Flight 06; Plum Island and Back
by Philip Greenspun; revised March 2006
Site Home : Flying : Helicopter Syllabus : One Item
Objective
The student has been spending a lot of time hanging around Bedford.
This lesson provides a bit of a break in the routine and some practice
in navigating on low-altitude cross-country flights in a helicopter.
There should be continued development of proficiency in normal and
steep approaches.
Elements
- vertical takeoff to a hover
- hover taxi
- air taxi
- landing from a hover
- maximum performance take off
- steep approaches
- normal approaches
- navigation via pilotage and GPS
Schedule
- -30-0 minutes: student plans cross-country trip
- 0-30 minutes: drive to helicopter hangar, preflight inspection, and instructor review of cross-country planning
- 30-40: startup
- 40-50: student air taxis to Taxiway Whiskey or Romeo for hover
practice
- 50-70: normal takeoff to pick up the Concord River and follow it
to the Merrimack at 500' AGL, then a right turn on the Merrimack River
to Lawrence (KLWM)
- 70-85: normal approach and then hover work at the Lawrence Airport
- 85-105: proceed down the Merrimack River and steep approach at the
Plum Island (2B2) airport
- 105-130: shut down and rest at the Plum Island airport
- 130-45: start up and hover work at the Plum Island airport
- 145-160: (optional) fly up and down the beach a bit
- 160-185: return in a straight line to Hanscom (not following
rivers; student must identify landmarks on a chart); at least 5
minutes of governor-off operation, including two recoveries from low
rotor RPM
- 185-205: put helicopter away
- 205-220: discussion
Completion Standards
The student should be able to navigate without assistance to Lawrence
and Plum Island. The student should need only partial assistance to
navigate from Plum Island to BED at 1000'. The student should be able
to use Direct-To navigation with the GPS mounted in the trainer
helicopter.
Student should be able to maintain rotor RPM in the green during
governor-off operation. Student should be able to recover from low
rotor RPM by simultaneously lowering collective and rolling on
throttle.
Evaluation
Reading Assignment
Read Chapters 10 and 11 of the Rotorcraft Flying Handbook.