Final approach tips
02-10-2007 | 02:54 AM
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From: Toronto,
ON, CANADA
Final approach tips
I can hover entire packs and stay within a 3x3x3 foot square relatively well now, also flew myself out of a few potential crashes due to wind.
I have consistently noticed that when you go to land on your final approach when you get about 1 foot off the ground you immediately gain ground effect lift. Recently I've been trying to put myself down on a 8.5"x8.5" square and I'm finding for over precise landings your approach will be near perfect until you hit ground effect and end up missing your mark.
I was wondering if the more experienced pilots can give some final approach tips the two areas I find difficult to manage are:
1. Suppose your are at dropping at your current throttle once you hit ground effect your low throttle will gain a surplus of lift and you will stop dropping. The heli will also immediately become slippery and want to not hold a stable hover.
2. Often times because of #1 you will "bounce" that is barely touch the ground before you lift off it again unless you rapidly throttle down.
the reason why I don't like rapidly cutting throttle is that it usually swings my heli cw unless I apply left rudder to stop the tail from spinning.
I have consistently noticed that when you go to land on your final approach when you get about 1 foot off the ground you immediately gain ground effect lift. Recently I've been trying to put myself down on a 8.5"x8.5" square and I'm finding for over precise landings your approach will be near perfect until you hit ground effect and end up missing your mark.
I was wondering if the more experienced pilots can give some final approach tips the two areas I find difficult to manage are:
1. Suppose your are at dropping at your current throttle once you hit ground effect your low throttle will gain a surplus of lift and you will stop dropping. The heli will also immediately become slippery and want to not hold a stable hover.
2. Often times because of #1 you will "bounce" that is barely touch the ground before you lift off it again unless you rapidly throttle down.
the reason why I don't like rapidly cutting throttle is that it usually swings my heli cw unless I apply left rudder to stop the tail from spinning.
02-10-2007 | 02:43 PM
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From: Sac,
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RE: Final approach tips
sounds like you are definately getting a finer feel for your blade, and you're starting to expect more from your heli than it really can do. a stock blade has a hard time spot landing since it must drop major rpm on landing to break through the rotor wash. my blade has a governor, so it slices right through and touches down on spot with a little practice (no padded effects, no slippage).
when my blade was stock i fought the same battle with trying to have full 110% control from liftoff to landing. i found the best way to accurately spot your landings is to approach your pad with a bit of forward movement (a walking pace) as you break through the wash. with practice, you'll travel about a foot as you break through, taking advantage of translational lift to lower the rpm low enough to where it'll drop right through the wash once the heli comes to a complete stop.
this is similar to the dropout effect you get when you come to a rapid stop from fast forward flight. in fact, i suggest practicing making use of translational lift while you are flying. move forward, pull back so it stops quickly, then simultaneously push forward on cyclic to level the heli, and you'll see the heli drop straight down unless you give a sharp increase in collective. if you're practicing low, be prepared to give collective right at the moment she comes to a stop so you don't crash.
eventually you'll get it down where you can quickly spot your landings using translational lift, so the rotor wash has little or no time to affect your approach. you can of course do the throttle kill method where you set it in the down wash 1' high, then kill the throttle and let it drop. using a little forward speed will make your landings look more like you want.
good luck, hope this helped!
when my blade was stock i fought the same battle with trying to have full 110% control from liftoff to landing. i found the best way to accurately spot your landings is to approach your pad with a bit of forward movement (a walking pace) as you break through the wash. with practice, you'll travel about a foot as you break through, taking advantage of translational lift to lower the rpm low enough to where it'll drop right through the wash once the heli comes to a complete stop.
this is similar to the dropout effect you get when you come to a rapid stop from fast forward flight. in fact, i suggest practicing making use of translational lift while you are flying. move forward, pull back so it stops quickly, then simultaneously push forward on cyclic to level the heli, and you'll see the heli drop straight down unless you give a sharp increase in collective. if you're practicing low, be prepared to give collective right at the moment she comes to a stop so you don't crash.
eventually you'll get it down where you can quickly spot your landings using translational lift, so the rotor wash has little or no time to affect your approach. you can of course do the throttle kill method where you set it in the down wash 1' high, then kill the throttle and let it drop. using a little forward speed will make your landings look more like you want.
good luck, hope this helped!
