Flying The Rotors

[Brian]

There has been a pilot asking what actually does flying the rotors mean and what is it and how do you do it etc. I"m really pressed for time and could you Birdy or some other knowledgeable fellows help out please.

[GraemeMonro]

could you Birdy or some other knowledgeable fellows help out please.

[birdy]

Why pick on me ???I dont know wot the "official" meaning is, and i know alota people think its all bunk, but wen i describe to sumone how to control cattle and fly at the same time, the best thing to call it is "flyn the rotor".General cruisen about simply means take off, level out and trimm off, and watch the world float by.Sinkn the boot into a gyro is just high energy, high bank angles and lots of burned dinosours.Flyn the rotors is different coz your attention is 99% focused on sumthn other than the gyro and can mean high bank angles, high speed, low speed, rapid changes in power, side slips, skimn the deck or all of the abuv and any control input you apply is a reaction to wotever is go"n on on the ground. Your never lookn at your flight instruments, so youv gota learn to "feel" everythn.IOW, flyn has to be instinctive, coz theres too many distractions to think bout flyn the gyro.Learn to fly the rotors makes your reactions automatic.The stick and the wind on your skin will tell you everythn you NEED to know. Wen its all boild down, the only thing that you MUST keep track of is rotor load.If theres load on the rotor, your still in control.And every gyro has a very sensitive load gauge, and you dont have to take your eyes off the moos to read it, but you always know wot its telln you, coz its in your hand. Its the stick. [ or the rotors]No matter wot the situation is, always use the stick as your primary control gauge, and tune into it so you know wot the machine is do"n, and learn to feel the air. You can loose rudder control, or have your rudder lock up, you can have power failures or throttls lock full on, but if you always concentrate on the rotors, your in control.Tuneing into the stick takes air time, the more the better.There are things you can do to speed up the tuneing in, but it cant be rushed.

[Brian]

Why pick on me HuhThanks Birdy,I knew I could count on you !!! well said. I"m not picking on anyone but this fellow was genuine in wanting to know a few things, flying the rotors was one, the others should have been taken care of during training.

[Des Garvin]

Birdy, Most of us not so experianced lot, take notice of the more experianced people like you, Jaco, Brian, Rosco, Kevin and others. You just have a more down to earth method of makin sense. Thanks for a very clear explination.

[NiqueNaque]

Excuse me Mr Bird...But, how is it that you know what the stick is telling you?? Is it the subtleties of pressure in your paw.. ie, you want a quick left bank followed by a lolly gobble bliss bomb - you must squeeze the stick hard left and maybe back a little.. how do you know apart from the visual interface of the scenery rotating past your eyes, the downward force on the seat and the bank angle change... how does the stick tell you what it tells you?Curious,Nic.

[birdy]

Pressure Nik.The only time you can let go of a properly trimmed stick should be at zactly 1G.Any change either side of 1G will instantly transfer through the stick as pressure forward or back.Im often asked wot AS do i start XXX manuver at, and of course, i wouldnt have a clue, coz im never lookn at the ASI, not to mention that wen your crossed up, the ASI is bout as usefull as a hat full of a## h###s.You can be at min AS, crosseded up, with WOT and confidently stomp on opposite rudder to do a short 360, coz you know the stick will tell you if you cant.1; High speed= stick wants to come back.2; Cruise= stick happily sits in the middle.3; Between cruise and min AS with higher than cruise power= stick wants to go forward.4; Absolute min AS at WOT= stick wants to come back.Stick wants to go forward= either your at 3, or your at > 1G.Stick wants to come back= either your at 1, 4 or your at < 1G. The wind on your face will tell you wot side of "either" your on. If you find yourself at 4 and feel no wind, your in the s##.The stick can also tell you if your RRPM is too high or too low, wether your cyclic command rate is too high................... , and will also tell you if its happy. Im off into the desert to "track ride" for a mate. [ geez i hate these gyros ]

[Tim]

[Brian]

That"s a good question Nick! Well thought out!!Just once and I cant remember the circumstances exactly but I had to use left stick to counter something and all I got for what seemed nearly full left stick, was absolutely no feel, no resistance, no nothing, I obviously never went all the way to full side stick but I started to sweat quick, then just as quick, the feeling or load came back. The gyro did make a rather nasty maneuver at that time.My guess is that I hurried the stick faster than the rotors and got in front of them. I think the effects of wind on the terrain had or could have had something to do with it as well. Anyway, it wasnt a nice feel and something that has not been repeated.[whatever I did :]

[birdy]

Very good annalogy Tim. Wish i thought of that.

[asra]

Tried speeding up the learning curve the other day. While doing a boundary run after a bit of rain. The moisture had caused the rudder and throttle friction washers to swell and get pretty stiff.Landing to close a gate about 40km from home and I noticed the new bit of strap holding the 3ply rudder upright had snapped.Not too keen on losing a rudder I took off easy then left the throttle stuck at enough power to cruise with the rudder centered.I tracked road all the way home using just stick. It made me think about the rotors, which are the most important bits, rather than relying on throttle and boot to climb and turn.