Ask a helicopter pilot anything

[Siko]

normalbloke said:

How long were you in the military for?
What was your total time rotary when you left, and your time now? Interesting to hear your memories of low monthly hours and feeling safe or not with currency. I heard very similar stories.
I was left seat observer/nav on a specific petrochemical pipeline survey. I had 2500 hours and about 100 hours unofficial stick time. I flew with ex mil of all colours, and was fortunate enough to have the flight experience I did. I also got to fly some interesting scenarios, including the Heathrow crossing. I did it from1999 until 2005 ish. Some great times, and the flying we did was all low level VFR, and we weren’t micro managed.

Hi mate - 17 1/2 years I was in (man and boy ), I left with 3200hrs from the military and i now have about 6500 hrs total with another 800 or so in full motion simulators. I have quite a bit less than a lot of my mates in the civilian world, but I did getting on for 6 years in the military in a mixed flying/ground based role, which killed my hours to about 100-150/year if that. When I joined the offshore world I averaged about 650 hrs/yr for 3 years then a succession of management/safety based roles increasingly took me out of the cockpit again. I rarely fly now tbh but stay current in the aircraft and keep my licence ticking over.

The pipeline job sounds really interesting and I would bet with your 100hrs stick time you're quite a handy pilot yourself! The Heathrow crossing used to be an absolute nightmare....holding in the high hover looking at a stack of jets on finals and then you'd get a garbled clearance in amongst all the other radio "Cross after the {insert name of sh*tty lo-cost bulgarian airline here}"....and you'd desperately try and work out which aircraft is the one you are cleared to cross behind. Normally it would be the one that had passed you and you had a massive rush to get out of the high hover and over the runway before the next one came! I used to hate it tbh.

[Siko]

LimaDelta said:

Thanks.

One more - have you ever tried autogyros/gyrocopters? If you couldn't fly helicopters for work, would you spend your own money on them? Ok, that's two.

haha no and no Although if I won the lottery I would buy myself a lovely EC135 with full IFR kit and fly my family to the continent. No need to pay for one of those expensive, whiny pilots

[Siko]

s2kjock said:

When you drop workers off on a platform is it a case of one hungover load off, and one slightly smelly load on straightaway? Or do you shut down for a bit, wander about outside, have a fag, ask to use the toilet etc?

Related to that, do you refuel on platforms, or does that not happen?

Hi mate, tends to be offload the passengers and normally take on fuel. You generally have enough to get there and back without refuelling and normally have to hold alternate fuel to reach another airfield. So the normal routine is land on, passengers leave, take fuel and look at the latest weathers, load the food bag with your meal, spill your coffee everywhere putting it in your cup holder (yes we have cupholders ), load the new passengers back up and takeoff. We tend to eat in the cruise sector on the way back (if there is time), I've been told by more than one passenger that they know everything is ok when they see the pilots getting the meal trays out

You can use the toilet and I sometimes do if I'm desperate or it's a long flight, but it's a bit of a pita as you often end up going down several flights of stairs and through huge doors trying to find it. Everyone is really nice and helpful though (honestly) but you just feel a bit of a knob wandering around trying to find a toilet! I've been stuck offshore for a night before and it was incredibly nice indeed - I think I was lucky with my choice of rig but I was hugely impressed.

[Siko]

s2kjock said:

really interesting thread, and thanks for insights. I have a few more questions .......

I always wondered what happens if there is a mechanical failure while you are on the platform or you have have had one in the air and do an emergency landing on a platform. Assuming you can't fix it with a lumphammer, how do you get an engineer out/parts etc?

And if it can't be "fixed by the roadside" and needs recovered, what then?

My pleasure and thank you Yeah it gets expensive TBH. when i was stuck offshore there was no winching assets available (now rectified) so my company had to charter a winch equipped helicopter from a company at Humberside, they had to train our engineers and a replacement crew (we were out of hours) and then fly upto the platform. They winched down 2 engineers and 2 pilots, who fixed the snag (it was water ingress into a chip detector giving us a false indication) and the new pilots flew us all back. If a helicopter is proper broken then it is crane it out onto a ship and sail it back.

[Siko]

ric p said:

If the pilot isn’t whining, he/she’s probably not happy! I think it is our natural state.

I fly an IFR EC135 for the Police after 21 years in the RN. Great machine, flies like a mini Lynx. Responsive, agile, powerful. And very reliable, most snags are annoying little electrical ones. Shaky vibrating helicopters are not very kind to electrical systems along with being out in all weathers. Most rotary machines struggle to be fully water tight.

The 135 would be a great touring machine. Quick, smooth and lots of space for a few people. But none of these gas turbines machines are cheap to run.

As for flying outside of work, I’ve always wondered if the Rotorway type thing would be fun as a back to basics game or whether you’d quickly become bored.

Apologies for the plug but this is our regional Twitter for what we get up to:

https://mobile.twitter.com/npassouthwest/with_repl...

Awesome - would love to do the Police job but I'm getting too old and senile to be up late at night doing exciting stuff I'll give you a follow on Tw@tter, cheers!

[Siko]

RobbyJ said:

I have another question if I may?

A few times I've noticed S92's on FR24 squawking 7700 whilst out over the sea, they then always (thankfully) make it back to an airport, usually where they were planning to go. Why is this, in my simple non pilots mind I'd have thought if it's bad enough to declare an emergency you'd just put it down on the first bit of dry land available?

I remember in a couple of my EC135 Air Ambulance flights we had a couple of software issues. Once the glass displays wouldn't boot up and we couldn't start up. The pilot got out, I was in the left seat, he tinkered with something under an access panel up near the engine on my side, got back in, fired it up and said "yeah that happens sometimes", I held onto my seat a little tighter on that flight back from Essex to Staverton.

On another flight there was some avionics issue and I had to break out my leatherman, the pilot access some panel under the nose of the aircraft, got stung by a wasp in the process but fixed whatever it was and again we were on our way with my confidence a little more eroded.

Edited by RobbyJ on Thursday 31st March 12:15

It depend on what the emergency is and ATC may have asked you to squawk 7700 for conspicuity. For example you could be returning onshore and you get a malfunction requiring you to Land As Soon As Possible, but base could be socked in mist/fog and the safest way to Land ASAP is to shoot the ILS. Conversely, if you had a malfunction relating to the flying controls, you may not want to put it down on hilly slope somewhere. it's a judgement call at the end of the day.

You do get snags with modern aircraft that are easy to fix and sometimes just need a circuit breaker reset, so I imagine that's what your pilot did in the 135, but they are normally in the cockpit so I have no idea what he was doing in the engine

[Siko]

wolfracesonic said:

Two if I may, why do some helicopters have skids like Huey's, Jet Rangers and some have wheels like Blackhawks, Apaches; and second what do you think is the most intense, difficult/dangerous helicopter job, excluding the ones where you're being shot at?

Good question, I don't know the answer but I think it is likely due to cost/complexity. If you designing a simple training aircraft you don't want the weight/cost/complexity of a retractable undercarriage when you can just weld on a bit of metal to the bottom

Also, for heavier helicopters having wheels allows you to ground taxy away from areas that could be affected by rotor downwash when you lift to the hover. Most airports require you to ground taxy from the ramp and you lift off to the hover on the runway. Sometimes in the Merlin we used to do running takeoffs if we were very heavy, I can't remember the exact procedure but I think we could go over our normal max AUW by another 900kgs or so if we did a running takeoff. Obviously you can't (well not easily!) do a running takeoff with a skidded aircraft. Essentially all modern heavy helicopters have wheels (I appreciate EC135 etc are skidded). You do also save some speed/fuel burn etc by raising your undercarriage, if our gear is stuck down there is a 7% effect on TAS or roughly 10kts at normal cruising speeds.

In terms of the most intense helicopter job outside the military I'd probably say Coastguard/SAR. I did a basic SAR course going through flying training (I wasn't very good at it to be honest!) and it was damn hard work but good fun too, so I'd go with that

[Siko]

s2kjock said:

Another couple from me.

You mentioned previously issues with landing on ships offshore. I always thought the helipads on the offshore vessels were for emergencies, but are they used for ship to platform transfers of equipment and personnel as well?

Navigation in good weather - is this more difficult offshore as unlike flying over land you have no reference points and all oilrigs must look pretty similar from a distance, or is it a case of just punching waypoints into a flight computer and leaving it to an autopilot so it is a bit academic?

By ships I mean mostly FPSOs which are massive and look like a cross between an oil tanker and an oil processing plant. I have landed on smaller ships but it is pretty unusual to be fair and tends to be a short-term contract. We never land on the helipads on the bows of the rig support vessels you see in Aberdeen harbour, that take supplies out. They are too small for us but conceivably you could land there in a smaller helicopter that has the appropriate 'D' value (basically diameter to fit the helipad).I don't think I have ever landed or picked anyone up who was transferred to/from a rig.

Navigation is 99% of the time takeoff, turn onto a radar heading after taking off, get handed across to radar, get identified by radar and then cleared direct to the platform. We have routes in our FMS and run it while flying the aircraft in heading mode, when we get cleared we just go "Direct To" the Rig and then couple the aircraft to the FMS. We have procedures in place to ensure we land at the correct destination but essentially it is "keep the FMS taking you to the rig and read the name before you land"

[Siko]

Theraveda said:

Fascinating thread and many thanks to Siko.

Thank you

[Siko]

Dr Jekyll said:

There have been a couple of helicopters used by the Navy and the Army where the navy version had wheels and the Army version had skids. I wasn't sure whether the Navy wanted to push them around more easily or the wheeled ones were less likely to slide about on a tilting deck.

Yeah you're right - Navy Lynx were all wheeled and Army skidded, but the Army has gone across to all wheeled aircraft now iirc. I think aswell when you are landing on a ship you need some give, with a wheeled aircraft you have the tyres themselves and the suspension struts which take a lot of heat out of a hot landing onto a ship bobbing up and down. Landing a skidded aircraft onto a deck is possible but with almost no give you'd be rattling your teeth out a bit on landing.

[Siko]

s2kjock said:

So I take it no one ever "goes to the wrong address" by mistake? I would imagine much pisstaking if they did

It has happened in the past and is taken extremely seriously when it does...not quite career ending but it has some serious safety ramifications. One of which of course would be getting remorselessly ripped to shreds by your chums

[Siko]

s2kjock said:

Brilliant thread this Siko and thanks again.

Your response above partially answers another question I had about what additional training and qualifications you needed for SAR work as it looks extraordinarily challenging. Assuming for SAR work not all pilots need to be heirs to the throne, are they all ex military or not necessarily?

Thanks mate. There is a fair bit of movement in my company between offshore and SAR, although both require specific training courses. Naturally the SAR training is much more complex and lengthy, but there are plenty of pilots there who are civilian through and through. Many are ex-military because the vast majority of SAR in the UK was previously done by the military until a few years back, but that feed of pilots has all but evaporated. I am a big fan of a mix of pilots backgrounds - too many military is a bad thing (it ends up turning into the military....) and too many civilians misses out on a lot of the flexibility/experience the military guys/girls have. I'd roughly estimate 60/40 Mil/Civ in SAR but I am guesstimating

[Siko]

yellowjack said:

I bloomin' love this thread. Helicopters have always fascinated me. We regularly see HMCG, Dorset And Somerset Air Ambulance, and Police over our house. Coastguard usually en route to/from Gosport, Police are based nearby (Bournemouth/Hurn airport) and I live under the approach to the helipad at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital. Love seeing the aircraft, but it's always bitter-sweet when the air ambulance comes over. Sweet because it's a chance to see a helicopter operating pretty close up, but bitter because someone is having a really stty day if they need it. I also cycle out in the wilds of rural Dorset and occasionally get to see a Sea King. A firm operates a handful of them out of Portland on a training contract for German ASR crews...

Thanks buddy I love helicopters too (you'd never guess ). The flexibility of a helicopter is just insane, I was going to write down a list of all the different things I've done (legally ) in a helicopter but I ran out of time....they can just do almost anything and you have fun doing it.

I had a jolly in a Hawk a few years back and it was an underwhelming experience for a lot of reasons, honestly not what I thought it would be. What surprised me most though was the sensation of speed - low level in helicopter was more fun to be honest. 250' AGL and 420kts felt way less exciting than 50' AGL and 150kts, the jet felt quicker of course but it was like doing 70 on a motorway and 70 on a windy A road Not knocking the jets btw and of course lots of stuff they can do but we can't, but for me flying a fast modern helicopter at ultra low level was more fun.

[Siko]

CrutyRammers said:

Pretty sure I've flown in that, when I was doing work experience at Boscombe

Great thread by the way OP

Thanks buddy! I was at Boscombe Down too (where I got to fly a lot of the types I mentioned earlier) holding before I started flying helicopters for real (basically a teaboy ). I was there from Oct 97 - Feb 98 or so when I left to start my basic flying training on helicopters.

[Siko]

The Road Crew said:

If you have a "land as soon as possible" emergency (I guess something like a chip detector lights, lack of gearbox oil pressure etc) and you're out over the sea... Do you push on towards land? Or would you ditch it?

What tips the balance between you putting it in the sea early (and risking life) vs pushing on (potentially risking lives if you have a catastrophic failure) ? Does yours have flotation devices?

Hi, in theory you should either go to the nearest offshore installation or suitable land. It is a thorny issue though as landing on a platform without clearance could endanger the aircraft more than continuing to land - for example if the platform is releasing gas or even in general alarm it may not have firefighting capability. It all comes down again to judgement on the day - nice weather/bad weather, possibly false indication/multiple indications of impending doom etc.

Ditching is very much a last resort unsurprisingly and generally only in the event of a Land Immediately. The first fatal accident of an S92 was in Canada when the aircraft had a gearbox crack which caused them to lose oil/pressure. They arguably pushed on when they should have either ditched or landed in rough terrain (iirc they continued offshore past land). The gearbox eventually seized at about 150' and the aircraft nosedived into the sea killing all but one onboard, although sadly he died of his injuries some time later. It's an awful decision to make but one we are trained repeatedly to do so, regularly taking malfunctions to ditching in the simulator.

Yes we have floatation gear which is rated to sea state 6 (6m waves).

[Siko]

Nurburgsingh said:

Is it true all helicopter pilots can/do play the drums ?

Lol you've lost me there mate

[Siko]

junglie said:

Ex Fleet Air Arm pilot here, still serving but not going to add comments as not my treat to hijack!

Navy Lynx has wheels that are ‘toed’ out that, when combined with a nose wheel that can turn through 90 deg (either forward or 90 deg but not steerable) allows you to turn on the spot with the deck lock engaged.

Designed to allow takeoffs in the SHOL without the ship needing to alter course.

Could also do running landings, but it always sounded horrible, and it has no brakes so interesting!

No worries and hijack away shippers! Very welcome to join in (and anyone else like JamieM/Madness60 I know are still flying/spannering helicopters).as much as you want here and probably correct some of the bolleaux coming out of my mouth

[Siko]

Whatsmyname said:

Have you ever seen a mig in a 4g negative dive?

Only when I was denied permission to flyby the tower. The barstewards.

[Siko]

rallye101 said:

Highest altitude " coffin corner" for a helicopter??? Saw a YouTube thing the other day where they did Everest

We are limited to 10k pa (?) in a helicopter without oxygen, some of the guys in Afghanistan were working some really high altitudes with supplemental oxygen but I’ve never done that. Highest I’ve operated was in Bosnia around 6-7000’ mountain flying and the highest I’ve been in a helicopter was 10,000’ doing IFR flights through airways across Europe. Opening a packet of crisps in an unpressurised cockpit at 10k is an interesting experience

Those Everest mountain rescue programmes are awesome.

[Siko]

s2kjock said:

What sorts of protocols are in place if there is an emergency on a rig? You do hear occasionally on the news about rigs needing to be evacuated in a hurry. Is that a case of all hands to the pump from every available rotary asset to get people off, or does it never quite get to that stage?

It’s quite a common procedure and can be done easily enough for a variety of reasons such as power outage or storms coming through. It’s known as a down man and it’s just a series of flights to empty a platform of people. The oil companies are very safety conscious and go for early downmans wherever possible.