IIMC Rules to Live by
The moments immediately following “lost visual cues” are critical. Here are some rules to live by to maintain helicopter control as you establish an instrument scan: 1. NEVER turn AND descend when you are...
Category: Forging Airmanship
Establishing an Instrument Scan
Today, I will discuss jump starting the instrument scan when you lose visual cues. Other services use a more granular step by step process for establishing an instrument scan. The Unusual Attitude Recovery EP...
The Most Important Step in our Emergency Procedures
In the first post I presented the two most important sentences in our flight manual, “The most important single consideration is helicopter control. All procedures are subordinate to this requirement.” In the second post,...
The Most Critical Emergency Procedure
What is the most critical emergency procedure? To answer this question, you need to evaluate the frequency with which the emergency procedure is executed along with the severity of the subsequent consequences of its...
The Most Important Sentence in the Flight Manual
What do you think the most important sentence is in the flight manual? A Bold face procedure? This is “considered critical.” It is not a bold face procedure. A warning? This is defined as...
What Makes Us “Exceptional”
There are three attributes of Coast Guard rotary wing aircrews that few other helicopter aircrews can match, the combination of which separates our community from most other rotary wing communities: As “Forging Airmanship” iterates,...
Iron Sharpens Iron
If you’ve read some of the OPI posts, you know I like metaphors. “Iron sharpens iron” is one of my favorites. Anyone who has achieved an exceptional level of performance knows it cannot be...