We were doing confined areas, the subject of my main brief, and the examiner was sitting in the student's seat allowing me to patter him through Exercise 26. As we recced the area we noticed wires to the side of the landing area, but nothing appeared to go across the actual area. The sun was positioned so the field was slightly in the shadow, and we made a note of the possibility of wires and the position of the nearest pole (in the trees abutting on the area). However, even on the lower recce the area looked clear of wires. Then we made our approach, there, suddenly, about 40 or so feet above the wires it was possible to see them, and they went right across the descent path (luckily we had remained high because of the possibility).
This was made particularly poignant for me as I had just put an accident report in Helicopter Life magazine in which the highly experienced pilot hit wires because they were hidden in trees. He was not hurt, but the machine (a Hughes 500) was written off. At this time of year, with leafy trees and shadows, wires are really, really difficult to see. Take care.
The other interesting point we discussed and practiced was power settings on coming out of confined areas.
I tend to teach using full-power leaving a confined area, this is per the CAA standard. However, the examiner said; WHY? You have done a power check, you know how much power you have in hand. Why not take note of those margins and use the power you need, instead of getting the student to use everything, when he may over-torque and certainly will have his head in the cockpit worrying about RPM rather than outside - which is where the trees are going to hit you. It was a good point, and we flew it gently right along the trees - no hassle.
So, sometimes I ask myself - why do we worry about tests, they are good learning experiences. Thanks.
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