Exercise 6 - Turns

PREPARATORY INSTRUCTION

Aim

For the student to learn how to carry out:

  1. medium level turns; and
  2. medium climbing and descending turns

Review

Climbs and Descents

Motivation

The ability to carry out accurate balanced turns at selected airspeeds and angles of bank, is vital to safety.

Airmanship

Lookout

Teaching Points

  1. Define angles of bank as applying to light helicopters. Describe instrument indications and explain the problems of judging angles without appropriate flight instruments.
    1. Gentle - up to 15°.
    2. Medium - 15° to 30°.
    3. Steep - over 30°.
  2. Level Turns.
    1. Describe how to enter a level turn:
      1. lookout; and
      2. select the angle of bank by use of lateral cyclic.
    2. Describe the visual and instrument indications that the aircraft is in balanced level flight at a constant angle of bank.
    3. Describe how to maintain:
      1. angle of bank with lateral cyclic;
      2. airspeed with fore and aft cyclic;
      3. altitude with collective; and
      4. balanced flight with pedals.
    4. Describe how to roll-out onto a selected heading:
      1. anticipate heading; and
      2. apply lateral cyclic to level the aircraft.
  3. Climbing and Descending Turns.
    1. Describe how to initiate, maintain, and roll-out from, climbing and descending turns. Point out the similarity in technique to level turns.
    2. Stress how the rate of climb decreases as bank is applied in a climbing turn, and the rate of descent increases in a descending turn.

Confirmation

PRE-FLIGHT BRIEFING

AIR LESSON
  1. Demonstrate gentle and medium level turns in both directions.
  2. Student Practice
  3. Demonstrate medium turns, rolling out onto a selected heading
  4. Student practice
  5. Demonstrate climbing turns, rolling out onto a selected heading and levelling out at a selected altitude
  6. Student practice
  7. Demonstrate descending turns rolling out onto a selected heading and levelling out at a selected altitude
  8. Student practice
  9. Introduce Autorotation 1.

POST-FLIGHT DEBRIEFING

TIPS FOR INSTRUCTORS
  1. It is important that turns be practised in both directions to show the different visual references in the helicopter.
  2. Because of increased stress on accuracy, the student should be taught how to monitor instruments without sacrificing look-out.
  3. Steep turns are covered separately in Exercise 17.
  4. Turns in autorotation are covered separately in Exercise 7.