Some Utility/External/Longline Advice
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| Some Utility/External/Longline Advice by Rey Madrid |
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| Brief your passengers very well before doing any toe-ins. Make sure they know to transfer their weight slowly from the helo to the ground. Make sure they know how to unload their gear without causing you to rock too much. |
DON'T LET ANYONE BRING BEAR SPRAY IN OR NEAR THE HELICOPTER! Had one go off 20 feet in front of the helicopter and still got it in the cabin of the helicopter. It doesn't work on Alaskan Brown Bears anyway. Bear Spray is just "flavoring" for the bears.
Flying in Bad Weather: Go lower and slower until you are at a hover. Never fly faster than what you can see ahead of you. When approaching a ridge that may have crappy weather on the other side, approach it at an angle so you can turn away from the ridge if the weather looks crappy on the other side. Don't be afraid to hover over a tree in bad weather and "tree walk". Be careful when you are "tree walking" over a ridge: I once was hovering over what I thought was level ground when I realized that I was in a 40 degree bank and level with the side of a cliff (I wondered why the trees looked like they were growing at a weird angle!) Always bring a telescoping fishing pole or gameboy so you can have something to do if you are forced to land due to weather. Use a windshield protectant (like 210, Plexus, Lemon Pledge...) to help the rain "slide" off the wind screen (this was a requirement when flying in Southeast Alaska). Find some good sunglasses that have high contrast (shooting glasses or Seregenti). Having sunglasses to see the cloud textures has kept me from dying on a few occasions. If the snow or ice is building on the windshield then it's probably building up on the rotors too. Bring something to wipe the INSIDE of the windshield on high moisture days. Don't go IFR inside the cabin. Don't trust any weather forecasts! Ask other pilots what it was like and err on the safe side. Never go for the sucker holes. Use snow baffles.
Slinging: If slinging in the Jetranger, add some weight to the front seats (survival kit works great) so you can see the load better; This makes the helicopter fly more level and the load will appear to be more forward. Always try to make up your own sling loads if you can. I've been hooked to a 212 load when I was flying a Hughes 500D; (Heavy loads tend to remain on the ground). If flying a 500D, I liked to have the wind to my right when making the approach. This keeps the nose of the 500 aimed to the right, I use less pedal, and I have a better view of the load. When slinging with a longline over 200 feet average out the swing in the cable. Sometimes the line is swinging all over the place but the load is actually motionless. If slinging in the Astar, I used at least a 100 foot longline even for jobs that would only need a tag line. I can see the load better this way.
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| When you are approaching the tower don't be in a hurry. |
Doing Toe-Ins: Brief your passengers very well before doing any toe-ins. Make sure they know to transfer their weight slowly from the helo to the ground. Make sure they know how to unload their gear without causing you to rock too much. Teach them how to close a door and not move the helicopter too much. If they are jumping from the helicopter at a hover, brief them on how to let you know they are releasing and how they are to jump. Compensate for the weight shift when flying. When you are toeing-in, never break your concentration. You are always flying even though your skid is in contact with the ground. Make sure your passengers are secure in where they are standing before lifting from the toe-in spot. You can blow a passenger right off a cliff if you are not careful.
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| Keep your tail clear of the line at all times. It's easy to get caught up watching the line guys work and forget that the line actually dips down behind you (or it may be at an angle). |
Deep Snow: Use tundra pads. Bear claws with the pad on the front part and the back of the skids seems to work better than the full length tundra pads (don't get bent or broken on rocks as much). Also, full length "skis" are not very good for heli-skiing or doing toe-ins. "Skis" tend to ski down glaciers and snow too. Try to pick something (a rock, tree branch, dirt on the snow...) to land to. Use your landing light to see the texture of the snow (even in daylight). Be cautious of landing in a bowl of snow (i.e. all around the helicopter the snow slopes up). If landing in powder, use the same technique as landing in dusty areas. Watch out for landing on cornices; they may break away. Fly around the spot you are going to land at to make sure there are not cornices on the back side. After contacting the snow with your skids, pack the snow down by lightly moving the collective up and down. This will save you from having a heart attack when the helicopter shifts after you have landed. Watch out for whiteout. Just because you can see the landing spot doesn't mean it is safe to fly in. Make sure you know how high you are above the snow or be sure you can see texture on the snow before going over snow with no rock or flagging references.
That is just some advice. I don't know that much about flying so I'm sure more of you can contribute more information about utility flying. Thanks for reading. - Rey Madrid
About the Author
Rey Madrid is an active helicopter pilot in Alaska with 20 years of helicopter experience.
Rating: 4.00