Aborted landing at my aunts home

StanFoster

Active Member
Joined
Nov 16, 2003
Messages
17,139
Location
Paxton, Il
Aircraft
Helicycle N360SF
Total Flight Time
1250
My aunt wanted me to fly up to her lakeside home yesterday and land. I had never really studied her back yard, so off I went. I always do a hi recon and then a low recon if the hi recon passes my litmus test.

I had to approach from the lakeside.....and that wasn't the problem. Her back yard was the only place with room for my rotor to set down in....but her back yard sloped down to the lake an estimated 5 degrees. I would have to either do a slope landing with one skid on the high side and then set it down...or land up slope touching down on the front of the skids first...then lowering it. I LOVE doing slope landings, but not when my cyclic is near its limits.

Trouble is my cyclic has 6 degrees left /right and for/aft and that does not give me a comfortable margin.

So...my hi-recon stopped me from attempting to land. I could have landed if I had to...but I don't operate with such tight margins.....so I just flew off and checked it off as an aborted landing attempt.

Stan
 

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Sounds like a smart move to me Stan.
 
The top of the roof looked flat Stan, plenty of room up there. ;)
 
Dave- Just curious......how many degrees tilt for/aft and left/right does a CH-7 does have?

Stan
 
Hello Stan

Good thinking as the saying goes....there are no old bold pilots.

Fly safe and have fun.
Rehan

PS: Aunt doesnt think so, no excuse for 5* slope.
 
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Probably a wise choice. I landed my Helicycle on a slope that was more than you are showing. I did not realize it until I set the first skid down. The grass was high and I did not realize the slope until I was committed. I just set it down slow and all was well. I was more nervous for the take-off. It seems strange to be spinning up when you are looking at the horizon at an angle. The Helicycle will handle the slope, but I am not pushing it any further.
 
Hey Stan .... the bright side of not putting a helicopter on a too-steep slope is that it remains in the air where it belongs in the first place ... :) .... I think your caution is wise .

I have a lot less experience than you do , but back in my training days one of my instructors had me doing slope landings all the time ..... which on the flat Canadian prairies means you find a sloping ditch bank or the edge of a marsh or something ..... which means the down-slope-side is on softer ground plus the CofG moves a bit toward that skid as well ...... after a while the low side skid can settle half an inch more than the dry and you can lose the couple of degrees remaining in the swashplate .... which means the proud slope landing can turn into an embarrassing lift off

I would much prefer seeing you embarrassed after I out-eat you over a plate of ribs some day ..... I would like you to know right now in my oven is a double rack of ribs weighing 1.584 kg .... which in American is 3.492122 pounds ... so dont let your guard down !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In a minute I will have some more advanced mud landing instruction for you ..... but first I have to go baste the ribs with wildfire sweet and spicy wolverine sauce.
 
Hey Stan .... at this point in my life I am just a pretender pilot eating ribs .... but I would like to pass on some advanced Canadian Mud Landing instructions I was taught years ago. It involves stashing a bottle of Seagrams 5-Star pain killer under the seat of a bush-flying helicopter ..... more about that in a minute.

Many of your helicopter posts mention food Stan ..... plus how you like flying over Illinois mud in the spring while you are scouting for tree squirrls for your next meal .... so the following will be right up your alley.

Gerry (my instructor) related a story about landing at a remote and muddy northern Manitoba fuel stash to fill up his Bell 47 ...... and when he was done the skids had settled 6 inches into the mud and he could not lift off.

He kept trying .... kept rocking the heli on its skids trying to overcome the suction of the mud on the skids .... all the while burning fuel at maximum power .... which of course should make the helicopter lighter minute by minute .

The Canadian Indians are a wonderful and strong people who live off the land in the rugged North ..... for entertainment they gather in a circle and watch helicopter pilots flounder around in the mud ..... after about 15 minutes of rocking the Bell 47 on its skids Gerry gave up and shut it down.

I have to go and baste the 3.492122 pound rack of ribs in my oven again .... so give me a minute or two to finish telling one of the true stories we helicopter pilots are famous for :)
 
The Bell 47 is a great machine for getting suck in the mud because you can stand on the skid cross-tubes and wave a well aged bottle of Seagram's 5-Star at the surrounding audience .... who of course are there for the weekly entertainment of watching helicopter pilots refuel in the mud.

Careful instructions to the audience on how to lift and rock the helicopter from the ground ..... combined with the pilot lifting and rocking the helicopter with cyclic and collective at full power .... and voila .... the Bell 47 escapes the mud to head for the next fuel stash in the middle of nowhere.

But before departing you maintain a steady hover at about 10 feet and elegantly toss the jug of well aged Seagram 5-Star down to the helpers and then away you go.

I hope you find my instructions helpful Stan ..... I am going to cut grass for 15 minutes .... then feast on the 3.492122 pounds of ribs ..... and be really-really-really thankful I have never had to revert to hunting common tree squirrels for my next meal like you do Stan :)
 
@Stan
We can all live with the disappointment of not making your primary heliport!

@Arnie
Great to learn the rest of the story and how to take off when stuck in the mud!
 
Arnie- Sorry for my late reply. I just now read it. I will record that information at the back of my brain for if I should find my skids down in the mud.

Stan
 
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