After decades of learning from accidents and improving aviation safety more and more, there is still a silent threat that poses a significant risk in both the fixed wing and rotary industry: the downwind approach. Downwind approaches continue to be a cause for concern and a subject that demands attention Read more…
The Fenestron is a fascinating type of anti-torque system. Single-rotorhead helicopters have to deal with the same issues that come with pushing a rotor disc around. There are a lot of different ways to deal with these issues though. We covered the NOTAR system in a previous article. Today we’ll Read more…
Helicopters are fascinating flying machines. If you talk to someone with fixed wing experience about the effects of airspeed on a helicopter, they will look at you like you’re from a different planet. Fixed wing aircraft are for the most part inherently stable, while helicopters are inherently unstable. This means Read more…
Out of all the atmospheric variables we get to deal with as pilots, density altitude is by far the most relevant and important. You should really have it in the back of head when you enter the cockpit for the day. Knowing how to calculate density altitude is something a Read more…
Probably the most misunderstood topic for helicopter pilots: the helicopter performance classes. Not only can this topic be extremely confusing, the finer details are also dependent on where you are in the world. There are plenty of really experienced helicopter and fixed wing pilots who do not fully understand the Read more…
Over the last few years, any pilot who has flown IFR has been bombarded with this abbreviation: CDFA. CDFA is meant to improve overall efficiency and safety during an instrument approach. For some pilots, it’s a technique that is so ingrained that they don’t know any better, for others it Read more…