CLOSE THE GAP
Approaches to the water can occur amid high workload periods. Ideally, pilots are well ahead of the aircraft, having accomplished the approach to the water checklist prior to, or as they arrive, on scene....
The instrument approach to a hover is something few rotary wing operators train to do. Although instrument training can be tedious, monotonous, and tiresome (at least for swimmers and flight mechanics), crew proficiency effecting...
Every operational scenario is different, however, I generally have two objectives in my PATCH/MATCH set up, both of which aim to simplify what can be a complex, demanding, high consequence flight profile on instruments,...
All CG MH60T pilots know that the flight manual definition of the gate is “the point where the crew selects Auto Approach. If at 300-ft AWL and 70 KIAS, the gate is defined as...
Principles for navigating to a target: PATCH Navigation – As discussed in the pros and cons post for instrument approaches to the water (Comparing the PATCH and MATCH), one of the best features of...
What is the difference in the MH-60T autopilot functionality when you only have SAS1 compared to when you only have SAS2? At 0200 on the dark and stormy night, the easy to remember answer...
Hover coupler – because our community underutilizes the hover coupler, pilots usually need a refresher on the coupler’s use. While in a coupled hover in the MH-60T helicopter, the trim switch on the cyclic allows...
In the MH-60T helicopter, pilots can utilize the autopilot to fly a coupled hover (at a selected lateral and longitudinal groundspeed and a selected altitude). Because in our community most hovering situations require too...
The PATCH is more advantageous than the MATCH when a precise “hover at” point is not necessary, (e.g., if the approach and escape/go-around path is into the wind, or there is no wind, and...
For the next dozen or so posts, my discussions will be specific to the MH-60T helicopter. Although a capable platform, multiple avionics upgrades have created some idiosyncratic characteristics worth noting for future operators. In the...