LostHeliBoy Posted January 15, 2007 Posted January 15, 2007 In NZ its part of the training I did 10 hrs night while I was there and it was like I was doing 5hrs of night autos .. mostly to a lit Airport.. the thrill of landing a helicopter at night while having little sensory information is second to none.. I guess If I dived I could compare it to that.. as being a totally different environment to the one that you use in the day. In Nz we had to fly 15nm to the lighted Airport and then return to the flight base in a more surburban airfield.. we'd fly in at 1000 ft agl plus and then do a Zero speed Auto to the the center of the Empty airfield it was a gigantic paddock rougly 1.5km a side and square, so the center was level and safe. then about 100ft agl roll on power and air taxi quick back to the hanger and shut down quickly so as not to piss off the neigbors. it was great. I found that in NZ flying in that area at night we would pick empty black areas for emergency landing spots(if needed), at the time I thought it was strange to pick somewhere that was BLACK, this was then supported when I returned to the US and started to fly here and at night where the instructor told me that in the event.... we'd aim for the lighted parts. OK.. NZ= rural = know your territory=USA = crowded == land where you can SEE! Makes sence right. if you have not done a night auto have someone show you its the second best thing you can do at night... --->CHEERS! Quote
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