LIFR Departures from the Runway
In a non-runway environment where outside visual references cannot be maintained in a hover or are expected to be lost during the transition to forward flight, the instrument takeoff (ITO), with or without flight...
Category: Weather Flying
Low Vis, Low Speed Near Sea Level
Early in the “weather flying” series of posts, I discussed IIMC, or transitioning to the instruments when visual cues are lost, however, I did not address slow flight to avoid going IIMC. Although the...
Terrain Banding
The MH60-T community often harnesses terrain banding in low visibility conditions, as it provides some excellent situational awareness and is a critical safety tool. However, because terrain banding is not a precision navigation tool,...
Breadcrumbs
In the spirit of always leaving an out, a technique I appreciate is “leaving breadcrumbs.“ In other words, marking an egress route over the same path flown, or air taxied into, when entering an...
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...
Abbreviated Review of the Approach to the Water Checklist
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 Perfect MATCH
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...
General Considerations in Instrument Approach to a Hover Set Up
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,...
PATCH Gate
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...
PATCH Implementation
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...