CLOSE THE GAP
Initial flight training demands extensive rote memorization and is typically conducted in a highly structured setting in which the strict adherence to relatively narrow procedures is emphasized. Understandably, flight students are inundated with step-by-step...
To further discuss preflight performance planning and initial on scene actions and considerations, I will use the following case study from a high, hot hoist from Mt. Washington in central Oregon: Initial Notification: On...
Weight and fuel management obviously depend on the circumstances surrounding a mission. Flying at sea level versus high altitude can have different effects on power margins and, as such, planning for each will require...
While discussion in the previous posts focused on the importance of preflight planning, the end goal is execution. Therefore, pilots must validate power requirements and manage power well in the air. A pre-mission power...
Although the MH60T is a highly capable helicopter, it has two significant flaws, both of which become more pronounced during high power demands (slow flight and hovering) at altitude. Airbus, which has expended significant...
After learning about my cruise chart technique for determining hover performance, many pilots inquire as to why I prefer this method over using tab data for power considerations. Although tab data provides some useful information,...
Over the past six years, I have been working in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest where units execute “inland” missions more frequently than other Coast Guard rotary-wing units. My primary responsibility in most of...
Running the ECS will burn between 16 and 24 lbs. of fuel per hour. Our flight manual max range charts account for “the worst case ECS condition.” Flying with the ECS off will save...
If an airport’s ceiling is below an IFR approach’s minimum descent altitude (MDA) or decision height/altitude (DH/DA), or the approach’s published visibility minimums, a pilot can’t complete the approach. A missed approach procedure is...
I mentioned, briefly, in one of my posts breaking down instrument approaches to the water that there is a rule of thumb that rate of descent to maintain a three-degree glide slope equates roughly...