t he journal of t he prof ess ional he l i cop t er p i lo t

The Bell 407—a “Pilot’s Helicopter”

By Tony Fonze

From the President

“Perfectly Pete”Wind Part IIBy Pete Gillies

Test Pilot

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The Bell 407—a “Pilot’s Helicopter”By Tony Fonze

I love my Uncle Sam, but…(Saving money on your taxes)

More Collective Pitch ScottyBy Dorcey Wingo

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FEATURESCOLUMNS

Aeromedical Q & Afrom Virtual Flight Surgeons

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Volume 5 www.autorotate.com Issue 6 Still Winter 2005

Aut orot at e i s t he of f i c ia l publ i cat ion of t he Prof ess ional Hel i cop t er P i lo ts ’ Assoc iat ion (PHPA)

www.bellhelicopter.com/training 800-368-2355 BTAAdmin@bellhelicopter.textron.com

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Volume 5 Issue 6

Publisher:The Professional Helicopter Pilots’ AssociationManaging Editor:Anthony FonzeDesign:Studio 33Editorial Assistance:Michael Sklar

Autorotate is owned by the Professional HelicopterPilots’ Association (PHPA). Autorotate (ISSN 1531-166X) is published every other month for $30.00 peryear by PHPA, 354 S. Daleville Ave, Suite B, Daleville,AL 36322.

Copyright © 2005, Professional Helicopter Pilots’Association. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole orin part is strictly prohibited. It is illegal to make copiesof this publication. Printed in the U.S.A. by unionemployees.

Subscriptions:Subscriptions are provided to current members of PHPA.PHPA membership is offered at $60.00 per year.Promotional discounts may be offered. For a completelist of membership benefits go to www.autorotate.org.Single issue reprints offered, when available, for $5.00each. To become a member of PHPA or to notify PHPA ofa change of address, contact PHPA at 354 S. DalevilleAve, Suite B, Daleville, AL 36322. Phone 334-598-1031 Fax 334-598-1032. The Toll Free Number is 1-866-FOR-PHPAE-mail publisher@autorotate.com.PHPA members may submit address changes atwww.autorotate.org. Local members may submit addresschanges through their locals. Local members with e-mailaddresses, who are not registered at the website, shouldcontact their locals.

Article Contributions and EditorialComments:Article contributions, including ideas, freelance stories,an interest in assignment articles, Live and Learn experiences, photographs, and comments are welcomeand should be sent to autorotate, 3160 N. San Remo,Tucson, AZ 85715. Phone 520-906-2485. Fax 520-298-7439. E-mail editor@autorotate.org.Autorotate and PHPA are not responsible for materialssubmitted for review.

Notice:The information contained herein has been researchedand reviewed. However, Autorotate and PHPA do notassume responsibility for actions taken by any pilot oraircraft operator based upon information containedherein. Every pilot and aircraft operator is responsible forcomplying with all applicable regulations.

Cover: Bell Helicopters

There is a lot of movement going on inthe area of accident prevention in ourprofession today and PHPA is makingsure we are involved in as much of thisprocess as possible. After all, we, thepilots, are closer to the accident than any-one else and our input must be an inte-gral part of any solutions being devel-oped. With that in mind, PHPA will beholding our second "Human FactorsSafety Conference" October 26th – 29thin Tunica, MS, just minutes from theMemphis International Airport.Currently, we are in talks with a coupleof hotels in an effort to find a suitablevenue for the conference which is alsoaffordable for the working line pilot. Wewill post the details atwww.autorotate.org and email them toevery PHPA member as soon as we final-ize plans.

As many of you know, PHPA has aseat on the newly formed IHST(International Helicopter Safety Team).The IHST was officially launched at HAIand has representatives from theowner/operators, government, manufac-turers, and pilot organizations. Its pri-mary goal is to reduce the accident rateby eighty percent over the next ten years.This is no small task, but it is one that isgoing to create major changes in the waythings are currently being done. If youwant to have any say at all in thesechanges then it is important that you helpus provide input to this committee andthe rest of the industry. You can do thatby participating in this safety conference.

I cannot emphasize enough how impor-tant it is for us to participate in what theindustry is about to do in the area of safe-ty. We really have only two choices here.We can sit back and let everyone elseparticipate in making safety-related deci-sions in the coming months and years, orwe can participate, as a pilots’ organiza-tion, and help steer these changes in the

direction we feel is most appropriate forthe guys and gals doing the job day afterday. The only way we can accomplishthe second choice is by getting as muchinput from our membership as possibleand this safety conference is going to bethe best way to do this. Not only willyou be able to help PHPA, your organiza-tion, but you will have direct face to facecontact with many of the industry profes-sionals who will be guiding this world-wide effort to curb the high accident ratewe are currently experiencing.

I would also like to say that theInternational Federation of Airline PilotsAssociations-Helicopter Committee willbe holding their annual conference inconjunction with our safety conference.This will give all attending the safetyconference the opportunity to meet andtalk with an extremely talented group ofpilots from many nations. PHPA is host-ing the conference this year and is hon-ored to have been given the opportunityto do so.

Look for more information on the con-ference soon, but in the meantime, pleasemark your calendars for 26-29 Oct 2006.

For information on making a presenta-tion at this conference or presentingpapers please contact Jeffery Smith atjefferysmith@autorotate.org.

Stay Safe!

Butch GraftonPresident, The Professional HelicopterPilots’ Association (PHPA) PHPA International354 S. Daleville Ave, Suite BDaleville, AL 36322Butch@autorotate.org

END

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FROM THE PRESIDENT: NOW’S OUR CHANCE!

While working in the Grand Canyonflying the EC-130B4, there were twoships that routinely passed us day in andday out. They were both 407s. Itappeared to be all the pilots of those air-craft could do to keep from turning whatwas supposed to be a 50 minute GrandKingdom Tour into a 15 minute “CliffNotes” rendition of this Natural Wonderof the World.

And then there was the sound whenthey passed overhead. I’m not kidding.There is something about the sound ofthe 407’s rotor system at full RPM thatjust gets my motor going. So, when Icalled Marty Wright, Chief FlightInstructor at Bell Helicopter Textron’sCustomer Training Academy, and askedif I could possibly come out and spendsome time with the helicopter, and hesaid, “Let me see what I can do,” I wasexcited. When he called again a fewdays later and said, “Yes, what about theweek of Dec. 12,” I was already packing.

The “New” Bell Helicopter CustomerTraining Academy

If you haven’t driven around theDallas-Ft. Worth area in a while, let meremind you of a few of the nuances ofthe metro-Dallas driving experience.First, Texans are confident drivers andthey don’t really have a lot of tolerance

Cover story

The Bell 407—a “Pilot’s Helicopter”

for those who seem less than self-assured out on the open road.Second, this is a land where high-ways have two names, your direc-tions from Hertz only use one ofthem, and the signs use the otherone. Third, when your directions say“North on I-35,” the two options you findyourself confronting are I-35 East and I-35 West—and me, without my compass!Still, after several reverse courses, a littleswearing, and a millimeter shortening ofkey fingernails, I found myself at mydestination—the Alliance Airport, newhome to the Bell Training Academy. Andthe Alliance Airport also happens to besmack dab in The Middle of Nowhere,just in case you really weren’t sure wherethat was.

While many things about this facilitywere new: new training facilities, newhangar, new FTDs (Flight TrainingDevices), and new management; onething was the same—that very genuinesense of welcome and warmth that has

always been part of the Bell trainingexperience. They really do make youfeel as though you are important to themand that they are happy to see you. A tripto the Bell Training Academy has alwaysbeen and remains a week to look forwardto.

I was registered for the 407 Groundand Flight Procedures Training Coursealong with 6 other handsome guys from arange of industries: law enforcement,forestry, ENG, and corporate. As ourground instructor David Fox collected usand walked us over to the cafeteria to doour initial paper work, we couldn’t helpbut notice that we were part of a largegroup of customers with diverse national-ities. In a later conversation with LaunaBarboza, the Director of the CustomerTraining Academy, she confirmed that

there were in fact 17 different coun-tries represented at the academy thatweek including students from suchexotic locals as Egypt, Nigeria,Australia, Botswana, Brazil, China,Cypress, India, Malaysia, Pakistan,

Singapore and the Ukraine. She assuredme that this was not an exception—it isthe norm.

Since 1947, 95,000 graduates repre-senting 123 different countries havereceived Bell Factory training. No,Launa hasn’t been there that long, thoughshe has been with Bell for more than 20years and previously served as theDirector of Military Aircraft Support andDirector of Logistics.

Launa has responsibility for a staff thatincludes 25 pilots, 21 technical instruc-tors and 11 aircraft mechanics. TheTraining Academy’s course catalog listsmore than 140 different classes and theygraduate more than 3,000 students everyyear. It is an impressive facility with 18multi-media classrooms, a 33,000 sq.

5Photography: (from left page 4) 407; Bell’s maintenance lab; Fairfax County 407; the complete round-up of the academy’s training aircraft; Bell Helicopter

Photography by Bell HelicopterBy Tony Fonze

foot training hangar and 3 advancedflight training devices. In fact, all of theFTDs are being migrated to new FRAS-CA platforms with 220º field of view.Later they will be upgraded to Level 7devices, that include vibration.

The FTD upgrades and changes under-way to the pilot training curriculum arepart of a strategy to upgrade the trainingprogram from a Part 141 Pilot School tothe higher standards of a Part 142Aviation Training Center. One of thedirections that will be taken with the cur-riculum is the addition of more scenario-based learning modules, tailored to a cus-tomer’s unique operations and require-ments. But, it isn’t the facility, the FTDsor the training materials that make thisplace stand out in your mind—it is thepeople. I love these guys.

But, if there’s one thing I know aboutBell factory training—there’s not a lot oftime to chew the fat. The week’s pro-gram includes 2.5 days of intense class-room training, 2 hours in the simulatorand 4 hours of flight training. So, let’sget going.

What makes this thing tick

Dave walked us over to our classroomand we got down to business, a businesshe knows very well. He should, havingexperienced it for over 35 years from themilitary and civilian sides; mechanic andpilot experiences; and employee andowner/operator perspectives. Don’t

worry, I’m not going to repeat 2.5 daysof intense ground instruction—you’re notinterested, and I couldn’t do it justice.But I would like to point out the majordifferences between the 407 and otheraircraft, especially the 206, that I man-aged to glean from Dave’s fire hose ofinformation, which came close to drown-ing me more than once.

Airframe

There’s nothing too strange to report,but here and there the 407 has sproutedsmall appendages to affect air flow forone reason or another. The horizontalstabilizer (not a new appendage in and ofitself), mounted through the tailboom,provides downward lift on the tailboomto help maintain a nearly level cabinthroughout all cruise airspeeds. But,since the 206, it has also sprouted a lead-ing edge slat installed to improve pitchstability during climbs (eliminate por-poising) and it has grown small flaps onthe trailing edge known as Gurney Flaps.The Gurney Flaps serve to disrupt airflow, making the stabilizer a little lesseffective at high speed, and were neces-sary to get the Vne up to 140 knots. Youcan also find Gurney Flaps on the trailingedge of the vertical fin.

Mounted to each end of the horizontalstabilizer are a set of auxiliary fins. Theleading edges of these fins are both offset5º to improve dihedral (roll) stability inforward flight.

The landing gear also has somethingnew—the “Weight on Gear” switch.Mounted to the lower fuselage and acti-vated by the flexing of the cross tube, theswitch “knows” if the helicopter is on theground or not. The switch communicatesthis information to three systems: cycliccentering, the hour meter and flight time.Both the hour meter and flight time aredisabled when the aircraft is on theground, which is when cyclic centering isenabled.

Cyclic centering is a caution light onthe CWAP (Caution Warning AdvisoryPanel) that illuminates when the cyclic isoff center while the aircraft is on theground. This is intended to eliminateunnecessary stress on the mast and rotorhub.

You’d be surprised how often yourcyclic is NOT centered once you have alittle light to constantly remind you.

Instrumentation

One of the things I like aboutEurocopters (sorry, I won’t say it again)is that the power utilization instrumentsgive you a warning when you areapproaching your exceedances. I’mhappy to report that the 407 does some-thing similar. The TRQ, MGT(Measured Gas Temperature, TOT), andthe NG (Gas Producer, N1) gauges con-tain a microprocessor that alerts you toan impending exceedance and then, ifyou don’t back-off, records up to 50exceedance events (seems a bit excessive,I know) including date, duration andpeak value. It does not record the pilot’sname—but we know who you are.

How do you know you’re perilouslyclose to screwing up? The CHECKINSTR caution light on the CWAP illu-minates and the offended gage’s LCDtrend arc begins flashing at you. Back-off in time and everything returns to nor-mal. But if you don’t, or can’t, and the

Photography: The new Bell Training Academy and Alliance Airport Tower; Bell Helicopter6

limit is exceeded, the gauge displays an“E” along with the exceedance value andthe CHECK INSTR caution light contin-ues to glare at you until you disable it bypushing the INSTR CHK button. Butdon’t worry. Though the system stopsreminding you, it hasn’t forgotten. Everytime you power-up the helicopter thegauge, with the “E” and the exceedance,will display until the data is captured andthe gauge reset by a mechanic. Checkingthese instruments at start-up has beenadded to the check list.

There are no less than 4 warning lightsadded to the CWAP to tell you probably alittle more than you want to know aboutthe FADEC system: FADEC FAIL,FADEC DEGRADED, FADEC MANU-AL, and FADEC FAULT. More on thoselater. But, while we’re on the subject ofCaution and Warning Lights, the WarningPanel, which sits just above the instru-ment panel has grown an extra row andnow sports 36 lights full of informationcompared to the 20 lights (includingspares) displayed on the 206. The pilotof the 407 is very well informed.

One piece of information that I am par-ticularly attracted to is the AUTORELIGHT advisory light. This thingilluminates whenever the engine igniter isoperating. This happens, of course, dur-ing the start sequence, but, it also hap-pens automatically, whenever the FADECis operating in the Manual mode above55% NG, or the FADEC detects anengine out condition with NG above50%. In other words, if the fire goes out,it automatically attempts to re-light it.

Fuel System

The basic Bell 407 has two fuel cellswith a combined capacity of 130 U.S.gallons. The aft cell is located under-neath and behind the aft passenger seatsand is the larger of the two at 92 gallons.Fuel is pumped to the engine from the aft

tank. The forward cell is located under-neath and between the middle passengerseats and has a capacity of 38 gallons.An optional auxiliary fuel cell is avail-able and adds another 20 gallons.

The forward fuel tank contains twotransfer pumps, located on the floor ofthe tank, whose purpose is to transfer allusable fuel to the aft cell. Two fuel boostpumps are located in the aft tank. Duringthe 2 minute cool down, get into the habitof turning off the left fuel boost/xferswitch. Here’s why. During normalground run and in-flight conditions, theaircraft battery switch is in the ON posi-tion and DC power is connected to thesingle aircraft bus, powering all thingswired to the bus, including the left boostand transfer pumps. But, in the event thebattery switch is positioned to OFF dur-ing aircraft operations and the fuel valveis on, an alternate circuit provides electri-cal power directly from the battery to theleft boost and left transfer pumps. Thiswas a certification requirement. In theevent of a short circuit or a hot batteryand all DC bus power (battery and gener-ator) is shut off, the alternate circuitkeeps the left transfer and boost pumps inoperation. This is good. But, if at theend of a flight, you fail to turn the pumpand fuel valve off, even after turning offthe battery; when you come back fromthe “little boy’s or girl’s room” you maycome back to a dead battery.

The two fuel cell approach also has aneffect on the longitudinal center of gravi-ty that can be a little hard to grasp in thebeginning. The tanks are connected by ahose along the bottom. But, due to thelocation of the conjoining hose openingin the aft tank and the different sizes ofthe tanks, they neither fill nor drain inunison causing related shifts, forward andaft, in the Center of Gravity as fuel isburned.

In a single-bladder ship the CG nor-mally moves in one direction only (i.e.increasingly forward) as fuel is burned.And, even in the 407 as fuel is initiallyburned, the CG moves forward as therear tank begins to drain. But, this iswhere things are a little unique. For atime, once the remaining fuel has reachedabout 508 lbs the two tanks burn downtogether and the CG remains more or lessin the same forward vicinity. But then(between 335 lbs and 195 lbs) the CGmoves significantly aft as the forwardtank drains completely. And finally (atabout 193 lbs), the CG moves slightlyforward again until the aft tank empties.Hopefully, you’re on the ground some-where before this last step is complet-ed—otherwise, you will be.

Powerplant-FADEC

The 407 is powered by the Rolls Royce250/C47B engine. This engine is rated to813 shp (shaft horsepower), but is derat-

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7Photography: The training hangar with real aircraft where pilots and mechanics can poke, point, question and disassemble to their heart’s content; Bell Helicopter

ed through the HMU (Hydro-MechanicalUnit) to 674 shp for takeoff power and630 shp for continuous operation.

The compressor on the 250/C47B is asingle centrifugal titanium impeller withthe vanes transitioning from axial to cen-trifugal, eliminating the need for stators.At 100% NG the compressor is rotatingat 51,000 RPM. This rapid compressionwill increase the temperature of the com-pressed air approximately 555º F. Hot!

We could spend a lot of time talkingabout the various aspects of the250/C47B; but I want to reserve most ofthe attention for the FADEC system. TheFADEC (Full Authority DigitalElectronic Control) provides a number ofbenefits to the pilot: reduced workload,automatic engine starts, precise control ofmain rotor speed, continuous enginemonitoring and self-diagnostics. TheFADEC is an important part of this heli-copter and its sudden, unanticipatedremoval from the process, no matter howunlikely, requires that the pilot acquire arelatively significant understanding of itsworkings and modes of failure.

The FADEC has two main compo-nents: The airframe-mounted ElectronicControl Unit (ECU) and the engine-mounted Hydro Mechanical Unit (HMU).The ECU is the brains of the outfit. Itcontinuously monitors numerous internaland external inputs: MGT, NG, NP(Power Turbine speed), NR, EngineTorque Meter Oil Pressure, CollectivePitch, Compressor Inlet Temperature,Ambient Pressure, and Throttle (PLA,Power Lever Angle). It looks at all ofthese things primarily so that it can doone thing—modulate fuel flow via theHMU. When the FADEC is engagedwith the throttle in FLY detent position(PLA 70º) the FADEC has complete con-trol over engine operation to maintainNR within limits.

The HMU provides fuel modulationvia a stepper motor in AUTO mode and ahydro mechanical actuator in MANUALmode. For those of you with a reciprocalengine driven helicopter somewhere inyour past, flying in MANUAL mode islike flying with the governor off (butmaybe just a touch more sensitive).

FADEC Start

One of the great advantages of theFADEC is its ability to start the helicop-ter. From the check list: Check the volt-age (24v minimum), verify collective fulldown, cyclic centered, pedals neutral,throttle at idle, and hit the start switch.The FADEC takes it from there.

The FADEC monitors the MGT for ahot start, up to 50% Ng. If the FADECdetects excessive MGT (843º C <10,000’ PA or 912º C > 10,000’ PA) theECU will cut off fuel flow and engagethe starter for up to 60 seconds. Still, ahot start is a hot start and it’s going to beyour fault, even with the FADEC at thehelm, so you will still need to closelymonitor the MGT during start and initiatea manual termination (throttle to cutoff)if you see things getting out of control.If the FTD (Flight TrainingDevice/Simulator) hot start is anythinglike the real thing—it happens veryquickly so be on your toes.

FADEC Failure in Flight

FADEC failures, though almostunheard of in real life, logically come inseveral flavors, all of them entirely man-ageable if you remain calm and followyour training. The least threatening isFADEC DEGRADED, indicated by thelight of the same name rapidly demand-ing your attention from the CWAP. Thisfault is indicative of a partial degradationof FADEC performance which may resultin NR droop, NR lag or reduced maxpower capability. If this happens youshould continue to operate in AUTO

mode and fly the helicopter smoothly andnon-aggressively and Land As Soon AsPractical. The RESTART FAULT lightmay also come on in some instances.

A FADEC FAULT indicates that thePMA (Permanent Magnet Alternator)and/or MGT, NP, or NG automatic limit-ing circuits may not be functional.Again, the RESTART FAULT light maymake an appearance at the same time.The pilot should continue to operate inAUTO mode, fly the helicopter smoothlyand non-aggressively and Land As SoonAs Practical.

Then there’s the Biggee—FADECFAIL. When the FADEC FAIL lightcomes on so will the FADEC MANUALlight, indicating that the system is nowoperating in manual mode. While we’reat it, let’s also throw in the RESTARTFAULT light. The FADEC FAIL horn (anot unpleasant chime) will also sound.Believe me, with all this commotion, youdefinitely know something just happened.

So, what do you do when all the lightscome on and the chime starts singing?FLY THE AIRCRAFT! Oh, and you cansilence the horn by hitting the FADECAUTO/MANUAL button once. The cutelittle chime becomes annoying ratherquickly it turns out. In truth, dependingupon your flight configuration: cruise,high power setting (hover, takeoff), orlow power setting (approach) there aresome further precautionary actions thatmay be required of you, but it is nothingto get your knickers in a knot over. We’llgo over these procedures in more detailwhen we finally get to fly the thing.Don’t worry, it’s coming up soon.

Rotor System

The 407 main rotor hub contains aglass/epoxy composite yoke that acts as aflapping flexure. That’s right, no flap-ping bearings and no lubrication to speakof. Blade flapping is accomplished by avirtual hinge in the yoke (flapping flex-

8

ure). A flapping stop and a droop stopinboard of each spindle protect and limitthe composite yoke from excessive flex-ing. The addition of cyclic centeringwhen on the ground is also there to helpreduce stress on the yoke and mast. Thefeathering bearings and lead-lag dampersare elastomeric elements that require noscheduled maintenance and have benignfailure modes.

Sitting on top of the whole thing is theFrahm Damper, a formed steel blockhousing 8 heavy gage springs. As themain rotor blade encounters inflight con-vective turbulence the Frahm dampersteel block begins to vibrate at a similarfrequency, canceling the vibrations beforethey can descend into the main rotorshaft and the fuselage. This accounts, atleast in part, for the 407s extremelysmooth ride.

The 4 blades themselves are asymmet-rical and include a pronounced -13º twistfrom hub to tip to provide more equaldistribution of lift. The blades are com-posite design consisting of three structur-al members: a fiberglass/epoxy spar, aNomex honeycomb core and a fiber-glass/epoxy skin. The leading edge is anickel plated stainless steel strip. And,the blades are dynamically balanced andinterchangeable.

At the end of a flight, good procedurecalls for the blades to be rotated so thatthey form an X, when viewed from aboveover the vertical center line of the fuse-lage. In this configuration the bladesextend over open air, rather than overelements of the fuselage. It looks coolerthis way too.

An odd thing with the pedals

In every aircraft design a series ofcompromises and trade-offs have to bemade. For the 407 they come in the formof the pedal stops, known officially as thePedal Restrictor Control Unit (PRCU).The PRCU restricts full travel of the left

pedal when the airspeed increases to 55knots and above. It releases the restrictorwhen the aircraft slows below 50 knots.There is an emergency release cable inthe cockpit, just in case. Why does thePRCU exist?

In the early production days of the air-craft, two accidents occurred that wereattributed, by the NTSB, to the tail rotorhitting the tail boom. Under normal con-ditions, at 100% RPM, this just doesn’thappen and the problem could not berecreated. It is thought, however, thatunder certain extreme conditions: lowRPM, serious cross-wind causing maxflapping, full left pedal, it might be possi-ble. So, in order to satisfy the powersthat be and remove any possibility of apotential problem, Bell arrived at thisinnovative solution. It is a little strangeand adds a step or two to the pre-flightcockpit procedure, but other than thenotable “klunk” on takeoff when therestrictor engages, you really don’t noticeit.

I am not a toy guy

I don’t have a motorcycle or a sportscar. In fact my daughters often remindme that I’m driving a soccer mom’s car(Volvo V70 T5) and that I should beappropriately embarrassed. I did have aboat once, but it wasn’t a fast boat. Itwas, big surprise, a sail boat.

I used to take my wife sailing. Therewe were, off the coast of SouthernCalifornia, the boat heeled way over, theteak railing buried beneath the blue greenwater. The cold Pacific sea spray washedover us while the apparent wind rippedthrough our hair and tore at our clothes.We were hauling butt! Or so I fancieduntil Becky rudely pointed out, in what Iperceived to be unnecessarily conde-scending tones (she is a toy guy), that wewere only going 15 knots—a lousy 17miles an hour.

Like I said, I am not a toy guy.

But, take it from me, you’d have to beDEAD not to get a rush out of flying the407. And who better to introduce you tothis aircraft than Bell’s Chief FlightInstructor, Marty Wright.

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9Photography: 407; Bell’s Chief Instructor Pilot, Marty Wright; Bell Helicopter, Autorotate Staff

Two and a half days of intense groundschool behind me topped-off with anhour in the FTD where I was besiegedwith more hot starts and FADEC failuresthan the 407 has caution lights (thatwould be ‘a lot’) and the requisite “hard”written test passed—and I was looking tofly. I walked through the huge hangarheading towards the pilot lounge area,searching for Marty. He was right wherehe was supposed to be and we took a lit-tle time to talk before going outside.

Marty came to Bell after spending 22years in the Marines, much of that timeflying H-53s. In fact, at the time of hisretirement, he had more H-53 time thanany other pilot. His initial appointmentat Bell involved V-22 training systems,which leveraged his 15 years as a marineinstructor pilot (IP). But, in 2002, whenthe V-22 training product was delivered,he transferred to the Training Academyas a flight instructor. Two years later,upon the retirement of his boss and myfriend Gary Young, Marty was promotedto the position of Chief Flight Instructorwith responsibility for Bell’s pilotinstruction program. Today, and for theremainder of this week, he would be myCFI.

The “Wright” Way of Doing Thingsor

(don’t MAKE me slap your hand)

The sun was shining as we steppedoutside, but the 15 knot breeze and the55ºF temperature added up to “cold” to aguy from Tucson. We walked aroundN407BP on a quick pre-flight before

climbing aboard. I was happy to note thehelicopter’s midnight blue exterior hadsucceeded in absorbing just the rightamount of radiant energy so that theinside was comfortable. Marty’s uniquestyle as an instructor first makes itselfknown in the pre-flight.

Now, I should begin by saying that nei-ther Marty nor I are particularly “long ofleg” so I’m usually in the habit of adjust-ing the pedals forward a little to makepedal control a little more comfortable inflight. He strongly encouraged me not todo so in the 407. “The hydraulicallyboosted pedals take a very gentle touchand I think you’ll feel like you have greatcontrol with them fully recessed.” I leftthem where they were. He was right.

The 407 Checklist is relatively straightforward with the exception that it con-tained some elements that were new tome, pertaining to some of the unique fea-tures of the 407: the Trend Arc LCDs,the FADEC, and the Pedal Stop.

Shortly after the BATT ON sequence,the helicopter will tell you if the last pilotleft you with any uncleared exceedances(Torque, MGT, or NG). It does so byilluminating the CHK INSTR light whiledisplaying an E at the gauge.

The Pedal Stop has two checks. Thefirst is merely a quick check of the redemergency release lever, to make sure itis still in the safety wired “closed” posi-tion. This lever would be used if, forsome reason, the Pedal Stop did not auto-matically retract when it was supposed to

and we were compelled to manually dis-engage the pedal stops. The secondcheck is just a quick test of the annuncia-tor switch on the right side of the instru-ment panel. With pedals neutral, pushthe button. Depress the left pedal until itstops. It will not go all the way to thebottom, its full movement prevented bythe PEDAL STOP function. You’ll thenrelease the pressure on your foot and thestop should retract and allow the pedal togo all the way down. That’s it, you’redone.

The FADEC test is performed aftersuccessful engine start, with the throttleat idle. You reach up with your left handand hit the FADEC AUTO/MANUALswitch to put it into MANUAL Mode.You should see a small droop in NG andthe FADEC MANUAL caution light andAUTO RELIGHT advisory lights shouldilluminate. With your left hand, slowlyroll on a little throttle to ensure theengine responds, then return to idle posi-tion. Return the switch to AUTO.

The first time I attempted to performthe above maneuver I got my handslapped by Marty when I reached for thebutton with my right hand. I had tolaugh, because when I’m in the CFI seat,I’ve been known to slap a hand or twowhen a pre-flight operation is about to beconducted with the “wrong” hand. “OK-got it. Right-hand stays on cyclic, lefthand does the button pushing.”

It sounds like we’re spending a lifetimein the engine start procedure, but so far,we’ve been in here for about 2 minutes.I’m still good. Things in the 407 cockpitare a little bit different and I want tolearn the correct way to do them. Notsurprisingly, there is also a “Wright” wayof doing the hydraulics check: (1) HYDSYS Switch off (Caution Light ShouldCome On); (2) Cyclic Centered (3)Cyclic Control Check…here comes theMarty way. In a fluid series of relativelyquick movements, rock the cyclic for-

10 Photography: One of the Training Academy’s 18 multi-media classrooms; The new practice lanes, just minutes from the Academy, with the Texas Motor Speedway in the background; Bell Helicopter

ward out of center, then back throughcenter continuing until it is an inch or soout of center coming aft. Then forwardto center and right until out of center.Then back through center until out ofcenter to the left. The whole exerciseshould look like only 4 smooth motions:forward, aft, right, left. Done properlythe helicopter gently leans in the direc-tion of the cyclic. The whole thing’sover in about 2 seconds.

The Texas Motor Speedway

All the checks are done, I hand thecheck list over to Marty for stowage, andI take a moment just to experience thehelicopter on the ground at 100% RPM.First thing I notice—it is quiet. The nextthing I notice—it is talking to me.What’s it saying? “Let’s go, let’s go,let’s go…” OK, it could be my writer’simagination. And it could have some-thing to do with the fact that we werepretty close to sea level with two smallerguys on board and about 1.5 hours offuel, but this thing was literally raring togo. Not in an undisciplined, I’m going tojump off the ground kind of way, butmore like an excited kid. It was ready tofly, and so was I.

But, let me first set the stage a little.

For the last 8 months, I’d been drivinga helicopter that felt a lot like a big riglugging a load of coal: High DA, MaxGross Weight, Fenestron. It wasn’t a badhelicopter, but it was nothing like this.Now, I was sitting in a Lamborghini—lots of extra power, takes a gentle touch,the pedals were backwards…I was think-ing that it might take me an hour or so toget the hang of things. It didn’t!

As I gently raised the collective for myinitial pick up it didn’t take long beforethe helicopter started to come up. I wasfinally letting it do what it wanted. But,still it behaved with discipline and con-trol. Straight up to a two-foot hover.“Tail clear right,” and a left pedal turn to

head towards the taxiway. We glided outto the taxiway, Marty made the call andwe were cleared for takeoff.

“Head down the taxiway, then climband turn right before you get to thatbuilding,” he pointed. We were off.

When I said that the new Bell TrainingAcademy was “smack dab in the Middleof Nowhere” I may have been a littleunkind. It is, after all, just an exit awayfrom the Texas Motor Speedway, thehome of NASCAR to all in the Dallas-Ft.Worth area. And, as it turns out, thespeedway is on the base leg of the newpractice lanes located just a short hopfrom the airport.

“Just make a normal approach to thebeginning of that 2nd lane over there,”Marty directed. The Texas MotorSpeedway slowly disappeared behind usas I descended and brought the helicopterto a hover over the spot. I took-off into

the wind, executing a normal take-off,leveling off at 1,200 ft. making right traf-fic to bring it in for a steep approach.Marty was just having me get a feel forthe helicopter.

Have you ever noticed that some heli-copters take a little work to get used to?The pedals don’t feel quite right or thecollective seems a little jumpy. This justwasn’t the case in the 407. The pedalshad a very delicate touch, but that wasnot unlike the R22 or R44 and I felt athome on them. The collective has a verylarge vertical “throw”. In other words, atthe end of a full down auto, fully cush-ioned, the collective is WAY up in yourarm pit. Consequently, all that travelgives you a very high degree of controland finesse over your collective inputs.Pick-ups and set downs are very smooth.In 20 minutes I felt comfortable in thecockpit. By my next lesson, I felt like Iwas home.

www.autorotate.com

11

Marty had me do a hovering auto.Again, very smooth with all that collec-tive to work with. The only difficulty Ihad was on a quickstop, executed diago-nally across the field containing the prac-tice lanes. Take-off, get to 40 knotsabout 50 feet up, smoothly lower the col-lective while putting in aft cyclic, a littleleft pedal. OOPS! I mean right! DamnEuropean helicopters. Oh well, justthinking a little too hard. When leftalone to their own devices, my feet knewexactly what to do.

We set up for a straight-in auto with apower recovery and I don’t notice any-thing too different there, except our glideis steeper than that seen in a 206 andMarty had me flare a little higher—75’.There was something a little odd with theprofile of our approach, but we didn’thave too much time to get into that rightthen.

Marty had me take-off and head out ona short cross-country run. I climbed to2,000’ and took it to 140 knots–Vne. Inoticed a few things right away. Givenour weight, and DA and the nature of thebeast, this thing wanted to climb. In fact,there is a 2,000 fpm climb limitation onthe 407 and it would have been VERYeasy to exceed it. Another thing—in myexperience, some aircraft really don’twant to get to their Vne and they tell youso. They start shaking and quaking andthe noise level really increases. They’llget there, but they don’t like it and bothyou and the helicopter know it. Not sowith the 407. It slides smoothly up toVne without any balking of any kind.Still quiet. still smooth—140 knots feelsjust like 100 knots. In fact, it wouldn’ttake anything more than a slight lapse inattention to blast right on by 140. Trustme, I know.

As we leveled-off Marty reached upand punched the FADEC AUTO/MANU-AL button, instantly putting us in MAN-UAL mode. I’m not sure what I expect-

ed, but what I got were a few lights and achime, and not much more. We just kepton flying. I paid a little more attention tomy NR, gently adding a little throttlewhen I noticed a couple of percent drop.Marty re-engaged the FADEC toAUTO—again, nothing noticeable andwe headed back towards Alliance. Onthe way, he had me climb to 3000’ andenter an OGE Hover. We intentionallyentered a Settling with Power conditionand then he talked me through the recov-ery: lower the collective slightly, for-ward cyclic to fly out of it, we have someforward speed, bring the power back in,return to normal flight profile.Everything by the book. We returnedhome.

A different style of autorotation

Prior to commencing my second flight,I was discussing the different feel of theautos in the 407 with Wayne Brown, Sr.Instructor Pilot Specialist. Wayne hasbeen an instructor at the academy for along time and he was sent out to get thefirst Training Academy 407 years ago.“When a new helicopter is brought outfrom the factory, it becomes our responsi-bility to fly it, learn all of the nuances,and determine the best way to performthe maneuvers in that aircraft. Our tech-nique then forms the basis of the trainingsyllabus and the way we teach our cus-tomers to fly this aircraft,” Wayneexplained. “The 407 has a lower inertiarotor system than the 206 but its tremen-dous responsiveness to the control inputsdelivers a great auto. But, as we gainedexperience with the aircraft, we discov-ered that a more “fluid” auto seemed thebest technique with the 407.” I waslooking forward to understanding thisbetter from a personal perspective duringthe next flight.

Marty and I returned to the practicearea with a long list of emergency proce-dures to review: full down autos, 180autos, hovering autos, hydraulic failure,

quick stops, and flight in manual mode.I’m happy to say that my quick stopsreturned to normal state (thank you, feet)and hovering autos continued to be apleasure in this aircraft. My first simulat-ed hydraulic failure, however, was notexactly a thing of beauty, though it wasentirely of my own doing. We weredownwind in the pattern when Martyreached up and turned off the hydraulics.I began to slow down a little and starteda gradual descent as we turned right intothe base leg. So far so good. The air-craft felt much like other aircraft operat-ing with hydraulics disabled—no better,no worse. I was relieved to note that theabsence of the hydraulics on the pedalsdid not significantly add to the increasedwork load. I was setting up to do a run-ning landing to the lane in front of meand was still looking good when Istopped following my own advice.

When I’m teaching hydraulics off land-ings, the mantra I usually repeat over andover to my students is, “Make smallermovements sooner.” Making small cor-rections as soon as you see a deviationyou don’t like makes it easier to keepthings pointing the right way, rather thanwaiting too long and having to makelarge corrections that, without fail, turninto over-corrections, that then turn intoover-corrections the other way, etc.

Somewhere in there I got too slow andbegan chasing my tail. Visions of a nicesmooth running landing rapidly disinte-grated as the runway, which was sup-posed to be in front of me, began makingits way off to my left. With some helpfrom Marty we brought the helicopterinto a hover and set it down. “Well, thegood news is that you can see that it ispossible to hover the 407 withouthydraulics and land,” Marty said in anattempt to look for a positive note.“Let’s try that again, and this time, keepyour speed up a little more and get onthose course adjustments a little sooner.”We took off for another pattern and this

12

time I did one of the better hydraulics-offrunning landings of my career. OK, thatwasn’t so bad.

Today, and from this point on, all ofour autos were full-downs. We startedoff with a straight-in auto, Marty givingme verbal guidance as we went. He initi-ated the auto by rolling the throttle toIDLE. Entry was standard: lower collec-tive, aft cyclic to maintain attitude and alittle RIGHT pedal. The glide was steep-er than the 206, looking more like theglide of the EC130B4. At 75 feet, Martyhad me begin a flare—not too much,watch the RPM. “Now start bringing in alittle collective,” Marty encouraged. Atthis point we were neither in a “standard”glide, nor in a “standard” flare, parallel-ing the ground, We were somewhere inbetween. But, though different than whatI’m used to, it felt somehow right. As wewere coming up on the spot, I continuedto slow down with the cyclic whilebeginning a long, continuous cushioningraise of the collective. My target disap-peared behind the instrument panel and Iswitched my visuals to down through thefloor panels as I continued to raise thecollective adding a touch of forwardcyclic to level the aircraft. And then wewere gently touching down, just forwardof the target, with only a short glide. Thecollective was in my armpit when Ibegan lowering it back down.

“So, what do you think?” asked Marty.“That was fun!” And I meant it.“Different, but fun. Let’s go do thatagain.” And off we went. As we didauto after auto, now moving to 180s fromboth the left and the right, a few patternsbegan to clarify for me. You have to geton 180s in the 407 a little faster than youdo in the 206s. The higher descent ratewarrants a rapid entry and immediate ini-tial turn back towards the target and it isimperative to keep your eyes outside onthe intended touch down point from thevery beginning. Other than that, straight-ins and 180s all assumed that same

“fluid” approach path rather than theGlide-Flare-Cushion-Run On rigidstepped approach more typical in theindustry. I liked it. The autos becamesmoother and it was easier to maintainyour focus on the spot when you wereapproaching it from a higher perspectivethan in a typical, horizontally movingflare. But for me, though fun, this wasstill “work” and after a half a dozen 180s,I was ready to head towards the barn.

3 FADEC Failure Profiles: High, Lowand Cruise Power

The FADEC has gone through a lot ofmodifications over the years since the407 was introduced, in fact it is now inits 5th generation. Dual inputs, poten-tiometers for control positions on thethrottle and the addition of a FLY posi-tion, somewhere just short of full open,all serve to temper the dramatics. Thenet result is that a FADEC failure is noth-ing to be intimidated by. However, goodtechnique is emphasized to help the pilotavoid two situations residing at oppositeends of the spectrum: low RPM andoverspeed.

We started off with a FADEC Failureto MANUAL while in the downwind legof the pattern. Marty reached up andswitched to MANUAL mode, we got thechime, I hit the button once to silence it.

We were cruising at about 100 knotswhich took about 90% NG under currentconditions. Nothing dramatic happened.I continued to fly the helicopter usingmanual throttle corrections as wedescended and slowed down. Thisrequired a slight reduction in throttle tokeep NR/NP in the green on the waydown. Marty had me come to a 10’hover over my spot. “All I want you todo from here is gently roll off a littlethrottle until we get a very slow descentstarted. That’s it,” he added as I followedhis instructions and we gently began set-tling toward the ground. Once wetouched down he cautioned me to roll thethrottle to idle, then slowly lower the col-lective all the way down.

He explained what just happened.

“We teach this style of landing with aFADEC Failure to MANUAL to help theprotect the pilot from an overspeed con-dition. Get it into a high hover, roll off alittle throttle, and you’ll gently comedown to the ground. At that point, youwant to remember not to slam down thecollective or you’ll likely get an over-speed. Just roll off the throttle, and slow-ly lower the collective. Keep everythingslow and controlled and you won’t haveany problems,” Marty concluded.

“In flight, when we switched to MAN-UAL, did you notice any dramatic

www.autorotate.com

13Photography: 407; Bell Helicopter

change in NG or NR/NP,” Marty asked?“No, it really wasn’t any big deal,” Irecalled. “That’s right, it wasn’t,” heconfirmed. “That’s because when theFADEC goes to MANUAL, the HMUhydro-mechanically adjusts the NG to90%. If you’re already close to 90%,then you don’t observe anything signifi-cant. But, if you’re in a very low powersetting, then you’ll see it rise towards90% and you’ll have to intervene to pre-vent an overspeed. Conversely, if you’reusing a lot of power when you get a fail-ure, doing a max performance takeoff,attempting to clear some trees at HighDA, you’ll get a drop to 90% NG andyou’ll have to counter that with the throt-tle. This time, let’s fly the pattern andswitch to MANUAL on final approach.I’ll step you through it.” FADEC toAUTO, Throttle to FLY. Pick it up to ahover and away we go.

This time, while on final approach,with NG at about 83% Marty reached upand switched to MANUAL mode. “Now,raise the collective a couple of inches androll off a little throttle.” I did as I wasinstructed, and a few seconds later theNG began to rise, leveling off backaround 83%. In effect, by raising the col-lective and rolling off a little throttle wewere buffering the anticipated actions ofthe HMU against a potential overspeedcondition. Worked like a charm. I com-pleted my approach to a 10’ hover andused the Factory standard approach forFADEC MANUAL landing. “Goodwork,” Marty encouraged. “Now let’s doa max performance take-off and see whathappens when we FAIL to MANUAL.”

We got back on AUTO and I executeda max performance take-off with NG at93%. Marty pushed the FADEC and wewent to MANUAL. There was about a 2second delay and then the NG started todrop to 90%. I simply rolled on a littlethrottle, took NG back to about 93% andwe resumed our takeoff profile without

any issues. I continued to fly the patternmanually and again set up for theFADEC Fail to MANUAL approach. 10’hover, roll off throttle, gently get it on theground, throttle to idle, lower collective.Ta-Da!

On my 4th and final flight of the weekwe reviewed everything one more timeincluding another, most excellent,hydraulics-off landing, if I do say somyself, finally concluded with a 180 fulldown experience, that I don’t expect torepeat any time soon.

Marty had given me some excellentpointers on my 180s this week, one of themost significant was, “Go ahead and usethe pedals to help bring it around quicklyafter the initiation so you can get youreyes on the spot right away.” Greatadvice. I was coming in on my spot, at75’ I initiated a flare, and then raised thecollective slightly as I aimed the helicop-ter at my intended touch down point. Asthe spot was moving into position I grad-ually continued my collective raise, just alittle, just a little, until I was 5’ above thespot, I leveled with the cyclic andsmoothly and continuously brought thecollective in almost up to the stops.Right on the spot, we touched down witha short glide and came to a rest. The col-lective control on the 407 is so superiorthat neither one of us could even feel themoment of touchdown. One minute wewere in the air, the next we were on theground and you couldn’t tell when exact-ly the transition had occurred.

Now that’s a pilot’s helicopter!

So why do an article on the Bell 407? Several

reasons. In the scheme of things, the 407 is a

relatively “new” helicopter. Many of us have

never been fortunate enough to fly one and I

thought that sharing my experience would be of

interest to those readers. And, of those that have

flown it, not all have had the opportunity to

attend the factory course and I thought sharing

Bell’s techniques and perspectives would be of

interest to you. Finally, it looked like it would be

fun—and it was!

My appreciation to everyone at Bell who

made this article possible and my genuine thanks

to all my friends at Bell, old and new—Launa

Barboza, Scott Baxter, Wayne Brown, Dave Fox,

Alacia Lane, Larry Stone, Jim Szymanski, Marty

Wright. You guys do good work!

END14 Photography: An artistic, fish-eye lens view of one of the new FTDs; Bell Helicopter

The Bell 407Seating 7 (Including Pilot)

Airframe 41’ 8.5” (Overall Length)10’ 3.8” Height

Main Rotor 4 (No. of blades)35’ diameter10.75” chordline-13º twist

Tail Rotor 2 (No. of blades)65” diameter6.40” chordline

Powerplant Rolls Royce 250-C47B674 shp (takeoff)630 shp (max. continuous)Full Authority Digital ElectronicControl (FADEC)

Hydraulic Controls: Cyclic, Collective, Tailrotor Controls

Limitations:AirspeedVne 140 knotsDoors Off (Any) 100 knotsAutorotation 100 knots

Max. Operating Altitude20,000’ (density or pressure-whichever lower)

WeightsMin. GW 2,650 lbs.Max.GW (internal) 5,000 lbs.Max. GW(internal) 5,250 lbs. (FMS-28)Max. GW (external) 6,000 lbs.Cargo Hook Cap. 2,650 lbs.

FuelStandard config. 130 U.S. GallonsW/ aux. tank 150 U.S. Gallons

Max rate of climb2,000 fpm

Slope LandingsSide 10ºNose up 10ºNose down 5º

Question: I just received a letter fromthe FAA notifying me of a “slight vari-ance or technical discrepancy” on myEKG. The FAA is now requesting addi-tional information, how should I pro-ceed?

Answer: Because EKG’s (ECG’s) aretransmitted to the FAA electronically,often “technical discrepancies” can occur.There are also situations where the EKGmay indicate a so-called “normal variant”without having heart disease. Often hav-ing your Aeromedical Examiner repeatthe EKG will clear up this discrepancy.On occasion, additional evaluation willbe needed. Unless specifically statedotherwise, your medical certificate is stillvalid while you are having the EKG orother evaluations performed.

Question: My doctor recently suggest-ed I would benefit from treating myincreased cholesterol level. What is cur-rent FAA policy?

Answer: Although an increased bloodcholesterol level is not disqualifying,many diseases may occur secondary tohaving this condition for a long time.FAA allows most medications that arecurrently prescribed for treating highblood cholesterol levels. When startingmedication, you should “ground test” forat least 48 hours to be sure there are noadverse reactions. You can then continueto fly on your current FAA medical cer-tificate and report the medication use atthe time of your next FAA exam.

The Virtual Flight Surgeons aeromed-ical physician staff are available as aPHPA membership benefit for pilots withaeromedical concerns and questions

regarding their FAA medical certificates.Please visit their site atwww.AviaitonMedicine.com and click on“Corporate & Partnership ConfidentialQuestionnaire”. Select your Organizationfrom the drop-down menu and completethe Confidential Questionnaire. VFS willaddress each question by telephone oremail within two business days.

Dr. Snyder is a Distinguished Graduate of the

United States Air Force Academy and Duke

University School of Medicine. He has complet-

ed medical residencies in Family Practice and

Aerospace Medicine. He is board certified in

both specialties, as well as Occupational

Medicine. Dr. Snyder received his Master’s of

Science Degree in Public Health from the

University of Colorado Health Sciences Center.

He holds commercial pilot and CFI ratings since

1975 and is a Designated Pilot Examiner. He

oversees airline, ATC and business aeromedical

services. He has flying experience in over 50

aircraft models and is a three-time Command

Flight Surgeon of the Year and USAF Academy

Instructor Pilot of the year.

END

www.autorotate.com

Photography: Virtual Flight Surgeons

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Q & A,Courtesy Virtual Flight Surgeons© Virtual Flight Surgeons® Inc.

15

Helicopter pilots, as a rule, are a patri-otic bunch. But, we work hard for ourmoney, and at the end of the year, it isour God-given responsibility to hang onto as much of it as possible when itcomes time to make economic restitutionwith our good ole’ Uncle. Sorry Uncle,but a pilot’s gotta do what a pilot’s gottado.

And here’s how to do it.

If you can’t itemize, you’ve got a prob-lem

In the simplest world of tax reconcilia-tion, you take your W2, fill in the blankson form 1040 EZ, claiming the standard,government granted deductions of $8,200filing singly or $16,400 filing jointly (thestandard deduction and personal exemp-tion figures for 2005), fill in all theblanks, send it in with a check or waitanxiously for your refund and the longanticipated cruise to San Carlos. If thissounds like you, then put down this mag-azine and go figure out how to buy ahouse so that you can be one of thosewho CAN itemize their deductions, com-plete with a Schedule A (ItemizedDeductions).

Yes, this means that your life will bemore complicated, and you will spend atleast one weekend a year staring blankly

at your dining room table covered inreceipts, statements, torn envelopes andW2s. But, you will also be positioned tokeep more of your hard-earned money.I’ll give you a second to decide.

If you’re still here, I’m assuming thatyou DO itemize and that some helpfultidbits about places where helicopterpilots could claim some additional deduc-tions may be of interest.

Looking for deductions

A deduction is an amount that the gov-ernment allows you to subtract from yourincome to help reduce your tax burden.The deductible expenses relevant to thisarticle will fall under the category of mis-cellaneous itemized deductions on yourSchedule A. Unfortunately, you don’tjust get to write them down, total themup and claim the sum. Only the amountthat exceeds 2% of your adjusted grossincome is deductible.

Let’s examine several flavors of poten-tial expense categories: Work relatedexpenses for which you were not reim-bursed, relocation expenses, and addi-tional training or membership fees youpaid for to further your career. Rules andregulations apply to all these areas, buthere are some trigger points that mighthelp you identify some areas where you

might save on your taxes.

Travel, Temporary Assignment Costs

It is the nature of the helicopter beastthat many of us find ourselves away fromhome, sometimes for extended periods oftime. If you are an employee of a com-pany and fighting a fire in Idaho for 2months, on assignment in SouthAmerican for a year, or rescuing peopleoff rooftops in New Orleans for twoweeks, you may be incurring “duplicate”costs. If you are, and if you are notbeing reimbursed for those costs by yourcompany, you can deduct them onSchedule A. The same logic applies ifyou are considered a contract employeeor temporary employee (i.e. Doing sea-sonal work in the Grand Canyon orAlaska).

According to David Cohen, CPA. andpartner in Beach, Fleischman, and Co.P.C., a prominent, Tucson based account-ing firm, a duplicate cost is, “an expensethat you are already paying for at home,that you are having to duplicate becauseyou are working away from home.”Examples of duplicate costs would belodging (motel, trailer space rental, etc.),car rental, and telephone calls home. Ifyou are required to wear a uniform,cleaning costs for your uniform or costs

16 Photography: Jupiter Images.

I Love My Uncle Sam, But…By Tony Fonze

to acquire your uniform may also bededucted. The same thing applies tosafety gear. (Uniform purchase andcleaning costs and safety gear acquisi-tions can be deducted even if you areworking at home.)

Food is NOT a duplicate cost since youhave to eat whether you are home oraway, although it is true, we sometimeseat twice as much when we’re away fromhome. There’s comfort in food.

If your temporary assignment or con-tract work requires you to travel to yourwork site then airfares may be deductedas well as a mileage deduction for use ofyour personal vehicle. Allowablemileage deductions have been varyingsignificantly over the last year or so withthe rapid change in oil prices. If yourtravel was incurred from January 01,2005-August 28,2005 you can deduct40.5 cents a mile. Between August 29,2005-December 31, 2005, 48.5 cents amile. And, as of January 1, 2006, therate has dropped to 44.5 cents a mile.

No “double-dipping” is permitted. Ifyour company reimburses you for thesecosts, then you may not also claim themas deductions. However, if they onlypartially reimburse you (i.e. they giveyou $25.00/day for housing but housingcosts $50.00/day), then you can claim thedifference. Similarly, if you work in theGulf, but live in Florida and make thedrive to handle your shift every otherweek, those costs are not deductible. Youdon’t get reimbursed for choosing to livein Florida. If they paid you to make thatcommute, then they’d have to pay every-one who drove from Redondo Beach toVan Nuys to get to their job in LA.

PHPA Membership is Deductible

The government allows you to deductthe costs associated with maintaining orenhancing your professional standing ortraining. This means that if you attendHAI, subscribe to PHPA, pay union dues,

or pay other association fees or dues,these are deductible. Same thing appliesto relevant magazine subscriptions.

And, since we need to get our annualClass 2 or Class 1 physical in order tomaintain our employment, these costs,too, are deductible.

Under the right circumstances, you caneven deduct the expenses associated withadditional training that enhances yourskills or professional standing. Forexample, you are a working pilot anddecide to go back and get your instru-ment rating. The costs associated withobtaining that training, taking your checkride, driving to and from the school, etc.are all deductible. The same thingapplies to getting your ATP. However, ifyou have your private and are workingtowards your commercial or CFI, thosecosts are not deductible, because you arenot yet employable as a helicopter pilot.

Here’s an interesting fact that may helpsome of you. There are more than a fewpilots out there who are not currentlyworking as helicopter pilots but techni-cally they could be: they have their com-mercial and CFI ratings and they are still“active” in the industry. And, theydecide to go get their instrument rating orATP. Even though you’re not being paidas a pilot at this time, you can still deductthese related educational expenses fromyour other income. This is intended forthose who, at some point, actually intend

to work as pilots.

Relocation Cost

Un-reimbursed relocation costs are alsodeductible. So, if you get a new job, andyour employer doesn’t cover your costsof relocation you can deduct for thetransportation of your household goods,personal auto mileage, and lodging alongthe way. Unlike the past, you can nolonger deduct for temporary housing atyour new location or costs incurred relat-ed to the sale of your old home.

No, you cannot deduct the costs associ-ated with interviewing for a new job.

Just because you say it is so, doesn’tmean that our dear Uncle is going to takeyour word for it. So, if you are able todeduct some of the costs we’ve discussedtry to make sure that you have receiptsand evidence that those expenses wereactually incurred, just like you said theywere. This may require some advanceplanning for next year.

Tax evaluation and planning is best leftto the professionals and this article is notmeant as a definitive tax guide. So if youhave some additional questions, don’t askme, ask a tax person. But, hopefully, thisarticle may point out some things we canall do to hang on to a little more of ourhard-earned cash.

END

www.autorotate.com

17

It would be my hunch that the Huey isabout the largest helicopter most of uscould be expected to fly with nohydraulics. That’s probably why justabout every helicopter larger than a UH-1H has dual hydraulics, or some kindastored-pressurization system that gives uspilots perhaps three movements of thecontrols before all that altitude, airspeed,and rotor energy comes back to haunt us.

The ease with which the stiff collectivepitch control moves (hydraulics-off)depends largely upon the precise adjust-ment of a certain acorn nut on the rotorhead. When a rebuilt rotor head isinstalled on the aircraft, it is standardprocedure for the maintenance technicianto install the main rotor blades, then trackand balance everything to within pointtwo IPS (inches per second) on theChadwick balancer. Afterward, a flightcheck - with the hydraulics turned off - isnecessary to determine if the acorn nutadjustment is set correctly.

Here’s what happens when it ain’t

It had been around ten days since myprevious ride’s turbine engine explodedamid great fanfare. The ringing in myears had subsided somewhat and I wasjust beginning to feel comfortable withmy replacement Huey. The load of par-tially burnt Idaho logs I had swingingalong under me never did make it to thelog landing, but at least they had myexpensive Mechanical Specialties remotehook and long line for company when Ipunched them off from three hundredfeet.

I had felt a sharp lurch in the controlsand heard a frightful shrieking sound asthe hydraulic pump cavitated, promptingme to reduce power and ditch the exter-nal load - as called for in the operator’s

manual. The customary Master Cautionlight was beaming back at me from itscentral place on the instrument panel, andthe appropriate caution segment lightannounced hyd press - just in case I’dbeen napping.

Calling out my problem over the log-ging radio frequency, I stayed on myheading and went through the usual cir-cuit-breaker slash control-switch checksand came up on the short end. The pun-gent odor of military hydraulic fluid rein-forced my diagnosis: No fluid – no pres-sure! My helmet’s sweaty earphonesfilled with choruses of concern from theground-pounders as to my well being,then trailed off politely as the plot thick-ened.

Having force-landed a flaming Hueynear the upcoming log landing a fewdays back, I knew for a fact that therewas not a clear place around where Icould shoot a running landing, as wascalled for. Control wise, anything belowtwenty knots wasn’t going to fly. Thesteep terrain below me was heavilyforested. There was a dirt access roadthat twisted and turned under tallscorched sugar pine and burned Douglasfir trees. Hover landing opportunitiesonly – running landings were not anoption!

Heading southwest down the hilltoward Lake Payette, I eased the powerback from eighty knots to make flyingthe big bird less of a strain. I noticed as Ipushed down on the collective pitchlever, it went down about a half-inch -but it would not come back up! I hadflown stiff-controlled Hueys before, andfigured this was one of them. But, I soondiscovered despite my greatest effortsthat I could not increase the pitch; I could

only lower it. The power I had dialed innow would not be enough to hover with.I was in a descent, like it or not.

Fortunately, we were logging 7000’above sea level, at the edge of a steepforested plateau. There was the lakebelow me, surrounded by roads - but itwas heavily traveled and tree-lined. Ithought seriously about ditching the shipalong the rocky shoreline, but the lakewas deep (and cold) and the ship wouldbe lost.

Realizing McCall’s airport was lessthan ten miles ahead - at a little over5,000’ - I swallowed hard and radioedScotty, my trusty A&P field mechanic,that I was going to try and make the air-port, and silently prayed that nothing elsewent south until I reached dry land.Scotty jumped into the company’s paneltruck and raced down the hill after me.

Owing to the prevailing severe-clearweather conditions, the central Idaho air-port was already visible. I got busy onthe local Unicom frequency, advisingMcCall traffic that I was inbound fromthe north with a hydraulics failure, plan-ning on a run-on landing. A friendlyfixed-winger’s voice came back advisingme that the local smokejumpers had alarge, four-engined jump plane shut downon the active runway, a demonstration ofsome kind. Can you say PB4Y?

Okay, I can make out the giant, high-winged plane from here. That leaves halfa runway in front of him and half behindhim, but it wouldn’t be prudent to slideonto the runway anywhere near the BUF(Big ugly…airplane). No more headlinesfor me, thanks!

Deciding I would vie for the paralleltaxiway instead, I heard a tail-dragger

18

More Collective Pitch, Scotty!By Dorcey Wingo

Hydraulic Failures of the Rude Variety

taxi out and radio for advisory. Beforehe got out his entire message, a loudsqueal from a competing transmitter blot-ted him out. The pattern was heating up,and here I came.

I decided by then that I’d wasted toomuch time on the taxi-way and re-aimedmy red helicopter for the two-ship heli-port just east of the active runway andtake my chances. The twin Hs werevacant - no airplanes were taxing by -and I’d be headed right into a ten-knotwind. There would be no go-around.

On a half-mile final, I couldn’t havebeen happier with my glide slope. Butsince I couldn’t pull any collective pitchat the bottom, I knew I was going to haveto slam the big red toad down like agyrocopter with a hernia.

I tried not to be too surprised by thepole-and-cable security fence that cameinto view at one-quarter mile final. Thewould-be-arresting-cable ran across myflight path left to right and cut backacross at the far end, right to left. TheCaptain was boxed in!

With my dusty cowboy boots standingon the pedals, straining my abdominalslike a ruptured duck behind the thick lapbelt - pulling as hard as my weenie armcould possibly pull on the (slightly bent)collective pitch lever - it is indeed a won-der that I didn’t bust a gut, right there inthe saddle!

The skids weren’t quite level when Icontacted the pavement, but that’s theway the cookie crumbles. My headbobbed as the ship’s rear crosstube bot-tomed out and the ship bounced andpitched forward, sliding twelve more feetbefore I got the pitch down flat and slidto a smoky stop, parked right on the sec-ond H.

I’d have paid good money about thento hear the various glowing commentsfrom the unawares smokejumpers off to

my right, as a few of them craned theirnecks in my direction, arms folded.“Chopper pilots! Probably his best land-ing of the day!” Ha!

I was glad to get my feet back on theground after that. No one came out tocheck on me, neither - I guess I made itlook too uneventful. After shuttingdown, I checked for damage and made itto the pay phone, calling the home office.After explaining why I was calling fromthe airport, I asked my stressed-out bossin the most sincere way, “Would youblame me if I quit, right here and now?”And he was kind enough to say, “Iwouldn’t blame you in the least.”

While walking back to the ship, Scotty(and the whole, wide-eyed logging crew)drove up in a big cloud of dust. Afteradmiring my parking job, Scotty refilledthe hydraulic reservoir and had me fireup the machine. As soon as the oil pres-sure came up, he started banging on the

tranny housing with his flashlight - hol-lering over the noise, “I found it!” and“Shut ‘er down!”

The cause of my little crisis? A tinylittle hole in an oil line just underneaththe hydraulic pump - it was spurting alaser-like stream of cherry juice mydirection as I turned to look.

“Well, don’t just stand there, Scotty,” Iquipped. “Fix it! We’ve got loggin’ todo!”

If you’d like to read more from Dorcey Wingo,

the “Mark Twain of helicopter pilots,” buy his

new book, Wind Loggers, a wonderful collection

of true short stories with that one-of-a-kind

Wingo “voice”. Send your check or money

order for $25.00 to Smoking Hole Productions,

807 W. Lorraine Pl., Rialto, CA 92376-5635. If

you’re nice, he’ll even autograph it for you.

Editor

END

www.autorotate.com

19

To get this next chapter of Wind going,let me present this scenario: It's a rela-tively mild afternoon in the Sierra orRocky Mountains. The wind is normalfor that time of day. No storm fronts aremoving through. No brush or forest firesare burning. There are no lakes nearby.No windsocks or flags or other types ofwind indicators are within view.

Let the helicopter tell you

You are asked to land on a particularridgeline and drop off some passengers.You make one or two of the obligatoryrecon turns over the intended landingspot, but you don't pick up on any signif-icant wind when doing so. The questionis, is there any wind right there whereyou intend to come to a hover? Is itimportant enough to know? Yes, it is!

The wind you might have detected atyour recon altitude and airspeed may notbe what is actually happening where youwant to land, and that is what is reallyimportant when all is said and done. Notthe wind at the recon altitude, but thewind that may be blowing at your intend-ed landing spot.

So what do you do now? Shoot anapproach! But, do it this way: Movewell away from the intended landing spotand begin a very straight, smoothapproach at whatever angle of descent (orascent) you are comfortable with. Thestraight part refers to the ground track ofthe helicopter. Fly in a straight linetowards the landing spot, but KEEP THEBALL IN THE MIDDLE. Smoothlydecelerate all the way in, so that whenyou come to a hover, you do so withoutan obvious flare. If you have any doubtabout the ability of the helicopter tohover at the intended landing spot, bringit to an OGE hover well before youarrive at the landing spot, to see if you

have an adequate reserve of temp., torqueand pedal to handle the landing, or toextract yourself from the site if it turnsout you cannot land there for some rea-son (obstacles, etc.)

This is a simple but very powerfultechnique that lets the pilot quickly andeasily pick up on the wind direction, ifany. I cannot overemphasize the impor-tance of using this technique.

By keeping the ball in the middle asyou make the approach, you can tell ifthere is a wind component coming fromeither side of the flight path. When thehelicopter is flying on a straight pathover the ground, the slip/skid indicatorbecomes an inclinometer, or a level, ifyou wish. If there is a wind coming fromthe right side of the helicopter as you aremaking the approach, you will have tocrab to the right to keep the ship level.The opposite is true if you have a windblowing from the left side. You will haveto crab left to keep the ship level. Thehelicopter thinks it is flying straight intothe wind when it is level.

The "crab" may seem strange and awk-ward to you, but the helicopter is veryhappy! The only situation in which thehelicopter will not need to be crabbed leftor right to remain level is if the windhappens to be directly on the nose or thetail, or, in other words, you have 2chances out of 360 chances to be in thatsituation! Zero degrees and 180 degrees!It does not happen very often, folks.

Using this technique is one of the mostimportant things we teach in ouradvanced mountain course here atWestern Helicopters. Once you've triedit, there is no going back. All the way toa hover, keeping the ship level tells youfrom which side, if any, the wind isblowing. It does not tell you if it is a

headwind or tailwind, but it does tell youthere is a wind. Couple this with theconstantly slowing type of approach, andyou will end up knowing all you need toknow about the wind direction and veloc-ity as you approach to a hover.

LTE? What about it?

And one more thing: We talk a lotabout LTE, the loss of tail-rotor effective-ness. Guess what? LTE is a non-event ifthe wind is always blowing directly onthe nose or tail of the helicopter! So, bykeeping the helicopter level on the wayto a hover, the wind vectors never favorthe generation of LTE! For us here atWestern, it has meant that during themany years of teaching advanced moun-tain flying in all sorts of wind conditions,we've never had a single case of LTE!What a nice side benefit that is fromkeeping the ball in the middle.

Again, keep slowing down on theapproach with the intent of coming to ahover with no detectable flare. As youget closer and closer to the hover spot,you'll be able to see and feel if the windhas a headwind or tailwind component.If it acts like a tailwind, you can make adecision as to whether to continue to ahover or to make a go-around andapproach from a different direction. Ifyou do decide to go in with a tail wind,

20 Photography: Pete Gillies, by Tom Magill

Purely ‘Pete’

More on WindBy Pete Gillies

make sure you follow the acceptedSettling with Power avoidance procedure:Very slow descent rate (Less than 300fpm, if airspeed less than 30 knots).

By the way, let me define "level." Allsingle-rotor helicopters, some more thanothers, lean one way or another in a zero-wind hover. This is a result of translatingtendency. As the helicopter slows downfrom cruise airspeed, any translating ten-dency becomes more pronounced, andyou may be required to counter withopposing cyclic. When you come to ahover, the ship may have an obvious leanone way or the other. Any wind fromeither side can increase or decrease theamount of “lean” required to maintain ahover over the spot.

To find out what is “level” for yourparticular make and model of helicopter,observe the position of the pedals and theball in normal flight at various power set-tings. How clearly I remember that ourLamas and Alouette 3s leaned to the rightwhen flying in a straight line! So "level"for those aircraft meant that you were ina left turn! Ah, the good old yaw stringtechnique!

In our mountain course, we teach manyother techniques for determining thewind direction and velocity on shortfinal. There is a lot of information out-side the bubble, if the pilot will just taketime to look and see. Yes, there is a dif-ference between looking and seeing. Allof us can “look.” The question is, whatdo you “see”? By no means have I cov-ered the subject in depth here. If any ofyou readers would like to see a moredetailed article about this subject, letTony the editor know atTonyFonze@autorotate.org and I'll do mybest to expand on the nitty gritty ofdetecting and determining wind directionand velocity in off-road type operations.

I started to list down all of the types ofhelicopter flying going on each and everyday somewhere in the world, where wind

information for the flight crew was total-ly lacking; or, the wind components werewell known to the flight crew, but theapproach and landing had to be made in aparticular way, regardless of wind direc-tion or velocity. The list grew to be quitelong, but it included the following: EMSand rescue flights to scenes and hospitalpads; offshore flights to helipads on rigs;flights to pads on rooftops or lower partsof a building; tours landing to fixed-direction pads; high-production, high-pressure external-load flights such as log-ging; powerline construction; approachesand landings that must be made in a par-ticular way because of ground obstruc-tions or other factors such as military orlaw enforcement actions or mandatedflight paths, and on and on. I've just list-ed the ones at the tip of the iceberg.Every day, thousands of helicopter pilotsall over the world handle these sorts ofnon-standard, wind-related challengeswithout bending anything or over-stress-ing their helicopters or scaring their pas-sengers.

But every one of us began our helicop-ter careers with zero hours in our rotor-craft logbook. Nothing. Zip. Many ofus have had no formal training in thesemostly unwritten techniques used socommonly throughout the world everyday. Wind awareness is not all aboutfinding the wind socks or listening to theATIS or the control tower. It is aboutdeveloping the knowledge and skills tobe able to detect winds that may affectyour flight, and to know how to fly thehelicopter accordingly. Want to know

more? ASK! Get some help! Everyprofessional helicopter pilot that I knowis more than willing to share his or herknowledge with you, if you will just ask.Fly with them, if you can, or ask them tofly with you. No one knows it all, butmost of us will readily share what we doknow and what has worked for us.

Pete Gillie is the Chief Flight Instructor of

Western Helicopters, a different kind of flight

school. Western’s predominant clientele includes

local, state and federal law enforcement and

other professional pilot groups from around the

country. Their claim to fame is precision autoro-

tations—how to hit ‘that spot right there’ from

different altitudes, airspeeds and wind direc-

tions. They also teach long-line and mountain

flying. The Western folks provide primary

instruction: private, commercial, CFI, and

instrument as well.

Pete Gillies

WesternOps@aol.com

Editor’s Note: We received some comments

on Pete’s last article, but we didn’t have enough

room to print them in this issue—we will in the

next. One quick thing—in Pete’s column we are

attempting to present some flying wisdom and

expertise that you don’t readily get in ‘flight

school.’ And, as in all publications, space is lim-

ited. So, if we don’t repeat all of the well-known

safety measures about settling with power, LTE,

etc., it’s not because we’re discounting or ignor-

ing those points. We assume you already know

them and we’re trying to give you something

more…a new way of looking at things. It’s a lit-

tle bit of an editorial problem for me, but this

kind of insight and expertise is important to

gather and share and I’m committed to doing it.

Thanks, Tony

END

www.autorotate.com

21

1. Up to about 2,000 feet AGL, sur-face winds do not exactly parallelthe isobars, due to

A. Coriolis Effect

B. Uneven heating of the earth

C. Surface Friction

2. The average decrease in tempera-ture with altitude is called the stan-dard lapse rate and is 2º C or 3. 5º F.

A. True

B. False

3. The maximum amount of watervapor air can hold is dependentupon.

A. Altitude

B. Latitude

C. Temperature

4. Moisture can be added to the airvia all of the following mechanismsexcept

A. Condensation

B. Sublimation

C. Evaporation

5. Relative humidity can beincreased by

A. Lowering the air temperature

B. Raising the air temperature

C. Decreasing wind conditions

6. Frontal passage will be indicatedby

A. A temperature change

B. A shift in the wind direction, speed, orboth

C. Both A & B

7. Atmospheric stability is defined as

A. The resistance of the atmosphere to hori-zontal (frontal movement) motion

B. The resistance of the atmosphere to verti-cal motion

C. Relative humidity below 31%

8. The base of a cloud (AGL) that isformed by vertical currents can beroughly calculated by

A. Dividing the difference between the sur-face temperature and the dew point by 3.5and dividing the remainder by 1000

B. Dividing the difference between the sur-face temperature and dew point by 4.4 andmultiplying the remainder by 1000

C. Multiplying the surface temperature by3.5, dividing the product by the dew point,adding the current wind speed, and takingthe square root

9. The following conditions are nec-essary for thunderstorms to form

A. Warm temperatures, unstable air, light-ning

B. A rapid change in temperature, passingcold front, high humidity

C. Sufficient water vapor, an unstable lapserate, and an initial lifting action

10. A pilot can expect a wind shearzone in a temperature inversionwhenever the

A. Wind speed at 10,000 ft above the sur-face is at least 50 knots

B. Wind speeds between 2,000 ft and4,000 ft above the surface are at least 25knots

C. Inversed lapse rate is greater than 5º Fper 1000 ft.

Test Pilot—A Return to Weather Basics

Answers

1. C

2. A

3. C

4. A

5. A

6. C

7. B

8. B (The convergence of the temperature anddew point lapse rate is 4.4º F per 1,000 ft)

9. C

10. B

22

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YOU in one of our next issues. All

we need is a good photograph of

you and your helicopter; your

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member ID; and a brief write up

about you, your location, and your

photo. Send the information via

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