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Hot new helicopter/rotorcraft news

ChuckMK23

ChuckMK23

FERS and TSP contributor!
pilot
Purely anecdotal - but heard both Bell and Leonardo have gotten unofficial thumbs up on IFR certification from FAA - meaning all the major pieces are in place and lots of heads nodding. Bell early summer and Leonardo a little sooner for it all to be official. The technical challenges seem solved and the naysayers have been won over.

Putting on my magnanimous face for a second, this is pretty cool for the industry as a whole - getting SE helo IFR certified and changing FAA mindset. Tip of the hat to the folks at Bell and Leonardo.
 
Jim123

Jim123

DD-214 in hand and I'm gonna party like it's 1998
pilot
Stick and rudder fundamentals making a comeback at Rucker. I would have said something like the pendulum is swinging back or that training philosophies shift back and forth over the years, but this mix of high tech and low tech sounds a little different than that- the full article also has some interesting stuff about the high end training that we'd probably call "fleet oriented" (or something like that) in Navy flight school.

At first glance, I gotta say I like it.


U.S. Army Shakes Up Pilot Training Programs

The U.S. Army is downgrading technology in its new Eurocopter UH-72 Lakota fleet so student pilots can master basic flying skills instead of having the modern helicopter automatically perform those tasks. But concurrent with the service’s old-school methods of inculcating these skills, it is revolutionizing its training with virtual reality...

The Army decided to degrade the force trim that keeps the flight controls neutral on the modern UH-72 Lakota to make it a more unstable helicopter. Now students must use the pedal input, pull up the collective and add the cyclic to maintain a stable aircraft. “What we’ve done is made this modern aircraft fly a little more old-school,” Chasteen [Col. Chad Chasteen, 110th aviation brigade commander] says.
 
ChuckMK23

ChuckMK23

FERS and TSP contributor!
pilot
Jim123 said:
Stick and rudder fundamentals making a comeback at Rucker. I would have said something like the pendulum is swinging back or that training philosophies shift back and forth over the years, but this mix of high tech and low tech sounds a little different than that- the full article also has some interesting stuff about the high end training that we'd probably call "fleet oriented" (or something like that) in Navy flight school.

At first glance, I gotta say I like it.


U.S. Army Shakes Up Pilot Training Programs

The U.S. Army is downgrading technology in its new Eurocopter UH-72 Lakota fleet so student pilots can master basic flying skills instead of having the modern helicopter automatically perform those tasks. But concurrent with the service’s old-school methods of inculcating these skills, it is revolutionizing its training with virtual reality...

The Army decided to degrade the force trim that keeps the flight controls neutral on the modern UH-72 Lakota to make it a more unstable helicopter. Now students must use the pedal input, pull up the collective and add the cyclic to maintain a stable aircraft. “What we’ve done is made this modern aircraft fly a little more old-school,” Chasteen [Col. Chad Chasteen, 110th aviation brigade commander] says.
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Smart people change their mind. This is actually encouraging.

But in the end - every service's respective pilot training is going to where more advanced skills are taught at the undergraduate level freeing up oxygen at type/FRS squadrons to deliver more than just a PQM. So downstream, the Lakota enables a higher level of combat capability fresh out of whatever the Army calls the CH-47 FRS...
 
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phrogdriver

phrogdriver

More humble than you would understand
pilot
Super Moderator
Also, ask why their AW119Kx demonstrator, a single-engine aircraft, has two overhead ECLs.
 
phrogdriver

phrogdriver

More humble than you would understand
pilot
Super Moderator
SynixMan said:
@phrogdriver Is a good deal CCX to San Diego in the 407 part of your perks or do you have to fly commercial?
Click to expand...

I'm planning to fly commercial for the first half and return on the helo on the way back. Civil aviation doesn't fly for the heck of it. There are IP hops that need to happen, and I need to fit in between those. If I don't, then AA it is. At least they serve drinks.

That's a difference I've had to become accustomed to--if there's no paying customer, commercial operators don't fly. We don't keep aircraft around, whether commercial or military, unless they're making revenue.
 
phrogdriver

phrogdriver

More humble than you would understand
pilot
Super Moderator
IKE said:
I asked the program manager if he knew any former 46 pilots on the team, but he didn't know. I did get one of those sweet patches though.
I also got to see the proposed unmanned tiltrotor. Pretty impressive.
Click to expand...

He does know some. He just doesn’t know it. He was there to show that Bell already has an experienced PM ready to start the day after award.
 
croakerfish

croakerfish

Well-Known Member
pilot
phrogdriver said:
Did anyone get to compare the two airframes at Sea Air Space or NHA?
Click to expand...

Yeah I sat in both at least. As far as I’m able to tell either one would be a great trainer as long as we can keep them from turning into hangar queens like the T-6. I wish Airbus had an actual aircraft there.
 
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