S300 Conversion

fulldownauto · December 28, 2004

Any advice for someone who has spent their most of their life with Robinsons that wants to try somthing new in the 300? One popped up locally and is available to rent, and I'm thinking about a checkout. If it's anything like the 500s I've flown, it'll be a blast to fly.

What's the deal with the throttle? Is it all pilot input or is it correlated? And how about the clutch? Manual tensioning? Interesting. . . Will it really carry two passengers safely?

I'm planning on setting it down ever so gently (like I do the Robinson) so that it won't fall violently apart on me.

Looking forward to it. Any tips would be great, thanks.

James

IgorS · December 28, 2004

The ones I fly all have correlators. Some have the optional governor, but I haven't flown one so equipped.

Some newer models have the STAR system, which does the engagement automatically. Otherwise, it's about 3 bumps and you're matched.

On set down, the left skid toe always touches first, at least with two people aboard. I always say that every landing in a Schweizer is a slope landing. It ought to be less prone to resonance with the oleos and lead-lag dampers, but the NTSB reports bely that. It's always on my mind when I set down.

It's easy to see that a third occupant would fit (snugly) in the middle, but I've never seen one with three harnesses installed.

Torfinn · December 28, 2004

I've flown both the 300CB and the 300C, and in my experience, the C model has the better correlator. The one C model I've flown requires far smaller adjustments to the throttle than the two CB's I've flown. I've learnt to fly in the 300, so I have no personal experience with the transition from governor equipped machines. Those I've heard of who has made the transition found the manual throttle a challenge at first, but they soon figured it out. It's not like you have to start from scratch and learn to fly the helicopter again, at least.

All the 300's at my school are left-hand PiC, so they can be converted to 3-seaters in a flash. But from what I've seen myself, and from the experience of those who have flown with two passengers, it gets terriby cramped. You'll need a small pilot and skinny passengers!

As for ground resonance, I've experienced it a couple of times, when one of our helicopters had oleos that were a bit slack. It happened if I didn't set it down perfectly smooth. I didn't find it to be a big deal, however. It's an eye opener when the machine starts shaking like crazy, but you just have to keep calm and pick it up off the ground, and it goes away. And, from my experience, you'll be careful when you put it back down the next time! ::

Good luck with trying out the 300! It's a fun machine to fly when you get to know it! (Just don't expect to get anywhere fast... ::superman:: )

Wally · December 29, 2004

A 300 flies like a 500, only slower- much, much slower. The vis is better, though. Fly with the doors off.

I'm not sure what all the apprehension is when it comes to throttles... It's just a helicopter. Whatever you fly, you watch NR and use cues beyond the needles, don't you? You can hear and feel when the rotor droops or speeds up? Same with a throttle- listen to the engine, lead your power changes, and it's no big deal. It will take a little thought, the first few hours, and you'll want to make SMALL changes until direction of twist becomes reflexive. It's wise to be gradual with any new bird, though.

Ground resonance is a very bad thing, and 300's used to be bad to do it- if you banged'em down unevenly and had slack/over inflated oleos and crappy dampers. If the bird's in half way decent shape and you're not a ham hand- no sweat. Check all four oleos and look at the dampers. Have somebody familiar with 300's explain exactly...

If you're spooling up and it starts, hammering- shut down. If you're landing and it starts hammering- take off, move and try again. If it's definitely something wrong with the aircraft- do a hovering auto. It will be a pile of expensive parts if you try to force it thru either.

Manually controlling the clutch isn't a deal, either- the start's more difficult. Establish the recommended engine speed, flip the switch to engage the clutch drive, and you'll see a blade move or hear the engine decel- flip the switch back to hold and allow the NR to build a little, and when the engine starts to speed up again, a little more switch... Don't rush this either, and you'll do fine. If it starts lugging, release a little tension. After a couple cycles, you lock the switch and go fly.

And yes, if the PIC seat's on the right, you can take 2 pax, W&B permitting. It's tight, but it doesn't take big moves to fly this thing.

This helo taught a lot of people to fly and took some real punishment. She's sturdier than she looks, and if you don't mind 70 to 80 knot cruise, they're a lot of fun to throw around.

fulldownauto · December 29, 2004

Not apprehension, just a difference in normal operations. Flying the R22 with the gov off isn't hard either, in fact, I think most students should fly with it off more often, because it does require increased attention to what the helicopter is doing as a whole, and how different modes of flight affect RPM/Power.

I'm trying to read the manual and learn as much as possible in order to get the the checkout out of the way in the shortest time possible, hopefully 1-2 hours, because it is more expensive than the 22s I usually rent. I'll take as much time as I need though, but I'm optimistic, I view myself as a fairly hot stick in the 22. <G>

My hope is to tool around with myself (140 pounds) another adult and a child in the middle.

Should be fun, thanks for the quick info.

James

HeliFrank · December 31, 2004

When I started my civilian commercial career my first job was to give rides on weekends in a 300 (pilot+2 pax). It worked just fine but keep in mind that every take-off is a max performance take-off. You love it when you have two good looking female pax but you sure hate it with a big smelly guy next to you. ::

As far as the correlator is concerned in normal ops it will normally cover the entire range. So there won't be that much of a difference compared to the R22.

Besides, aren't you supposed to learn to fly the R22 with the governor turned off???? ::nyah::

Once you get into the 300 you'll appreciate the extra space you have (if flying with 1 pax/teacher only).

Good luck and safe flying