Rick James
New Member
Anyone started actually teaching the new brownout approach profiles being introduced on the West Coast? Any thoughts or feedback on them?
Any FRS bubbas out there that can explain some of the specifics of the approaches? -- especially the one where you hand over some of the flight controls to a copilot while holding a HOGE over the LZ - while in brownout? Does the HAC maintain the collective or the cyclic? What happens during a waveoff? Who logs the landing? Who's reading off torque, airspeed and altitude throughout the descent, if both pilots are instrument flying their collective or cyclic off the hover display?
What operational situation is this approach intended for? Single ship, with no ground threat or time constraints for landing, with plenty of power available for the HOGE descent? Or is this intended for assault missions, where you'd be in formation, in a hostile environment, with a heavy load of troops in the back, trying to land in a confined area to a TOT?
An argument I've heard for the "split flight control HOGE descent" brownout approach is that this is what the Army and Air Force H-60 crews are doing -- it's their "solution to brownout." Is this an actual standard, published Army/AF procedure, or an individual pilot technique? Has there been actual objective testing to confirm that this type of hover and approach is actually safer, or is it all anectodal opinion?
I'll expose my bias here: In brownout, I'd rather just have the cockpit doors off and fly a standard approach, with a proficient and current pilot in full control of all the flight controls.
Any FRS bubbas out there that can explain some of the specifics of the approaches? -- especially the one where you hand over some of the flight controls to a copilot while holding a HOGE over the LZ - while in brownout? Does the HAC maintain the collective or the cyclic? What happens during a waveoff? Who logs the landing? Who's reading off torque, airspeed and altitude throughout the descent, if both pilots are instrument flying their collective or cyclic off the hover display?
What operational situation is this approach intended for? Single ship, with no ground threat or time constraints for landing, with plenty of power available for the HOGE descent? Or is this intended for assault missions, where you'd be in formation, in a hostile environment, with a heavy load of troops in the back, trying to land in a confined area to a TOT?
An argument I've heard for the "split flight control HOGE descent" brownout approach is that this is what the Army and Air Force H-60 crews are doing -- it's their "solution to brownout." Is this an actual standard, published Army/AF procedure, or an individual pilot technique? Has there been actual objective testing to confirm that this type of hover and approach is actually safer, or is it all anectodal opinion?
I'll expose my bias here: In brownout, I'd rather just have the cockpit doors off and fly a standard approach, with a proficient and current pilot in full control of all the flight controls.