She’s a brick house:

You didn't friction the collective down, step out, and lay out sticks to direct your hover back to begin the takeoff run as we were to do in Primary at Ft. Wolters. That was the dumbest drill I ever experienced.

contactflying wrote:You didn't friction the collective down, step out, and lay out sticks to direct your hover back to begin the takeoff run as we were to do in Primary at Ft. Wolters. That was the dumbest drill I ever experienced.

Yeah, we were taught that at Ft Rucker as well, and I always thought it was dumb.

But it did come in handy a time or two in a very narrow "confined" area, where there wasn't much maneuvering room. It was too tight to comfortably turn around to taxi back, so I really had to hover backwards to gain as much distance to the trees in front of me as I possibly could. By getting out and marking the spot where I wanted to stop, it was simple to hover backward to that point, and then start the takeoff run.

You just never know when one of those dumb ideas will turn into a good one!

I flew the Hughes 269. The first LZ I landed solo in was wide and level, but had thin ledges. When I stepped off the skid the Mattel Messerschmitt rocked backwards. I immediately stepped back on the skid and took off.

Solo pilots that hot fuel are pretty scary in my opinion! But, it’s legal and commonly done.

Thank you for watching the video!

Helicopters have dangerous moving rotors all over the place. Nice to have crew for clearing the tail and hot fueling. Aircraft commander can stay in seat and be more responsible that way.

contactflying wrote:Helicopters have dangerous moving rotors all over the place. Nice to have crew for clearing the tail and hot fueling. Aircraft commander can stay in seat and be more responsible that way.

Totally agree! In contrast, I see these guys leaving the controls and fueling 3-4 times a day. Not a good time to get ground resonance from a gust of wind or bad track balance.

Yep, all the “nice to haves”. In the bush we hot fuel solo all the time - you can’t risk a rundown battery. Land, idle, friction, roll the drum in close, watch the bung doesn’t pop up into the blades, open battery compartment and hook up the standpipe pump and pump away.

Teaching confined, after landing in a small area I’d but a couple of rocks out, one behind the tail and one in front of the nose so the student learned size and reference. Sometimes used the sun’s shadow to do the same thing on approach.

When you’re working your way down through 200’ of west coast forest canopy to land on a logging road you’ll appreciate all those “stupid” drills.

Enjoyed the video.

8GCBC wrote:Solo pilots that hot fuel are pretty scary in my opinion! But, it’s legal and commonly done.

Thank you for watching the video!

Frankly once you start flying turbine, you can’t afford not to solo hot fuel (cycles). It’s ops normal in commercial / bush helicopter operations, do it a half dozen times a day at work, no issues. Doesn’t concern me on the 44 either with proper thought.

Ardent wrote:

8GCBC wrote:Solo pilots that hot fuel are pretty scary in my opinion! But, it’s legal and commonly done.

Thank you for watching the video!

Frankly once you start flying turbine, you can’t afford not to solo hot fuel (cycles). It’s ops normal in commercial / bush helicopter operations, do it a half dozen times a day at work, no issues. Doesn’t concern me on the 44 either with proper thought.

Yup. One of my favorite things about the 505. Not cycle limited and very short cool down periods for shut down. But im not sure its worth the extra time to shut down just for fuel when the chopper is on the payroll.

Neat, I’ve only walked around one but they look workable, I like the flat floor and payload for light turbine work. I fly the same Arriel engine family in higher output models in the astar and they definitely count cycles just automatically and not in the North American way. Is the 2R in the 505 really no NP cycle limit? Would be a shock to learn that, but would be a huge cost savings.

In the AS350 with the Arriel we take numbers off the cycle counter every flight, and while there’s no starts figure in the logbook, they’re definitely accounted for and a life limiter (NP in particular, and NG cycles).

Ardent wrote:Neat, I’ve only walked around one but they look workable, I like the flat floor and payload for light turbine work. I fly the same Arriel engine family in higher output models in the astar and they definitely count cycles just automatically and not in the North American way. Is the 2R in the 505 really no NP cycle limit? Would be a shock to learn that, but would be a huge cost savings.

In the AS350 with the Arriel we take numbers off the cycle counter every flight, and while there’s no starts figure in the logbook, they’re definitely accounted for and a life limiter (NP in particular, and NG cycles).

An outfitter customer of mine has one, (Stan Stevens) in case you know him. He runs Helio Couriers and now a 505 up in the Territories. According to him there is no start cycle counts which is the one of the main reasons he picked it. Definitely a big cost saving. I need to research some more.

Just did a quick dig was a good exercise, seems it’s the same system as the bigger Arriels in the AS350, automatic cycle count. He won’t have to write starts in the book like an American engine, but they’re definitely being counted against the life of the hot section and will be the biggest cycle component. The cycles to overhaul are comparable to any modern turbine... less than all operators want!

In his logbooks he’ll have an NG cycle column, and an NP cycle column likely rather than starts. The Euros are even more particular about cycles than the Americans, rather than less.

But, sounds like he can afford it, and might as well let him enjoy it without the thought.

Bell Helicopter, “The power plant engine requires periodic inspection and overhauls. The overhaul periods are based on the number of operating hours or on the number of cycles, whichever is the first limit to be attained. Start cycles are a factor because thermal cycles are important in the design of the turbine engine’s rotating components.”

https://www.jubilantenpro.com/Uploads/p ... ations.pdf

I was in the right seat of a Hughes 500 as a observer on a spruce budworm spray project. The pilot said he was going to land and hot fuel. I told him to let me out before he motioned the fuel truck driver to approach. The fuel guy didn't wait for me to get out before he headed towards the helicopter with the fuel nozzle. I opened the door and put my hand out to stop him. No hot fueling with me in the helicopter!

Thanks Angus! Good info.

tcj wrote:I was in the right seat of a Hughes 500 as a observer on a spruce budworm spray project. The pilot said he was going to land and hot fuel. I told him to let me out before he motioned the fuel truck driver to approach. The fuel guy didn't wait for me to get out before he headed towards the helicopter with the fuel nozzle. I opened the door and put my hand out to stop him. No hot fueling with me in the helicopter!

Up here we really wouldn’t get any work done and would cycle out the machines in no time without it. Any forestry & fire job as well, hot fuel is the only way to fuel as the machines are lined up four deep for fuel. I’ve never seen a single hot fueling incident, in thousands of fills. This said, in work that allows it we ask the passengers to get out as you did to hot fuel. It’s an extremely safe process, in particularly so with Jet fuel, which you can extinguish a match in a jar of. There’s a much bigger risk posed to you from getting in and out frankly, with the tail rotor and blades turning, than from refueling.