Upper Air Work

Rotorway with helipac for luggage

Today, did the ground exam and some upper airwork on the R162F.
Ground exam was very interesting. It is open book, which means you get to really look at the flight manual, not something one does enough. The questions made me think. For example, how exactly are the controls made up - of cables and rods, but which type and how. What is the best fuel to use on the 162, and which fuels can you take if they are available. Unleaded MOGAS is best, but ask yourself, is 4-Star leaded or unleaded? In a car it matters, but in a helicopter it matters more. I really enjoyed doing the exam.
We then went off and did upper air work - wow these military guys are daring when it comes to choosing confined areas!
Autos to a spot - needs work, again it was surprising how little distance the 162 covers in auto compared to the H500, the B206 or even the R22 - the Schweizer does have rather a brick like glide so that is not unsimilar!

We did FADEC errors. Here if there is a problem an amber or red light will appear on the FADEC. The number will be in the A or B viewer. Looking up the number (they are listed below) tells you what is affected, and then you think if it is, for example, a water pump, how much that will affect you. Advice from the manufacturer is: red light - land at once. Amber light, land when it is safe to do so. In truth, it is better to land and sort out the problem while on the ground, than hanging around in the air and (distracted) perhaps not hanging around... if you get my drift.

Saturday weather and Rotorway 162F

Three little Rotorways

Woke up on Saturday morning to blue skies and light winds. Brilliant, I thought, perfect day for learning about autorotations in the Rotorway.
As I drove north I noticed increasing cloud... ah, that will teach me for not taking the early slot! By the time I got to the airfield it was 300 feet in mist...
We did manage to get hovering on the farm, and in spite of rain on the windscreen - I notice incidentally that the balance-wool makes a little hole to see through - it was fine for low level work.
We worked on flapback and how to control the 162F in quick stops. I noticed that low RPM leads to lack of tail rotor authority, plenty of practice there. All good fun though, dashing up and down the farm tracks and no houses near by so nobody to piss off. Wonderful.
I'm growing to rather like these little Rotorways.

Day Two Rotorway Type Rating

G-KEVL having the fuel level checked

After a Rotorway 162F has had an annual and been given new tail rotor belts these must be 'bedded in,' to ensure that the belts will not slip in the future. To do this, it is necessary to hover for 2.5 hours.
As I am building hours on the Rotorway, Kevin Longhurst kindly asked if I would like to hover his machine for increments up to 2.5 hours. Excellent practice for me.
We started with 10 minute hops (hover hops) in which I mostly hovered still or did turns... carefully, noticing that RPM drops off considerably in a left turn and has to be replaced quickly or tail rotor authority diminishes. We landed after each 10 minutes and had the belts checked. They were fine. We then progressed to 20 minute hops. More static hovering, more turns on the spot and sideways, backwards and forwards. Even some landings, and some slopes.
Slopes are interesting right skid up. This is because the right skid lands first anyway, and now, with a slope to the left, you definitely notice the swing downwards.
Finally, on to the last half hour, by now the belts are pretty certainly embedded but we are just making certain. So, we could go over the hedge and fly around the field next door....weeeeeee. What fun! It may be a kit helicopter but it is still a helicopter and still great to fly. Try one!

G-WOOF flies down from Scotland for every annual!

Type Rating on the Rotorway 162F

Bull brothers' Rotorway GBWUJ

I am doing a type rating on the Rotorway 162F. This, plus further hours up to 15 in total, will allow me to examine and teach on the kit helicopter series the Rotorway. My teacher is John Jackson and I am learning at Street Farm in Stansted, the home of the UK Rotorway distributors.
Day one, we started with theory. This is particularly interesting as the Rotorway 162F is a kit helicopter and as such has differences from the main series of aircraft known as helicopters. We started with Foibles!
The 162F has three main foibles. NB I would like to point out these are not disadvantages they are interesting and significant differences which should be taken into account while flying the Rotorway.
First, lag in the controls. That means there is a time delay between a control input and the response. It is a function of rotorhead control and balance.
Secondly, the 162F has a tendency towards flapback eg the blade will lift on the occurrence of a gust or while transitioning. While this is normal in helicopters the 162F is particularly sensitive in this matter.
Thirdly, the gearing of the controls is much less than in normal helicopters, which leads to distinctive handling characteristics.

162F Engine

More about why this happens later. Some of it is intrinsic to the Rotorway, other parts are normal for two blade helicopters.

Next we went for a flight. The Rotorway is particularly sensitive in pitch, so it is important to be aware of this when taking off and hovering, particularly downwind. We had a 13 knot wind, 220 degrees, which meant us lifting with about 5 knots of crosswind and then hovering over the hedge and turning downwind into the field.
Start-up I will go into in more depth later, but suffice to say we started up, hopped the hedge and turned downwind. Here it is possible to run out of back cyclic. We were fine but I could feel the stick touching the back of the stops. Interesting. More later and in Helicopter Life magazine Christmas issue.

Weekend in Serbia October 2013

Nato bombed government building

We saw an Orthodox wedding taking place in this church

Went to Serbia on a trip organized by Mitch the Magnificent, one of her Mystical Tours. First one we have been on and definitely will lead to many more - a hilarious and fun filled weekend.

We started in Belgrade, which has a mixture of old and new buildings. This is partly because, being a Balkans' country, they have a history of war and destruction. At one point the guide told us with pleasure that there was a period of 130 years of peace. 130 years! Not much peace in a couple of millennia.

In spite, or perhaps because, of this history of war, the Serbians know how to live it up and there are plenty of bars and restaurants in Belgrade. Places were full of music and dancing. Two nights we went to restaurants with live music, and one evening we danced between the tables - apparently later it is on the tables. However, most of the food was awful, and the wine was for those who like quantity rather than quality.

We saw a few heros, including Victor Winner here who was moved from the town square out to the Kalemegdan Fortress after complaints from 'local ladies'. Perhaps they were disappointed by his big feet.

On Saturday we visited Tito's tomb. He died in 1980 and apparently his wife was under house arrest for the next 33 years, until her death this year. Her book about Tito has just been published. The tomb was interesting but lacked flamboyance. There were lots of statues in the gardens, copies of famous statues elsewhere and by well-known (at least in Serbia) Serbian sculptors.

On Sunday we took a coach to Novi Sad, the second largest city in Serbian and known for its heavy bombing and complete bridge destruction in 1999. An interesting and historic town, much of which still remains intact. On the way we stopped at a former monastery with a wonderful atmosphere and antique and soulful wall paintings. We also visited a vineyard, some nice wine, some rather strange, and a centre of beekeeping.

It struck me that Serbia is still trying to come to terms with its past. Its history is so full of war, confusion and regulation that it will take years to get used to the freedom and peace of the present. Our guide told us that jobs are few, particularly for the middleaged, and that social security is insufficient to live on. The government is not rich. Serbia is in the process of joining the EU, she has been accepted and should be a member by 2014, however we saw no signs that they were joining the currency, so presumably this is just an initial stage. What happens next will probably be a slow acceptance into the bigger European community, but one thing is certain, Serbia could do with more than 130 years of peace in this millennium.

Victor Winner

Cavalon Flying @ Booker

Gee in Cavalon @ Booker

Went flying in the Cavalon gyrocopter today at Booker, Wycombe Air Park.
Wonderful little machine and extremely stable. If it were a sailing boat you would consider it a cruiser as it can fly for five hours without having to refuel, you can fly hands off, and it will go at 100 miles an hour - rather faster than a sail boat!

It was a little squirrely in take off, probably the result of a castoring nosewheel, but very stable in flight and would make a really good tourer. I enjoyed flying it. It lands and stops in no distance at all... NB. I have been told by Andy Wall - Cavalon salesman - that the Cavalon does not have a castoring nosewheel. So, there must be another reason for the squirreling on take-off. He has offered to let me do circuits in the machine - I will see if I can do better... watch this space for what, I hope, is not a disaster!

For more and a wider choice of pictures see the Winter edition of Helicopter Life magazine.

HeliExpo at Goodwood

MD902 Explorer used by Kent & Surrey Air Ambulance

Phoenix Helicopters at Goodwood airfield had an open day today with the air ambulance MD902 from Kent and Surrey, a Hiller and several other helicopters. I was expecting the appearance of several Rotorways but by the time I left that had not yet arrived.

Interesting chat with both the doctor and the pilot of the MD902. Both like the 902 as an ambulance platform.

Kent and Surrey HEMS have to raise 6 million pounds a year to cover expenses and these are entirely raised by public contributions.