Departures from the Water

Auto depart – in addition to the coupled hover, the auto depart is also a tool that pilots could potentially harness more frequently in the MH-60T community. The auto depart is available any time the helicopter is below 50 KIAS, or faster when auto approach has been engaged, and does a nice job at slow speeds of pulling power (often up to 106 or 107% torque for a second or two) and establishing an accelerative attitude (sometimes a little more rapid pitch down than I would prefer), resulting in a 500-600 fpm climb that gets the helicopter to 300’ and 70 KIAS. Similar to the auto approach, the auto depart only requires a button push to affect, requires no set up, and increases situational awareness as both pilots can monitor the autopilot executing the climb and acceleration. Also, if pilots lose visual cues when they are low and slow, an auto depart can be an excellent way to achieve a safe flight regime, up and away from the water, enabling pilots to establish an instrument scan while monitoring the auto depart. For pilots new to our community, it is easy to forget which of the two identical buttons on the cyclic is the “depart” button. I teach the nemonic “C over D” as a reminder that the “depart” button on the cyclic is below the “cargo hook release” button.  

ITO with FD cues – there are two types of ITOs with FD cues: the GO AROUND (default and programmed) and a FPLN ITO. 

1. GO AROUND FD ITO: 

Default – The default GO AROUND (one tap on the GO AROUND button) provides cues to climb at 500 fpm, on the current heading, at 80 KIAS, to 20,000’ (a FD SEL BALT cue).   

Programmed GO AROUND (GA) – (two taps on the GO AROUND button) FD page 2/2 provides the option to program a GA speed, GA altitude (MSL), GA Heading. 

​* FD page 2/2 also includes the bank angle limit for all FD lateral guidance. If flight director turns are commanded have a small angle of bank, check this field. 

Not all fields in FD 2/2 must be filled in. If left blank, the default GO AROUND values will be used for altitude (20,000’) or airspeed (80 KIAS). The default GO AROUND heading is the current heading. Remember, the MFK is automatically active when HDG is selected, so after engaging HDG, the pilot can twist the knob. If the pilot inputs a heading in FD 2/2 and uses programmed GO AROUND cues, the FD cues will command the current heading until 50 KIAS and then command a turn to the heading the pilot populated in the GA HEADING field in FD 2/2. 

* Vertical speed defaults to a 500 fpm cue whenever the GO AROUND cues are used.  

2. ITO using FPLN cues:  

After a MATCH (APP-HVR), when the flight plan (FPLN) is in MANUAL sequencing mode, if the non-flying pilot cycles MAN to AUTO, the pilot will get FPLN cues for the attributes programmed for the current leg (FPLN, FASPD or FGSP, and FRALT or FBALT dependent on what is programmed for that leg).  

Two gotchas, one advantage 

When harnessing the GO AROUND functionality for an ITO, CAAS is programmed to not turn the aircraft until 50 KIAS. However, when using FPLN cues for an ITO, the FD will cue a turn immediately, resulting in cues for a low and slow turn, which in the instrument environment, should be avoided. Furthermore, if the next leg is short, and lead turn is on, the FMS will quickly cycle to the next FPP. If for example, the pilot programmed a FPP one mile off the nose with the next FPP 1 mile off the tail, with lead turn on, the FMS will capture the FPP of the nose rapidly and a 180-degree turn will be commanded almost immediately after transitioning to forward flight.  

A little-known FMS nuance is that after the helicopter cycles from AUTO to MAN as the HOV FPP is approached, if the pilot flies past the HOV FPP at 40 KIAS or greater, the FMS will cycle from MAN to AUTO with no user input and the pilot will get cues to the next FPP. The 40 KIAS sequencing past the HOV FPP can be useful in the event of an aircraft upset, or go around, for an unstabilized approach, or aircraft malfunction. IMC, low to the water with terrain and obstacles around the helicopter, a premeditated escape route is advantageous.  Additionally, the FPLN route on the CDI and moving map gives the crew additional situational awareness on their ground track while flying heading cues. 

Therefore, a best practice is to have both the FD GO AROUND ready for normal ops with a plan and a FPLN escape that can be harnessed in the event an escape is necessary. This technique of having a premeditated/deliberate ground track to follow with heading cues which increases situational awareness. It also allows for the crew to switch lateral guidance to FPLN after the helicopter is up and away from the water.

During time sensitive operations, a solid safe plan is often better than a complex perfect plan. Amid high workload of events, such as instrument approaches, and departures from water, keeping it simple often allows the crew to maintain a shared mental model, stay ahead of the aircraft, and avoid mode confusion. For these reasons, I generally prefer flight director select modes (FD SEL in, speeds, and altitudes) when departing the water. However, time in workload permitting. I also support creating a flight plan that will assist with obstacle avoidance during an escape, or to augment situational awareness for obstacle avoidance when departing the water.