well over half of 'em would
> have netted me a pass on my check ride.
>
> During this time, I had to set down for a sec - I don't know what it
> is about the seats in the R22, but my ass keeps slipping forward on
> 'em. Once I got my butt back in position, I started to pull power to
> pick up. Just as I was getting settled into a hover, Q chops the
> throttle on me. I was just a hair late with the right pedal, but the
> touchdown was pretty soft. It wasn't a check ride passing
> performance, but it was much better than the instant 180 a classmate
> suffered at Q's hands a couple months ago.
>
> Sitting on the ground, Q says "not bad: and I reply "It's a lot easier
> when I chop the throttle but at least I didn't swap ends like {name
> omitted to prevent embarrassment] did when you chopped him at the
> pad."
>
> "Yeah, he's still ****ed about that." I laughed 'cuz I still get
> comments from "him" about that day.
>
> I did a couple more hover autos and then it was time to head back.
> The ramp was empty and I hovered back to pad 3- my "favorite" pad
> right next to the hangar. I was a little higher than normal so I say
> "How about I do a steep approach to the pad." Q chuckled and then
> chopped the throttle on me. *******.. I got it down with a little
> yaw to the left and once it was down, I looked back to the hangar to
> see one of the instructors and a student sitting there gawking at me.
> I pointed to Q and yelled "It's his fault!!" and then picked up to get
> the ship repositioned properly on the pad.
>
> Q was having convulsions next to me - well, it looked that way because
> he was faking the moves to chop the throttle again - and I got it set
> down nicely where it was supposed to be. Once the ship was shut down,
> Q bolted for the hangar and I got the ship secured. On my way back to
> the hangar, a fellow student came up to me and says "Hey Mr. Hover
> Auto - how'd ya like those throttle chops?" Turns out I had an
> audience for almost all of the hover autos. Leave it to other
> students to poke fun at ya, right?
>
> I got my log book filled out and went into the classroom to retrieve
> my riding gear and was met with more comments about throttle chops
> from the guys in there. Jeezus, was the entire hangar population
> watching?? hehehe Thankfully, there's been nobody taking offense at
> the ribbing we give each other and the hangar talk is filled with
> self-deprecating stories. Makes for a good environment to fly in..
>
> Next week is 3 long cross countries. Hopefully I'll find time to wok
> too...
>
>
>