Howdy-

I am flying this week with a few fellow SAR folks and the pilot from our local medical helicopter service. Our goal is to scout good heli LZ's and generally familiarize the helicopter guy with our most common search areas, evac problems etc.

Anyway my skywagon has plenty of power and I am comfy in the mountains I fly in, but I rarely set up over an area in between peaks to really survey the ground.

I'm looking for any tricks you veterans have to accomplish the mission but also keep a good safety buffer. Advice on flaps and power would also be appreciated. I have an AOA as well and I think it really shines in this type of flight.

Brad

I have done lots of this kind of work with the Wildlife folks in a 185. Here's some things I do...right or wrong...

I like to look at a map and come up with an overall strategy based on terrain, wind, weather, and fuel. This is just a rough plan because chasing animals with a radio collar changes things quick; but at least my map study is done so I know if the critters are taking me somewhere I have no business going into.

When getting ready to "get on target" I always approach from above...always. I have an escape route at the bottom. I plan an escape route at the bottom that does not require a max climb and preferably heads out to lower terrain. Often the route may be a lazy circling climb. I try to plan my escape route along an area that is likely to have good lift.

I never come off one "spot" and try to climb to a point to make another "spot". It never works well and if the terrain is tight (like when spotting goats), you can paint yourself into a corner pretty quickly. It's all about energy managment...kinda like aerobatics in a 150.

Once over the "target" I find that one notch of flap is pretty good and often two notches will tighten my turn nicely. Three notches is just drag...I find that I can turn very tight with two notches of flap and full power if I need to...but that's just a bit of an "escape manuouver"...not something I do as a matter of course but depending on the terrain I'll use this to turn and decend away from a target once we have had our way with it.

If things are not "feeling right" either on the approach to the target or while on target, I roll level, add power and get set up agian. Sometimes this takes several minutes regaining altitude to start over. I hate to abandon the target but I have never been able to "save" my set up once I'm on target if it starts to deteriorate...I'm sure better pilots could but I chicken out.

If you are in turbulence and in a tight, slow turn; the first chirp of the stall horn means you're finished with that target for now. Don't try to stay on target. Roll level, add power, decrease the AofA and start your setup again. This kinda relates to what I said earlier.

Don't take the plane anywhere you're mind has not already been...especially in the mountains. This is one reason I like to start from above; so I can map out my plan in my mind.

You may not be able to "baby" the engine. If much of your flying is done cruising and you're used to doing the "inch a minute" cool down to prevent shock cooling, you will have to change your habits. You will need fairly rapid power changes in this kind of work. It took me a while to get used to it because I like to treat engines like new girlfriends...no old ones...But, assertive and timely power managment (not agressive power managment) is a must in this kind of flying. This was actually a big deal for me to get used to when I started doing this kind of work.

Of course using the wind to keep you on target is a skill you will need. "Turns around a point". I am still lousy at it...

Those at the things I can think of off the top of my head. Have fun and fly safe!

Always know which way is downhill and how you might get there in ground effect, if necessary. When in a significant downdraft, altitude is not what we want. We want to go fast to get out of the downdraft quickly. Forget missing things by 2,000 feet. You can't see anything at 2,000 feet and when God says we're going down, we're going down. Avoiding the ridge will not help. Using ridge lift as much as possible will.

Use energy management to attack the targets you want to observe. Don't use level turns to return to the target. Pitch up using the kinetic energy of cruise, roll onto the target while allowing the nose to fall through naturally (don't pull back,) observe the target in the descent and pitch up after the descent. I'm not talking crop duster turns, just little turns. All turns need to be energy management. Stay ahead of energy available and manage load factor.

When things aren't working, turn at whatever bank is necessary to lower ground while letting the nose fall through. God is bigger than your engine.

Sounds trite, but my advice is to remember that you're flying the airplane--you have spotters who can look at whatever it is that they need to look at, and they're not in charge, you are. So you do your job (flying) and they do their job (spotting), and don't mix the two.

Cary

I'm not a veteran but I've done a bit of this type of flying for what it's worth! The above three posts are pretty spot on as far as I'm concerned. I would add that I'm always look for where I'm going to ditch if the fan stops blowing "right now". Down hill is usually a good direction unless you've already spotted a better one! And in the 180 I usually keep it configured with the first notch (20degrees) of flaps in and manage temps somewhat with the cowl flaps.

Sounds like a fun mission! Have fun.

CW

Aside from the already good advice, I might add, my rule of thumb for rough terrain and low level. Start early, real early, before the sun has a chance to start the air moving. Quit early, if you start to feel the air moving, then go home. Your not saving a life here doing recon, so don't risk yours.

Spend a bit of time on google earth going over the area before you start, grab a couple of waypoints to program into your gps so you go from promising site to promising site. That way you optimize the short low wind/lifty window you have to work in.

Keep it coordinated!

Lots of good advice to this point. But, don't circle. Especially in a canyon or confined area. At some point, you are going to run into your own wake, and a majority of the time that happens it's no big deal....a quick bump and done. But, this, I believe is the genesis of the infamous "Moose Stall". Every once in a while conditions are just perfect and a pilot enters into a circling maneuver to look at something on the ground, runs into his own wake and ends in a stall/spin.

Finally, the recommendation that you should not be an observer is absurd in the extreme. I heard this for decades, as I worked as a pilot for Fish & Wildlife. Precisely how would you expect to precisely maneuver the airplane such that the observers can actually observe what they want to see unless you too look at the subject? Granted, the pilot shouldn't have to devote as much of his or her focus on the subject, but you do have to focus on it, because your job is positioning the airplane such that your observers can see it optimally.

Just don't forget that flying the airplane safely is job one.

MTV

A good compromise might be to have it so you are not the only observer. As MTV said, the pilot will probably have to see and understand what you all are trying to get into position on. But I suspect that it is also very easy for the pilot to momentarily forget about flying the airplane or get distracted onto the wrong thing if he is also the primary or only observer.

So fly the airplane safely as job one as he said, do as little observation as necessary in order to have the ship positioned properly, and allow the photography, detail inspection, cartography, note-taking, and main observing duty to be done by someone else who does not carry the primary responsibility to keep the airplane out of the trees.

If there is any wind to speak of, consider limiting your turns so that you are always turning away from a canyon wall or ridge, and ending your turns before you are turning toward the obstacle, and not making downwind turns at the point where the airplane is close to terrain. In my humble opinion as a washed up old Sierra Nevada sailplane racer, the whole "downwind turn" theory gets much more complicated and exacerbated when you throw proximity to mountains into the picture. And then it gets even more complex when you throw spiraling thermal currents, orographic lift, and anabatic/katabatic winds into the game. I think it is safe to say that doing this in the middle of the day, during spring and summer, is probably a bad decision.

One of the tricks in sailplanes (to compensate for slow roll rates in an emergency) is when you are flying close to a mountain or canyon wall, maintain a moderate bank angle even in level flight, so that if the bottom drops out due to sinking air, you can pull immediately to escape, instead of having to wait for a roll input and then pulling. This can save you a second or two that you may desperately need.

In turbulence and when the air currents are threatening to cause a tip stall, flap deployment will give you geometric twist ("washout"), which will delay or prevent the tip stall. On a Cessna, half flap deployment will also give you more turning power and lift to escape.

The previous advice about using momentum, playing back and forth between potential and kinetic energy, etc. during different parts of the turn, rings true with me as well. You want to carry a lot of extra energy whenever you are turning towards the trees or a slope, so that if the air currents take away energy at the wrong time when you're nose to nose with the hillside, you have a handful of energy in reserve. Trust me, the only time the bottom drops out is when you are in that position.

For the sake of full disclosure, all of the experience I personally have with this type of maneuvering in canyons or mountains was not in Cessnas, or even in powered aircraft. So although I sincerely believe my advice is technically valid, other experienced pilots with lots more time in Cessna 18X aircraft may know different.

With quite a few hours of hunting smokes in Rough terrain, you have to be an observer also!
But you do have to remember to fly the Aircraft at all times. That's your job!
When you do find something set it up for your observer to look at, identify, and record the location.(There side of the plane)
Also remember to know how to put a waypoint in with out having to spend much time reading the book on how to!!
Another thing is the you should know how long from when you punch it in it is until it marks the spot. 30 seconds at 90mph makes a big difference when you have someone on the ground trying to find your mark! (most all GPS's take different amounts of the time), (GET IT RIGHT BEFORE HAND, do some practice!)

And all the rest of the points above!! X2, especially the circles, do race tracks or something else different each turn!

Always turn away from the terrain!!Don't get to slow! That SKYWAGON has all the power in the world until you put it in a position that it does not have enough and then it is just a 150 on a hot day with lots of Pfactor!! (Close to the terrain split S's are just not good things!)

IMHO
Good Hunting
GT


GT

MTV is absolutely right about the pilots need to observe the target. Unless we (pilots) observe the target, we have no situational awareness. Ground reference work cannot be done by reference to instruments. Forget the gauges, all of them. This is 100% contact flying. I haven't hunted animals but have over 12,000 hours on pipelines, one of which was through there on the way from Denver City, Texas to Cortez. That was at 200' AGL all the way in a C-172. Working a target (leak, equipment, etc.) without seeing it would be impossible. Working the mountains without using ridge lift would be impossible. You have excess engine thrust for climb. Don't believe your POH. Ask this old man if he believes an airplane will climb. Answer No! I'm still alive.