The rest of the story.

[Vance]

Edna is going to post some pictures in flying photos; I don’t know how to do it yet.

I took Scott up on his offer of pilotage training around LA.

It was a remarkable experience.

I stopped by Aircraft Spruce on the way there and had a wonderful time.

Corona was windy and busy.

The Bell 206L sitting in the hanger looked new. It was manufactured in 1979 and has a lot of hours on it. It appeared to be very well maintained.

Scott had an LA chart that was just for helicopters. It was missing a lot of the regular information. It had a better depiction of the landmarks and hospitals and it was made out of an extra sturdy paper. I found it very useful. I wish I could get one for my area. It is what I used to figure out where we were.

Scott has the noise canceling headsets. I loved them, I want them. I am not sure how to manage the helmet experience as related to the headset.

Scott also has a very neat electric powered ground handling device with very cleaver steering.

He pulled his helicopter outside next to the Corona police helipad and filled it up with the fuel truck.

He showed me the life vests in case we go down over the water and how to exit the aircraft if we crash and I am not dead.

I climbed up and sat down.

When he started the rotor it shook like an out of balance washer on the spin cycle. Once it was up to speed it was very smooth. We fired up the headset and it became very quiet.

We lifted off, pointed toward downtown LA and did a proper take off. The acceleration and climb were very impressive. We wandered over the hills and roads at 85 kts. It seemed like there was controlled airspace everywhere. Scott had a long list of radio stations to listen to.

There was a brownish summer mist in the air that restricted visibility.

Downtown LA rose out of the mist and many of the buildings had helipads with the maximum weight shown. We were safe to land on any of them.

We flew over the hospital where I was born.

Scott called LAX for a costal transition to the south and ATC told him to fly at 150 feet msl or below. There was a Robinson 22 coming up the beach in the other direction. I found 150 feet over the water at 85 kts stimulating.

We flew toward Torrance and the LA harbor. The activity in the harbor was impressive. People are shipping us lots of things.

We saw 125 kts on the way back and Scott climbed up a hill and did quick landing from the lee side and then a very impressive simulated engine out almost to the ground with a power recovery. We sailed along for more than a mile. Scott is quite the pilot! He was accurate and smooth, managing the gusting wind very well.

Scott took a picture of me in front of his beautiful helicopter and it was over. Thank you Scott for a great memory that will last a life time! Your skills as a pilot and the way you manage your life are an inspiration to me. I am humbled by your generosity.

I am not sure how much I learned about pilotage. I learned that a Bell 206L with Scott at the controls is an exceedingly fun toy. I loved how smooth and powerful it is. I learned that I love the Bose headset.

I was reminded of why I live in the country as I sat in traffic on the way home.

The sunset was beautiful in the summer mist.

Thank you, Vance

 

[Hognose]

Vance,

helicopter charts are made especially for low-level VFR flying, but there are only a few of them. They're printed on that heavy-duty cloth-paper because they're meant to last a year or more (most charts expire in 56 days, IIRC). These are all the helicopter charts there are:

https://naco.faa.gov/ecomp/Catalog.aspx?a=AERO+NOS+VISUAL+HEL

A happy medium is the Terminal Area Chart, useful when you fly near a Class B. You can see a list here: (note that there's a second page):

https://naco.faa.gov/ecomp/Catalog.aspx?a=AERO+NOS+VISUAL+TAC

I fear your home base, Santa Maria, falls in between the San Francisco and LAX charts.

On this diagram, the big boxes are the Sectional Charts that you used getting your PPL. The little blue boxes are the Terminal Area Charts.

The Bose headset is awesome (it was invented 10 miles from where I grew up. The genius behind the company is an immigrant from Turkey). But it's also $1,000. You can, however, add an active-noise-reduction circuit to another headset (or to the earcups in a helmet). I don't know if you feel comfortable rebuilding a headset, but here is the website for ANR kits.

http://www.headsetsinc.com/

cheers

-=K=-

 

[GyroRon]

Vance you might also want to look at the Lightspeed aviation " Zulu " headsets... pretty much the same as the Bose headsets, but with more features and a cheaper pricetag.

 

[All_In]

@Ron
Really have you used both? I haven't tried the Lightspeed but your the second person now telling me to try it. Only the 1st guy never had a set of Bose to compare, so I'm not sure what to think?

 

[WaspAir]

another option

another option

I've used most of the ANR types out there, including Telex and DC, too, and in my opinion the best headset for very loud piston rotorcraft use is the David Clark H10-56HXP. It has deeper earcups so the passive cancellation NRR is about 27-28 dB (vs. typical 22-24) and when you turn on the ENC it really gets quiet. It will cost you a third less than the Bose, and it's built extra rugged (5 year warranty, too). It comes with coiled cords. Because it is a small volume specialty product, you don't often see it listed in the mass-mail catalogs, but you can order it from most of the supply houses (Aircraft Spruce, etc.). You have the option of panel mount or battery.

 

[All_In]

Thanks JR!!!
My brother swears by David Clark, dang guess he's right about that too!

 

[StanFoster]

John: I had some Lightspeed headsets that really cancelled out the noise.


Stan

 

[All_In]

I wish I could try them in the same aircraft at the same time. Your now the 3rd person recommending Lightspeed.
Thanks Stan, I think now I'm back to wondering the differences again.

 

[LuftCarl]

When it comes to charts, I find this website helpful. It has current charts for the whole country.

www.skyvector.com

 

[helipaddy]

Ive put a lot of these ANR kits into both headsets and helmets, they work really well and are pretty easy to fit

http://www.anr-headsets.com/Html_folder/KitList.html

Paddy

 

[Vance]

I was worried that I didn’t learn much about pilotage from Scott.

I stand corrected.

Today Edna and I flew to Santa Ynez for antique fly in and antique car show. It was kind of a bust. On the way there I found myself projecting a line as far as I could see toward the target airport. It gave me a better feel for landmarks. My appreciation for this technique was enhanced by my time with Scott.

There was a fellow there who had been flying the same Air Command since 1978. He explained what was good and bad about the Predator. He was pretty knowledgeable about the trend toward cruciform tails and large horizontal stabilizers.

We watched the big fire fighting helicopters take off and land for a while and then we flew over to Lompoc for the annual Cub fly in.

I found myself following rivers and extending roads in my mind’s eye. These are both things that I learned from Scott.

There was a river on the chart that followed the edge of the mountains. There were no houses in the river so I could fly low without bothering anyone and I was headed down stream so I know I wouldn’t meet rising terrain.

I found a road that was straight for a while and I extended it into the distance with my imagination. I could then see the path I needed to fly. The imaginary road bisected everything that was important and made it easy to stay on track. Once I had sighted down it I could fly to either side and still recognize my landmarks. It went straight to the Lompoc airport. It allowed me to go north along the mountains and enter a right down wind for 25 on a forty five degree angle.

The Cub fly in was amazing. At one time there were twelve yellow Cubs lined up as far as you could see thru the smoke lined up for a straight in for 25. Some were landing and some were part of the flour bomb drop. There were more than fifty cubs and super cubs from all different years and all different level of restoration. They had a lot more women there than we have at our fly ins.

A large group gathered around the Predator as we pulled up to the pumps. Ed hopped down to fill up in a very competent way and I could hear more than one fellow say, “I wish I could get my wife to do that.” If only they could have seen her earlier when she was cleaning everything so the Predator would be more presentable.

Thank you for the lessons Scott! I also flew lower with more confidence.

We headed out to the beach afterward and we flew low and fast over the water as Scott had shown me. I loved it and Edna felt that the whole flight was even more breathtaking than before.

Thank you, Vance

 

[All_In]

I’m so glad you two are enjoying, flying together so much. There is nothing better in life.
Your description of pilotage shows me your really understanding it.
Soon you will be looking at the charts almost like you looking down from the predator!

Got any pictures Ed?

 

[SgurlEd]

I
Got any pictures Ed?

Now that's a silly question...you know I do.
I believe I have at least well over one thousand pictures as well as 6 1/2 hours in flying time too. It won't be long now...Vance has been showing me how to start the predator. Soon he'll be the one taking pictures...LOL
I'll be posting them shortly over in the flying photos. As usual thanks for all the words of encouragement!
All my best,
Sgurl*Ed

 

[scott heger]

Vance, after reading your first post, I was concerned you did not get the pilotage message I was trying to show you. It was not about how to fly around crowded densely populated airspace like Los Angeles, but to use the techniques anywhere you go. After reading your post # 12 , it seems it did sink in, and you learned more than you first thought. The idea is to set yourself up on a known course by landmarks/visual clues that you select, which can be verified by any combination of compass, prevailing wind, watch/time, sun position or gps that you choose, and then fly it without worrying about getting lost. All the visual "airsigns" you need in good weather become easily identifiable. Even with a hazy day, like the day we flew it was not hard, the landmarks just need to be closer spaced. As your experience increases, the visual clues you use can be off in any direction, still allowing you to fly a straight course for your destination. An example was when we flew over Sony Studios in Culver City. I must report to Santa Monica Airport for transition to LAX before passing this location. But what I was really looking at was Marina Del Rey harbor in the distance. By using this landmark far ahead, we split exactly the area between Santa Monica Airport , and Los Angeles International airport. This set us up for safely transitioning between these two very busy airports, and entering the the shoreline transition route without violating primary LAX Class B airspace.

About flying fast and low, a word of caution. The only reason I flew at under 150 feet along the beach was because that was the altitude instruction from LAX tower. This alleviates you from the regulation of maintaining 500 feet from persons or property. It does not let you off the hook from the regulation of being able to fly in such a manner that you can make a safe landing in an emergency, or the safety of persons or property on the ground. In a helicopter, or gyro, if you can't fly high , you better have sufficient airspeed/energy to make a safe landing (on the beach in this case). The last thing you want is being low and going slow, you will run out of options very quickly when the engine goes quiet. Since I was required to be low, I can still trade some airspeed for altitude in an emergency. The other problem is I can't go as fast as I would like because of seagulls along the beach flying around. Experience has shown at 125 knots, they can't get out of the helicopters way. At 80 knots they seem to be able to avoid the helicopter, and I avoid them. This is the compromise, and was the most critical part of the flight, an engine failure however unlikely in a turbine helicopter would require immediate flight control corrections for a safe landing. Splatting red seagull parts all over, and inside your aircraft is much more likely to occur than a engine failure at low level along the beach. In any event if your flying low anyplace you better have your landing technique perfected for a particular altitude and airspeed , knowing exactly how far you can fly-and where you are going to touchdown, before doing much of that kind of flying.

Now for the headsets. I used to use the David Clark ANR headsets mentioned. I still have them, unfortunately they went swimming in the saltwater in the other helicopter, and the ANR feature does not work ....but they still do as a regular headset!! I find the Bose ones much more comfortable to wear, and just as quiet. All my family members rather wear the Bose ones instead of David Clarks when we had both working. With the high noise levels in most gyros, if you value your hearing you will use some kind of ANR set. In a high pitched turbine helicopter, the Bose are very quiet, and you feel less fatigued after a long flight with much less weight and ear pressure than the David Clark's. Notice how many old high time pilots have hearing problems? Why risk your hearing unnecessarily. Since I wear a helmet equipped with David Clark earpieces/mic in my open gyro, I also need to switch to an ANR modified helmet soon also, and practice what I preach.

Vance your journey to becoming a licensed gyro pilot has been a long inspiring road to many. Your commitment to success has come with difficult personal challenges, and obviously a lot of hard work and dedication. If our flight together helped you become a safer pilot from anything you learned, it was well worth it, and I was happy to help out.

Scott Heger,Laguna Niguel,Ca N86SH

 

[Vance]

Thank you Scott,

The experience was priceless and overwhelming. It takes me a while to process the information and your teaching style is subtle. I am sorry that I didn’t understand what you were showing me sooner.

I already know these tools and they are in my tool box. You taught me how to be confused on a higher level. I am grateful and I believe that I will be safer because of the lessons. My life has been enriched by our association. I am grateful for your friendship.

I learn on every flight and the goal is always progress. Sometimes progress is too subtle to notice or document. It was not hard to recognize the value of the application of what I have learned from you.

You have taught me so much that I cannot articulate here.

Thank you, Vance