Rotary Pilot Certification

Introduction to Helicopters
Leading SME: BigBear

Rotary wing (RW) aircraft, commonly referred to as helicopters are a unique set of aircraft in that they have different flight characteristics. Helicopters, unlike fixed wing (FW) aircraft, are able to hover on a point and fly in any direction at their discretion at any speed. Due to their agility, helicopters are a key asset in close air support and transportation of personnel and logistics as well as providing intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR).

The Pilot Role
In the case of any air vehicle, the pilot ultimately has the final say as to how the aircraft is manipulated. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the pilot to:
 * Ensure the safe operation of his aircraft at all times;
 * Plan his route (taking into consideration terrain and environment.
 * Have final say on LZ selection (based on threat assessments).

After getting your certification, you may be expected to take on several tasks such as:
 * Operating rotary aircraft in an offensive manner;
 * Transporting supplies and personnel;
 * Providing ISR flights.
 * CASEVACS

Key Helicopter Components
Main Rotor: Creates lift, which allows the aircraft to gain altitude, by spinning the rotor blades at a set speed. To gain height the rotors change their angle of attack which allows the lift produced to change.

Tail Rotor (Anti-torque rotor): Counters the effect the main rotor has on the aircraft, by pulling against the torque of the main rotor and holding the aircraft straight. It can also be used as a rudder, which is used to control the Yaw of the aircraft.

Skids: Used as landing protection. These are flexible structures, under the belly of the aircraft, which cushion the landing of the aircraft and allow it to sit still on the ground.

Tail Boom: A structure that connects the tail rotor assembly to the main fuselage. In some helicopters this can extend far behind the cockpit and considerations must be made when landing in constricted LZs.

Axes of Flight
Pitch (Lateral Axis): Nose down and Nose Up [W / S]

Roll (Longitudinal Axis): Turns / Rolls the aircraft left or right [A / D]

Yaw (Vertical Axis): Points the helicopter in a certain direction [Q / E]

Throttle (Collective): Increases / decreases lift: [Shift / Z]

HUD Indicator
The HUD indicator shows you the status of various components of your aircraft. The HUD is therefore divided into 5 sections: ATRQ, MROT, ENG, HULL, and INST. When the components are in good working condition it will indicate white. With varying levels of damage, the indicator will change to yellow, orange, and eventually red; indicating destruction.

ATRQ: Anti-torque or tail rotor. Red indicates that the tail rotor is completely destroyed while other colored shades indicate reduced working capacity. Loss of tail rotor will cause the helicopter to spin in the direction of the main rotor.

MROT: Main rotor. If your main rotor fails, you will simply fall out of the sky. Autorotation will not work as the device that generates lift is destroyed.

ENG:Engine. If the engine is destroyed, the aircraft will lose power and you will be forced to execute an autorotation procedure.

HULL: This shows the integrity of the aircraft’s structure. If this is heavily damaged the helicopter will simply explode.

INST: Instruments. Once this is destroyed you will notice that your instruments will be shattered and electronic HUDs will start to flicker. Failure in this component is not as life threatening as others.

Flight Instruments
Attitude Indicator / Artificial Horizon:  is a flight instrument that informs the pilot of the aircraft orientation relative to Earth's horizon, and gives an immediate indication of the smallest orientation change. The miniature aircraft and horizon bar mimic the relationship of the aircraft relative to the actual horizon.

 Airspeed Indicator: The airspeed indicator (ASI) or airspeed gauge is a flight instrument indicating the airspeed of an aircraft in knots (kn) 

Vertical Speed Indicator: A Vertical Speed Indicator (VSI), also known as a Rate of Climb and Descent Indicator (RCDI) is an instrument which indicates the rate of climb or descent of an aircraft.

Altimeter: An altimeter or an altitude meter is an instrument used to measure the altitude of an object above a fixed level. 

Taking Off
Considerations before take-off:  
 * Make sure everybody who needs to be loaded, is loaded
 * Check your surroundings and look for any obstacles in your flight path (other aircraft, trees, power lines, light posts etc.)
 * Know where you’re going and plan how you will get there.

After you have noted the before take-off considerations, turn on the engine by scrolling and selecting “Engine On” from the menu selection. When the blades start spinning up and the engine sounds stable, you will be ready for takeoff.

 

The helicopter takes off by increasing lift using the main rotor speed. This is controlled by the Throttle (raising or lowering the collective). Start by slowing tapping Shift until the helicopter lifts about 10 meters off the ground. Point your aircraft into the planned direction with Yaw (Q or E). Once your aircraft is facing the direction you desire, gain more altitude (if safe) and Pitch (W) the aircraft nose forward until you start gaining speed. If necessary, roll (A or D) the aircraft to avoid obstacles.

 

Congratulations! You have completed your first take-off. As you start moving away from your staging area, look at your surroundings and choose your route accordingly.

Considerations before landing:
 
 * Watch your vertical speed (v/s). Ensure that you have a low enough negative v/s <500 m/s
 * Maximum forward speed for touchdown is at 30 km/h (moving insertion) as long as v/s is low
 * Select LZs that have relatively level ground and are clear of major obstacles when able
 * If you elect to land on a slope, land facing slope upwards and watch that you don’t slide
 * Approach the LZ in such a way that you have clear sight of all obstacles
 * If you land in tight spaces ask your door gunner and crew chief to inform you of any obstacles and how you should maneuver.

Tail Rotor (ATRQ) Failure
Since the tail rotor helps counteract the spin of the main rotor, when it is destroyed the aircraft will start spinning in the direction of the main rotor due to the torque effect.

High speed recovery

If the tail rotor fails at high speed, the helicopter will not visibly react due to what is known as the ‘weathervane’ effect. At high speeds, airflow will stabilize the helicopter which overpowers the authority of the tail rotor. However, you will need to land the aircraft safely at some point which requires you to master the low speed recovery too.

Low speed recovery

When the tail rotor is destroyed at low speed, the best course of action is to climb to at least 150m AGL (Above Ground Level) and lower the collective (thrust) to idle. This will reduce the effect of the main rotor’s torque effect allowing you to essentially fly without a tail rotor. At this point you will notice that your aircraft is descending, this is fine. Just pitch forward until you gain enough momentum and speed to get into the ‘weathervane’ effect.

Landing

Landing an aircraft without a tail rotor is all about going against your instincts. Your instincts are telling you to counter the spin by rolling, avoid doing this. As you remember from the landing lesson, spin is not what you should be worrying about, it's the vertical speed (how fast you are coming down).

Since you still have throttle authority, start at the high speed recovery procedure and try to get the aircraft straight and level, and reduce throttle to idle until you are a few meters above the ground and try to ‘soften’ your landing by playing with your throttle. Increase the throttle to slow your descend rate keeping in mind that as you increase your throttle, you will also increase spin.

Engine (ENG) Failure & Autorotation
To execute a safe landing in an engine out situation we perform what is called an autorotation.

Here are the steps you need to carry out to safely execute an autorotation:
 * 1) When the engine fails, an alarm will sound and you will hear your blades spinning down. Do not let them spin down.
 * 2) Immediately idle your trust by pressing and holding Z, hold the nose level and begin your descent. Try not to increase your speed by lowering your nose.
 * 3) Scan your immediate area for a safe area to land, look for farms, flat ground with no trees or other obstacles
 * 4) When 20 - 25m above the ground, press your Thrust Up key and the last bit of energy in the spinning rotors will cushion your landing and decrease your vertical speed. Time this right because if you thrust up too early, you will fall like a brick and if you thrust up too late you will hit the ground too hard.

Like anything else in this workshop this requires a lot of practice.

Certification Grade Rotary Pilot
Intent: To test actual operational requirements of the pilots. Pilots must pass all sections of this test to get a rotary pilot cert. Pilots are to successfully execute all examination objectives or shall fail the certification. All examination objectives are to be tested on an individual basis.

Examination Objectives

 * 1) Take-off and land smoothly without auto-hover in designated areas and tight spaces and under fire
 * 2) Control the aircraft smoothly in all phases of flight
 * 3) Maintain proper altitude and speed in all phases of flight
 * 4) Evade hostile fire and use countermeasures effectively
 * 5) Execute emergency procedures (auto-rotation and anti-torque failure)

Take-off, Landing & Smooth Maneuvering of Aircraft (2 Tries)

 * 1) Take-off in the MH-6 Little Bird and fly towards the training area West of Nagara to follow the circuit as outlined by the yellow circles. Entrance of the circuit is marked by dashed yellow and the exit is marked with solid red.
 * 2) Pilots must fly through the circles and maintain at least 80 km/h at any given point (with some exceptions on steep inclines).
 * 3) Pilots must execute smooth controls.
 * 4) Pilots must communicate when entering and leaving the Training Area.

Emergency Procedures

 * 1) After the training area, pilots will return to the Northern Airfield to perform controlled emergency procedures.
 * 2) Pilots will perform the autorotation and anti-torque failure emergency procedure at at least 60 meters.
 * 3) Pilots will demonstrate competency in low-speed and high-speed recovery from an anti-torque failure.
 * 4) Pilots shall only be given 2 tries to complete these emergency procedures successfully. Failure in any of the two sections (autorotation or anti-torque emergency procedures) will be classified as an overall FAIL.

Landing in Tight Spaces

 * 1) Pilots will be tasked to get in the HH-60 Pave Hawk and wait for a section of BLUFOR troops to mount before flying to various marked LZs.
 * 2) Pilots must land within the confines of the compound or LZ, under fire, without damaging the aircraft.

Evading Hostile Fire & Using Countermeasures

 * 1) Pilots must deploy their countermeasures appropriately and must make some sort of attempt to evade the missile.