Helicopter Dreams

Puh…had a hard time to focus today. It takes a lot more energy than I thought to work fulltime and keep up the theory. Writing the test for LFV in Radio Communication on Saturday morning and then need to study hard for the qualifying tests next wednesday in Navigation and Meteorology.

Good to know: 

• If you have the wind in your back you have the low pressure to the left!
• The wind direction is always counter clockwise around a low pressure (L) and clockwise round a high pressure (H).

Today we talked about fronts, cold fronts (the leading edge of a cooler and drier mass of air) and warm fronts (the leading edge of a mass of warm air), and slowly the weather pieces are falling in place. I now start to understand the weather charts and why the weather behave like it does. Have to check the forecast for tomorrow, plan is to fly!

Today was the first lesson in Human Performance, the effects of flight on the human body. Our teacher Mr Oebius, an old experienced flight captain was talking about Human Physiology and High Altitudes, Eyesight and Visual Illustrations, Hearing and Balance, Am I Fit To Fly? Had a lot of “flash backs” from schooltime when talking about the different parts in you ears and eyes. Ask your self, do you remember the difference between the “stavar” and “tappar” (don’t know the english name, think it’s ”cones” and “something else”)?

We also learned that “…heroin is a “safe” drug. The substances of heroin it self makes no damage to your body. It’s extremely addictive though and that can cause a lot of problems. So if you’re rich and can afford buying the heroin and needles your self it’s more or less safe.” Hmmm…that was not the picture I got in school during the 80’s, have to check that up!

No flying today because of bad weather…AGAIN! Next flight is booked on Friday…please!

I’ve been sick for some days now, the typical autumn flu, no flying and no theory

The good thing is that I’ll fly two lessons next week, I’m looking forward to that! Even if I would have felt OK I’m not sure if I would fly anyway. The reason for that is

1. One hour in the helicopter is really exhausting, your head is burning because your brain cells wants to rest.
2. You don’t want to waist 3 800 SEK for an hour. I want to be mentally and physically prepared before and during flight. I usually go through the last lesson in my head and then trying to do the same in my flight simulator (MS Flight Simulator X).

Made a Google search for “Helicopter dream” to see if my web page is climbing in ranking. Can you guess how many hits you get on “Helicopter dream”? About 2.150.000 hits! So it’s obvious that I’m not the only one dreaming of helicopters in one or another way. The top ranked sites is about dream predictions, so for you that dream about helicopters during night here’s an explanation of the symbolism.

” To dream of a helicopter probably means that you envision yourself in a situation of potential hazard or needing to be “whisked away” from your present circumstances. The former would be expressed in a helicopter as a means of escape. The latter equates images of romance and wealth.” (Source: predictions.astrology.com)

Since I only dream of helicopters during daytime you have to tell me if the explanation above has substance or not!

Just back from 3 hours lesson of meteorology. Today we studied the Cumulunimbus (Cb) clouds and why it’s a big NO NO to fly in or close to these. We also learned some different types of fogs that I’ll share with you:

Radiation fog is formed by the cooling of land after sunset by thermal radiation in calm conditions with clear sky. The cool ground produces condensation in the nearby air by heat conduction. In perfect calm the fog layer can be less than a meter deep but turbulence can promote a thicker layer. Radiation fogs occur at night, and usually do not last long after sunrise. Radiation fog is common in autumn, and early winter. Examples of this phenomenon include the Tule fog. For clarity, Radiation fog is not radioactive.

Ground fog is fog that obscures less than 60% of the sky and does not extend to the base of any overhead clouds. However, the term is sometimes used to refer to radiation fog.

Advection fog occurs when moist air passes over a cool surface by advection (wind) and is cooled. It is common as a warm front passes over an area with significant snowpack. It’s most common at sea when tropical air encounters cooler waters, or in areas of upwelling, such as along the California coast. The advection of fog along the California coastline is propelled onto land by one of several processes. A cold front can push the marine layer coastward, an occurrence most typical in the spring or late fall. During the summer months, a low pressure trough produced by intense heating inland creates a strong pressure gradient, drawing in the dense marine layer. Also during the summer, strong high pressure aloft over the desert southwest, usually in connection with the summer monsoon, produces a south to southeasterly flow which can drive the offshore marine layer up the coastline, a phenomenon known as a “southerly surge”, typically following a coastal heat spell. However, if the monsoonal flow is sufficiently turbulent, it might instead break up the marine layer and any fog it may contain.

Steam fog, also called evaporation fog, is the most localized form and is created by cold air passing over much warmer water or moist land. It often causes freezing fog, or sometimes hoar frost.

Precipitation fog (or frontal fog) forms as precipitation falls into drier air below the cloud, the liquid droplets evaporate into water vapor. The water vapor cools and at the dewpoint it condenses and fog forms.

Upslope fog forms when winds blow air up a slope (called orographic lift), adiabatical cooling it as it rises, and causing the moisture in it to condense. This often causes freezing fog on mountaintops, where the cloud ceiling would not otherwise be low enough.

Valley fog forms in mountain valleys, often during winter. It is the result of a temperature inversion caused by heavier cold air settling into in a valley, with warmer air passing over the mountains above. It is essentially radiation fog confined by local topography, and can last for several days in calm conditions. In California’s Central Valley, Valley fog is often referred to as Tule fog.

Ice fog is any kind of fog where the droplets have frozen into extremely tiny crystals of ice in midair. Generally this requires temperatures at or below −35 °C (−30 °F), making it common only in and near the Arctic and Antarctic regions. It is most often seen in urban areas where it is created by the freezing of water vapor present in automobile exhaust and combustion -products from heating and power generation. Urban ice fog can become extremely dense and will persist day and night until the temperature rises. Extremely small amounts of ice fog falling from the sky form a type of precipitation called ice crystals, often reported in Barrow, Alaska. Ice fog often leads to the visual phenomenon of light pillars.

Freezing fog occurs when liquid fog droplets freeze to surfaces, forming white rime ice. This is very common on mountain tops which are exposed to low clouds. It is equivalent to freezing rain, and essentially the same as the ice that forms inside a freezer which is not of the “frostless” or “frost-free” type.

Artificial fog is artificially generated fog that is usually created by vaporizing a water and glycol-based or glycerine-based fluid. The fluid is injected into a heated block, and evaporates quickly. The resulting pressure forces the vapor out of the exit. Upon coming into contact with cool outside air the vapor forms a fog—see fog machine.

Garua fog is a type of fog which occurs at the western coast of Chile. The normal fog produced by the sea travels inland, but suddenly meets an area of hot air. This causes the water particles of fog to shrink by evaporation, producing a transparent mist. Garua fog is nearly invisible, yet it still forces drivers to use windshield wipers.

Hail fog sometimes occurs in the vicinity of significant hail accumulations due to increased temperature and increased moisture leading to saturation in a shallow layer near the surface.

Flight lesson nr 7 on Thursday

Good night!

Today I’ll explain how the “Airspeed indicator” works.

The airspeed indicator displays the speed of the helicopter through the air by comparing ram air pressure from the pitot tube with static air pressure from the static port—the greater the differential, the greater the speed. The instrument displays the result of this pressure differential as indicated airspeed (IAS). Manufacturers use this speed as the basis for determining helicopter performance, and it may be displayed in knots, miles per hour, or both. When an indicated airspeed is given for a particular situation, you normally use that speed without making a correction for altitude or temperature.

The reason no correction is needed is that an airspeed indicator and aircraft performance are affected equally by changes in air density. An indicated airspeed always yields the same performance because the indicator has, in fact, compensated for the change in the environment.

(Source: Rotocraft Flying handbook)

Yesterday I had my first exam at the flightschool, the subject was “Radio Communications”. 20 questions, 15 to pass and I had 17, easy peasy! It was actually a bit more difficult than I thought.

Amazing, I realized that it was about 10 years since i did my last exam at the Univeristy. At that time I said, NEVER AGAIN! But here I am, having about 18 exams to pass before I get my PPL (H). The process is that we first write a test in one of the 9 subjects at the theory school.

These are the subjects that you study during your PPL:

• AL (Air Law)
• AGN (Aircraft General Knowledge) Interesting abbreviation
• FPP (Flight Planning & Performance)
• HP (Human Performance)
• MET (Meteorology)
• NAV (Navigation)
• OP (Operational Procedures)
• PF (Principles of Flight)
• COM (Communications) 

If we pass the test at the theory school we can then write the test for the authorities. I’ll try to do that next week with the COM, wish me good luck!

So today I’ll try to explain how the “Altimeter” works.

The altimeter displays altitude in feet by sensing pressure changes in the atmosphere. There is an adjustable barometric scale to compensate for changes in atmospheric pressure.

The basis for altimeter calibration is the International Standard Atmosphere (ISA), where pressure, temperature, and lapse rates have standard values. However, actual atmospheric conditions seldom match the standard values. In addition, local pressure readings within a given area normally change over a period of time, and pressure frequently changes as you fly from one area to another. As a result, altimeter indications are subject to errors, the extent of which depends on how much the pressure, temperature, and lapse rates deviate from standard, as well as how recently you have set the altimeter. The best way to minimize altimeter errors is to update the altimeter setting frequently. In most cases, use the current altimeter setting of the nearest reporting station along your route of flight per regulatory requirements.

(Source: Rotocraft Flying Handbook)

We did a late flight so we had to speed up the start-up procedure. I made a quick check of the helicopter and then we took off. For the first time I managed the hovering and take-off from Bromma airport by my self, great

We flew north of Stockholm through Kalhall to a field where we practiced steep landings, hovering and take-offs. The steep landings was a bit tricky to get smooth, as in many other maneuvers it’s easy to over compensate and to look down instead of making small corrections and looking far away.

I tried a new maneuver today, from ground up to hovering height and then continuing straight up to about 500 ft on spot. That was also a manuever where you have to feel the helicopter movements on your way up. 

After a while we had to head back to Bromma airport before the sun set, a beautiful flight back. After the taxi back to the hangar I practiced more landings and take-offs. It was a bit tricky since it was quite windy.

Lessons learned from this flight:

• I need to take Valium before I fly to soften my absolute stiff legs
• Stop counting insects in the grass, LOOK AT THE HORIZON!
• Don’t be that practical predicting every possible movement, FEEL the helicopter movements instead!
• Make the decision! Just decide when you want to take-off or land from hover. It’s easier just to DO IT instead of having perfect conditions.

I’m flying tomorrow, are you

Or at least I hope the weather will let me fly, I’ll give you a briefing!