Ask d10 about flying helicopters and win $$$

[d10]

I have a check ride on Monday. I should be studying for it, but I'd rather play poker. So ask me anything you want to know about flying helicopters. Mechanical functions, aerodynamics, IFR/VFR flight, FAA regulations, whatever. I can probably answer anything Black Hawk specific, I may or may not be able to answer questions about the other US Army helicopters, and I probably can't tell you anything about civilian model helicopters, unless it's a general question.

If you ask me something that I need to look up and I get asked the same question on my check ride, or if you ask anything that I feel in any way allows me to realize an actual benefit on my check ride, I'll transfer you $25 via whatever method you want. I'll make the final determination on what qualifies, and it will be an entirely subjective decision, so you'll just have to trust that I value my integrity more than $25.

[TTChamp]

What actions do you take for an electrical system failure?

[Reef]

Fill in the blanks and explain each one

[Reef]

Fill in the blanks

[2/325Falcon]

Speed/Altitude for exiting paratroopers from a UH-60.

Edit: Speed/Altitude for a helocast from a UH-60.

[MelchyBeau]

I knew a guy who was a mechanic for helicopters. A few times as he went through the checklist for a test flight, as he would finish, before the guy started the engine he would run way as fast as possible. Usually this freaked out the pilots enough to where they wouldn't fly without him in the cockpit.

How would you react to this situation?

Melch

[d10]

[ QUOTE ]
What actions do you take for an electrical system failure?

[/ QUOTE ]

This depends on a lot of stuff. Helicopters will either be designed so that the important stuff (engines, flight controls, various instruments) function just fine without electrical power, or the more complicated helicopters will have so many redundant electrical systems that a complete failure is incredibly unlikely.

A Black Hawk has an alternator on each engine to power engine specific electronics. If they fail, you will need to manually control the affected engine. Not a big deal.

There are 2 AC generators which feed into 2 DC converters to provide AC and DC power for normal operation of everything else. All the other electronics are run off of various busses that can be powered by either generator or by battery power. The busses allow the less important components to be shut down as necessary, and the more important components to receive power from numerous sources. If I lost 1 generator, I would try to get it back online, if that doesn't work, just shut it off and everything will run fine on the other generator. If both generators fail, again try to get them back online, if that fails I can start up the APU (auxiliary power unit, a smaller engine not connected to the rotor system used for the sole purpose of electrical/hydraulic/pneumatic power) and use the generator off of that. In any case, the helicopter is still fairly safe to fly, but if I wasn't on a really important mission or something, I would turn back home.

[econophile]

how heavy of a load can a blackhawk safely lift?

[Reef]

explain torque's effects on the helicopter fuselage in general, in tip-jet helicopters, and in single main rotor helicopters.

explain means for torque compensation in single main rotor helicopters.

Fill in the blank:

During hovering flight, the single rotor helicopter has a tendency to drift laterally to the right due to the lateral thrust being supplied by the tail rotor. The pilot may prevent right lateral drift of the helicopter by _____________________________

[d10]

[ QUOTE ]
Fill in the blanks and explain each one



[/ QUOTE ]

From left to right:
Rotational relative wind: The direction of airflow relative to the wing
Angle of attack/incidence: Angle between the chord line of the wing and resulatant/rotational relative wind (respectively)
Lift: Aerodynamic force opposing gravity
total aerodynamic force: lift+drag
Drag: Aerodynamic force produced by wind resistance
chord line: imaginary line between leading and trailing edge, lots of aerodynamic stuff goes on along this line

2nd picture points to a lot of the stuff in the first, with the addition of the leading edge and trailing edge, which is self explanatory.