Autos

[Ty P]

Hi Everyone,

 

I need some help, I'm having a real hard time with autos in my flight training. I have about 20 hours heli time, and about 100 hours fixed wing. I'm trying for my Heli Private certificate.

 

Anyway, I was wondering if anyone knew of any training videos out on the market that instruct, demontrate autos in the Schweitzer.

 

I seem to be having a real hard time with chasing the airspeed/rotor rpm. By the time I get my airspeed good, my rotor's out. By the time I get my rotor rpm ok, my airspeed is mixed up . I know it's a delicate, coordinated balance between the cyclic and the collective, but my instructor tells me I keep trying to nose it over ( I think that comes from bad airplane habbits)

 

So, if anyone know of any videos I would greatly appreciate it. Maybe watching, watching, and more watching would help!

 

Thanks

 

T

[67november]

As I'm sure many will atest to here with only 20 hours it's going to take more practice.

 

practice

practice

practice

[Eric Hunt]

Simple!

 

ATTITUDE

 

Attitude = airspeed

 

Attitude is instant, performance takes time. Set the attitude for your auto speed (60 kt?) and HOLD IT

Control RRPM with a small amount of collective.

 

Hold the attitude

Airspeed settles to a steady speed. If it is too slow, lower the nose a little and HOLD IT.

 

Your problem lies in chasing performance, and you will never succeed. Select an attitude, and hold it. Allow time for the performance to catch up. Make a small adjustment. Hold it again.

 

Works for visual flying, works for instrument flying. Works.

[Gomer Pylot]

Practice is what you need, but the proper practice. You can't stare at one parameter until you get it perfect, because you'll lose track of other stuff. You have to be able to glance at the RPM and make a correction, while simultaneously looking at airspeed and making a correction, while simultaneously looking at your touchdown point and making corrections. If you can't do more than one thing at a time, without concentrating on each one, then you're going to have trouble. You can, of course, but it takes practice. You need to be able to see your pitch attitude while looking outside, and know what airspeed that attitude will give you. You need to be able to glance at the RPM, see which way it's trending, and make a collective adjustment without looking. All this takes practice. It will come, give it time. I learned to fly helicopters in a TH55, and I know how you feel, but there was probably more pressure then, because washing out of Army flight school meant bad things were going to happen, and not just more money to the flight school.

 

Thinking through the maneuver, doing it right in your head, while you're at home, or anyplace else, will make it easier. Just visualize doing a proper auto, over and over, and when you actually do one it will be easier.

[Gerhardt]

There are lots of videos of autos on the net. I'll check tonight and see if I can drum up some links.

 

After my first 20 hours it took me another 10 hours of working on nothing but autos to get the feel for it (in an R22). Everyone is right when they say it just takes practice. I couldn't begin to tell you what changed in what I was doing, as I don't recall doing anything differently. At some point though it all just seemed to come together on its own.

 

Recall how tough it was for you to get a hover? Now it probably seems like second nature to you.

[delorean]

You said it yourself......chasing. Just like the Ronco turkey roaster on infomercials "Set it, and forget it!"

 

Set your speed with the cyclic, then make a small adjustment to RRPM. Go back and double check your speed and a few seconds later see where the RRPM ended up. If it's close enough, FORGET IT!

 

The RRPM is going to vary with speed changes, turns, and wind gusts, but it will always go back (if you're holding the speed where you set it at) if you don't move the collective.

 

I wouldn't worry to much about not having autos down at only 20 hrs. You won't REALLY learn how to do them until you start CFI'n......I'm serious, you really learn a lot watching someone else *screw up* the auto.

 

Either way, it's just another coordination technique you'll learn between the two controls......just like collective up = left pedal and vice versa.

[Ty P]

You said it yourself......chasing. Just like the Ronco turkey roaster on infomercials "Set it, and forget it!"

 

Set your speed with the cyclic, then make a small adjustment to RRPM. Go back and double check your speed and a few seconds later see where the RRPM ended up. If it's close enough, FORGET IT!

 

The RRPM is going to vary with speed changes, turns, and wind gusts, but it will always go back (if you're holding the speed where you set it at) if you don't move the collective.

 

I wouldn't worry to much about not having autos down at only 20 hrs. You won't REALLY learn how to do them until you start CFI'n......I'm serious, you really learn a lot watching someone else *screw up* the auto.

 

Either way, it's just another coordination technique you'll learn between the two controls......just like collective up = left pedal and vice versa.

 

 

Thanks everyone for your help/opinions. I know practice will certainly help things progress, it just gets kind of frustrating

 

Thanks for the tip of noticing/keeping the profile of the glide attitude of the heli, I think that info will help.

 

T

[Superman]

Try using the R*A*T*S checklist to keep your scan going during the auto

 

Enter your auto...then

 

R-otor RPM

A-irspeed

T-rim

S-urface

continue the scan until entering the flair

 

Like Delorean said.....set it and leave it alone......sometimes we try to overfly the aircraft

 

Fly Safe

Clark

[flingwing206]

The key to a stable autorotation is a stable ATTITUDE. Don't try to "set" an airspeed, set the attitude, then see what airspeed that attitude is giving you. If you need to change the airspeed, eyes outside, adjust the attitude, then check the airspeed agan. Remember you are adjusting attitude, you are only using the airspeed indicator to verify that you have the correct attitude set! In the Schweizer, a 60KT attitude is the same whether climbing or autorotating.

 

Here are a few tricks:

 

When entering the auto, smoothly lower the collective fully in the time it takes to say the word "autorotate". Keep your eyes firmly on the attitude of the rotor disk to the horizon, and don't let it change (aft cyclic).

 

Then note RPM - with a 300CB/CBi (in proper rig), you should have RPM near the top of the green in a 60KT glide. If you have to raise the collective to keep the RPM in the green, you are slowing down! If the RPM won't get past mid-green, you are probably going too fast (or solo with a light fuel load).

 

If RPM is steady with the collective fully down (or just slightly up with a heavy ship), you don't even need to look at the airspeed. But go ahead and see what it says, then just maintain attitude until it's time to flare.

 

Of course this all gets amended if you are going to miss your spot, but without a steady attitude you can't tell if you're going to make the spot anyway...