Is there a name for this technique?

[MurderedOutTaco]

I'm a commercial student pilot and I'm fascinated by external load/long line ops and hope to do that sort of work someday. I've noticed that a lot of guys (and gals) tend to jerk the ship around when placing or controlling a load (particularly a precision job like assembling a core drill or something). Is there a term for this technique? I assume it's basically a fine-tune manipulation of the load by trying to cancel out the pendulum swing of a load? I've also seen the opposite, where the pilot is very smooth on the controls and there is no excess movement. Are there two schools of thought on this?

 

If anyone could provide some more insight about this stuff or provide some resources for reading up on it, I'd soak it up like a sponge!

[Whistlerpilot]

The more you move the rotor disc the less efficient the helicopter is at lifting. Smooth is the best, but sometimes you just have to do whatever it takes to get the job done. Results will vary by pilot. I'm no Yoda only have 350 hours longline but I strive to be smooth and gentle first. Usually if I'm overcontrolling it's because I'm rushing. Smooth and slow will become smooth and fast with practice. If I haven't been longlining for a while it takes a few hours to get back in the groove. It's a perishable skill.

 

Check out this Astar max visibility longline window. Look forward to flying one of these someday.

 

http://www.verticalmag.com/news/article/AStar-Maximum-Pilot-View-Kit-nears-certification

[MurderedOutTaco]

Makes sense Whistlerpilot. I just wonder why some pilots seem to do this jerking around intentionally.

 

This is kind of an example (skip to the 1:00 mark) of what I'm referring to:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyyUu_oHXo8

[MurderedOutTaco]

Makes sense Whistlerpilot. I just wonder why some pilots seem to do this jerking around intentionally.

 

This is kind of an example (skip to the 1:00 mark) of what I'm referring to:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyyUu_oHXo8

Actually this is a much better example, while not a longline (skip to the 2:30 mark):

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8P239RmfoSY

[TomPPL]

Nice second vid there MurderedOutTaco, some exceptional flying - what I'd give to get a flight in a Lama.....

[Flying Pig]

Its not different schools of thought. Its just technique for whats needed at that specific millisecond in time. Sometimes you can fly it right in, other times you need to center your load quickly, winds can have an effect, etc. Maybe the load itself being affected by winds.

[Goldy]

Actually this is a much better example, while not a longline (skip to the 2:30 mark):

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8P239RmfoSY

Not really a longline, they have to move the saw up and down, as well as along the intended path, so a lot of movement.....not your typical longline work.

[AS350 pilot]

My goal during a long day of precision long line work is for the crew to see the helicopter work as a mellow smooth operation. I move slow, because slow is smooth and smooth is fast. I have seen a few amazing long line pilots work and none of them were ever jerky with the controls.

 

Something for you to think about; the helicopter doesn't know, or care that you have a long line on. So, have you ever seen someone hover perfectly still with no waisted movement? Of course! Have you seen someone hover and be all over the place? Of course! It's all the same, the only thing that changed is the way you're viewing your surroundings when you have a long line on. Every move you make WILL transfer to the load (that's just physics) so the less moves you make the less the load will move.

 

Vertical reference work weather its precision or non precision is extremely fun and humbling.

[heliflyknow]

This isn't really helpful but I thought I would share. One day while at the airport I watched a 206 land that had a longline attached, he descended vertically wiggling the stick just right so that the line coiled beneath him in a perfect circle then landed behind his master piece leaving only about 15' of line he had to wind up. All I could think was "man, one day I'll be that good. "

[MurderedOutTaco]

Something for you to think about; the helicopter doesn't know, or care that you have a long line on. So, have you ever seen someone hover perfectly still with no waisted movement? Of course! Have you seen someone hover and be all over the place? Of course! It's all the same, the only thing that changed is the way you're viewing your surroundings when you have a long line on. Every move you make WILL transfer to the load (that's just physics) so the less moves you make the less the load will move.

 

Vertical reference work weather its precision or non precision is extremely fun and humbling.

Makes complete sense.

 

I have definitely seen a few guys jerking their helicopters around though when lowering a load into a confined site (a few guys up in SE AK and one guy down here in WA). I've seen it often enough that I thought it was an actual intentional technique to nudge the load or cancel out swing, hence my original post. But like you alluded to, I have also seen super smooth pilots. Seems like smoother would be a lot easier on the helicopter too. The Lama in that saw video I posted must get worked getting flown like that all the time.

 

I daydream of learning how to long line on almost a daily basis.