Gyrocopter experience , help Helicopter pilots with Autorotation's ?

Agwotu

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Sep 7, 2019
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UGANDA
i think flying Gyro copters , i mean that experience, helps a lot in real engine failure in Helicopter, doesn't it?

Many helicopter crashes , most of them fall from the sky causing mash burning fire ball , i mean complete destruction, killing all on board !!!!

When engine failure happens in helicopters, many pilots panic , auto-ration is some thing that many helicopter pilots , are not happy a bout .


This , makes me think, do helicopter pilots need to first fly GYROCOPTERS , before transitioning to helicopters don't they ?


Sam

Uganda
 
An autorotation to the ground in a helicopter is very different than a gyroplane landing.
For me my helicopter training slowed my learning to land a gyroplane properly.
When I teach helicopter pilots to land a gyroplane they often are not looking down the runway far enough (all the way).
Generally speaking Helicopter pilots do particularly well on altitude and air speed to practical test standards and they manage the takeoffs well.
 
An autorotation to the ground in a helicopter is very different than a gyroplane landing.
For me my helicopter training slowed my learning to land a gyroplane properly.
When I teach helicopter pilots to land a gyroplane they often are not looking down the runway far enough (all the way).
Generally speaking Helicopter pilots do particularly well on altitude and air speed to practical test standards and they manage the takeoffs well.
Is the poor landings because they flare too high?
 
i think flying Gyro copters , i mean that experience, helps a lot in real engine failure in Helicopter, doesn't it?

. . .

This , makes me think, do helicopter pilots need to first fly GYROCOPTERS , before transitioning to helicopters don't they ?
Hi, Sam -

One of the biggest issues for a helicopter pilot in a real emergency autorotation (particularly for light piston helicopters) is maintaining the proper rotor rpm with the collective control, from the initial reaction to the engine failure through changing g-loads in manuevering to the landing spot. Unfortunately, most gyros are not useful for gaining experience with that because they have fixed collective and the rpm is not controlled by the pilot. This limits the value of gyro training for helicopter students. Likewise, proper collective use in the landing flare and leveling the landing gear skids for touchdown are critical, but the gyro provides no comparable training opportunity.
 
Likewise, proper collective use in the landing flare and leveling the landing gear skids for touchdown are critical, but the gyro provides no comparable training opportunity.
And trying to land a gyroplane like a helicopter would be extremely dangerous and vice versa. If you try to land the gyro after "leveling the skids or wheels" you will almost certainly touch down fast and flat and ricochet off the landing surface. If you try to do a deep flare and nose high touchdown in a helicopter you will touch down on the heels of the skids for a likely very expensive landing after the oscillation stops.
 
i think flying Gyro copters , i mean that experience, helps a lot in real engine failure in Helicopter, doesn't it?

Many helicopter crashes , most of them fall from the sky causing mash burning fire ball , i mean complete destruction, killing all on board !!!!

When engine failure happens in helicopters, many pilots panic , auto-ration is some thing that many helicopter pilots , are not happy a bout .


This , makes me think, do helicopter pilots need to first fly GYROCOPTERS , before transitioning to helicopters don't they ?


Sam

Uganda
Never met a qualified helicopter Pilot who will panic during an autorotation…it’s part of the training and on going training and a component of the syllabus needed to be completed before being issued with a licence, if the pilot was incompetent at that point the examiner would send him for more training, as said above the biggest thing is monitoring the Rrpm and controlling it
 
They both descend very quickly at a steep angle with power off, but that's about the only similarity in my book.
 
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