Transition from Fixed Wing

[rotorrodent]

Hi everyone! I'm into my 4th flight lesson in a CB300. Having a great time and enjoying the lessons. However, coming from fixed wing I found myself doing a fair bit of PIO.

 

Can anyone offer any tips or ideas as to how to settle down and not to over control like a fixed wing pilot?

 

Especially with the pedals. I'm finding pedal turns totally upsetting a stable hover.

 

Thanks to all

 

New Student

[SquirrelFlight]

Pedal pressure is going to be a lot lighter than you needed while flying FW. Also, in FW, most of the large deflections tend to be to the right. At least I have a fairly heavy right foot which I'm bringing under control. I'm training in the R22 and one thing we did to demonstrate how light pressure needs to be is to fly straight and level only on the left foot - gentle pressure to correct to the left, ease the pressure to correct to the right.

[fast03cobra]

Hi everyone! I'm into my 4th flight lesson in a CB300. Having a great time and enjoying the lessons. However, coming from fixed wing I found myself doing a fair bit of PIO.

 

Can anyone offer any tips or ideas as to how to settle down and not to over control like a fixed wing pilot?

 

Especially with the pedals. I'm finding pedal turns totally upsetting a stable hover.

 

Thanks to all

 

New Student

 

Practice, practice, and more practice.. You will get it. As a FW converted to RW it took me a few flights, and I was going from a high performance complex piston airplane to a turbine powered helicopter with hydraulics. Pedal pressures are not even close to the same.. In the helicopter you just have to think about doing it as opposed to stomping your foot to the floor like the plane.

 

Have your instructor let you control just the pedals while he/she takes the collective and cyclic, so you can get the feel, and do the same with the collective and cyclic. I know alot of people want to jump right in, or the instructor figures all three controls at once will get you jump started.. I noticed I was a bit nervous with it at first, so another instructor had me do each control indepent of each other. It helped for the first couple of flights... Most importantly RELAX, I find I still tend to over control a bit when I keep a tight grip on the controls....

 

Good luck, and Have fun learning....

[Gomer Pylot]

Compared to fixed wing, you only need to make a quarter of the control movement or less, usually less, and that applies to every control. Every airplane I've ever flown has lots of slop in the controls compared to a helicopter, so you don't need to make a fairly large movement just to start moving the control surfaces. It takes some practice to find the amount of movement necessary, and usually you can just think about moving the control and that will be enough. An inch of movement is almost always more than enough.

[Goldy]

Hi everyone! I'm into my 4th flight lesson in a CB300.

 

I would recommend you keep learning in the 300. The movements required in an R22 are even less, and the ship does not tolerate overcontrol like the 300 does.

 

I took a friend of mine (long time FW) into the sim a couple weeks ago...I've never seen anyone push the cyclic to the stops before in a sim !! I've hit the stops in the air, but never in a sim !

 

Actually, some sim time would be valuable for you. Its cheap, and helps you unlearn some FW habits.

Rudder, or in our case tail rotor control is one thing....cyclic is yet another. Have your CFI take you up into a nose high attitude and take the airspeed to zero (safety requires 1000 agl min)...its a weird feeling for a FW pilot to stop in the air and not want to push over when you starting slowing down!

 

Good luck, fly safe.

 

Goldy

[rotorrodent]

Practice, practice, and more practice.. You will get it. As a FW converted to RW it took me a few flights, and I was going from a high performance complex piston airplane to a turbine powered helicopter with hydraulics. Pedal pressures are not even close to the same.. In the helicopter you just have to think about doing it as opposed to stomping your foot to the floor like the plane.

 

Have your instructor let you control just the pedals while he/she takes the collective and cyclic, so you can get the feel, and do the same with the collective and cyclic. I know alot of people want to jump right in, or the instructor figures all three controls at once will get you jump started.. I noticed I was a bit nervous with it at first, so another instructor had me do each control indepent of each other. It helped for the first couple of flights... Most importantly RELAX, I find I still tend to over control a bit when I keep a tight grip on the controls....

 

Good luck, and Have fun learning....

 

Thanks much for the idea's. I have more lessons this week...I'll work at some of your suggestions.

[rotorrodent]

Compared to fixed wing, you only need to make a quarter of the control movement or less, usually less, and that applies to every control. Every airplane I've ever flown has lots of slop in the controls compared to a helicopter, so you don't need to make a fairly large movement just to start moving the control surfaces. It takes some practice to find the amount of movement necessary, and usually you can just think about moving the control and that will be enough. An inch of movement is almost always more than enough.

 

Thanks!...hopefully I'll settle down the PIO this week!

[Jeff]

Hi everyone! I'm into my 4th flight lesson in a CB300. Having a great time and enjoying the lessons. However, coming from fixed wing I found myself doing a fair bit of PIO.

 

Can anyone offer any tips or ideas as to how to settle down and not to over control like a fixed wing pilot?

 

Especially with the pedals. I'm finding pedal turns totally upsetting a stable hover.

 

Thanks to all

 

New Student

 

I fly aiplanes and helicopters, and I don't over control either one. Over controlling a helicopter when first learning to fly it is not something peculiar to fixed wing pilots; it is normal for most helicopter students. My experience transitioning to helicopter was that pilots and instructors who are not rated in airplanes typically think poorly of an airplane pilot's ability to transition to a helicopter. Simply stated, a helicopter is subject to the same "four forces" of flight that an airplane is: lift, thrust, weight, drag. Excess power allows you to climb; while a deficit in power allows you to descend. Forward on the "stick" makes you go faster; aft makes you go slower. Left makes you go left; and right makes you go right. The primary differences, from a flying standpoint, between a helicopter and an airplane are the mission and the capabilities of the craft. People will tell you, for instance, that you cannot shove the cyclic forward in a helicopter like you can in an airplane. The truth is... you can't shove the control wheel full forward in an airplane either. So good luck in your training, and don't let anyone discount your airplane experience.

 

~Jeff

[rotorrodent]

Practice, practice, and more practice.. You will get it. As a FW converted to RW it took me a few flights, and I was going from a high performance complex piston airplane to a turbine powered helicopter with hydraulics. Pedal pressures are not even close to the same.. In the helicopter you just have to think about doing it as opposed to stomping your foot to the floor like the plane.

 

Have your instructor let you control just the pedals while he/she takes the collective and cyclic, so you can get the feel, and do the same with the collective and cyclic. I know alot of people want to jump right in, or the instructor figures all three controls at once will get you jump started.. I noticed I was a bit nervous with it at first, so another instructor had me do each control indepent of each other. It helped for the first couple of flights... Most importantly RELAX, I find I still tend to over control a bit when I keep a tight grip on the controls....

 

Good luck, and Have fun learning....

Hey thanks for the tips...today went much better. As you suggested, I just did pedal turns and the instructor did the rest. much better now having a feel for the pedals. After that he gave me all of the controls and I did much better. Today overall went very well.

Cheers

[IFLY]

Spend much time in England?

[rotorrodent]

Spend much time in England?

 

Just on occasions. Nothing noteworthy.

[rotorrodent]

Hi everyone! I'm into my 4th flight lesson in a CB300. Having a great time and enjoying the lessons. However, coming from fixed wing I found myself doing a fair bit of PIO.

 

Can anyone offer any tips or ideas as to how to settle down and not to over control like a fixed wing pilot?

 

Especially with the pedals. I'm finding pedal turns totally upsetting a stable hover.

 

Thanks to all

 

New Student

 

I am at 5 hours now and have really settled down. The PIO is rather minor. Hover and taxi are much more smooth and stable. Thanks to all for the suggestions.