Single-Engine Land Back Methods 

Common Errors: 

• Not establishing a clear decision point to either land back or commit to continued flight. 
• Failing to make a definitive decision in a timely manner. 
• Failing to decrease collective to maintain Nr, leading to exceedance of available power. 
• Not correcting after an initial decrease in power: lowering collective to preserve Nr but not smoothly increasing it again to max available power (or operational limit in training). 

Teaching Techniques: 

• Reinforce the concept of a point where one is committed to continued flight on takeoff. Similar to being committed to landing during power loss, if the aircraft is not yet in a safe position to continue flight, a land back should be executed decisively. 
• Reduce collective to single-engine maximum torque available (MTA). 
• If speed is excessive, a flare will allow for a descending deceleration. Be cautious of slowing too much and keeping a nose high pitch attitude for too long prior to power application. This flight regime can quickly result in a situation where power required for a safe landing exceeds power available. A smooth power application while simultaneously lowering the nose towards a landing attitude will be necessary as the helicopter gets farther on the backside of the power curve.  
• If near maximum power is applied and rate of descent is too rapid, smoothly bring the nose toward the horizon to increase relative wind and decrease power requirements.