500Driver
Senior Heliman
Location: Columbus, OH
| My Thoughts on "Training Gear"Hello All,
I'm a few weeks behind but I was standing right there to witness Jen's first T-Rex flight(s)...she did great!
So...my 2 cents on 'training gear'. First, let me say that my opinion is just that...an opinion...but it's deeply rooted in the fact that I was a full-size helicopter flight instructor for over 2 years with over 1,500 hours of actual in the air instruction given.
IF you are learning to fly over an open, smooth, hard surface (parking lot, actual heli-pad, etc.) then remove the training gear as soon as you can hold a stable hover higher than the radius covered by the training gear (for example if your training gear extends out 2 feet around the heli then once you are hovering higher than 2 feet take em' off)
Training gear is only effective during the 'skittering around phase' to prevent the heli skids from catching on something and tipping over (the technical term for this is dynamic rollover).
My logic is that once your skids are clear of the ground (and not skittering) they can't get caught on anything and you won't tip over. BUT...if you have those training sticks hanging out there then THEY can catch on stuff and ruin your day. (not to mention just the extra weight that changes the flying characteristics of the heli)
Believe me...you don't want to learn something with any sort of 'crutch' because it is much much harder to 'un-learn' something or habits once that crutch is gone.
If you have the thought "well, I feel more comfortable with them on there" then it's definitely time to take them off...you're not learning if you're in the comfort zone.
The biggest pyschological crutch that students learning to fly full size helis face is that day the instructor gets out of the helicopter for the first time...woo hoo. Then I'll tell you sometimes it was hard convincing them to let me back in to give me a ride home HAHA : ) My point though is that 100% of the students I 'soloed' never quite FELT ready or totally at ease or comfortable or whatever you want to call it when I said "ok, on this next one I'm going to be standing over there and you're going around on your own"...it was the students that said "I'm ready, I got this, c'mon lemme' solo, etc." that took the longest to go solo.
Anyway...congrats again to Jen (I actually credit her very successful flights to practicing and crashing a Blade CX2 in the living room and NOT the training gear)...she was hovering that T-Rex outside in a bit of gusty wind 4-5' up.
Happy and Safe Flying to All,
- Don
When in doubt...auto out |
well........yesterday the weather was awesome here in columbus, ohio...and yes, yes, i flew it outside for the first time
