Gyroplane Training 
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Web by: Rebel Systems Training Days April 7 - 22 2001 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 May 26 - June 2 2001 April 1 - 11 2002 |
Day 27 So, early start: Well 'ish anyway. 0830 at the airfield. Pulled the Benson out, fuelled, and pre-flighted. A little while later we trundle out to the runway for more of the same. Wheel balancing, with a little more power and skipping the mains, with the odd little airborne sliver. I had decided that I wanted a real airborne "episode" to end the session, so on the last run, as I crested a slight hill in the runway, I was airborne. Must have been 100 feet, well ok 2 feet, and some distance travelled and back down. This was the first real solo flight: Chuffed... You bet! As is the norm, or so it seems, the rest of the day was a write off in terms of the conditions I needed to progress. Strong thermic activity, with blustery wind, and at one point a complete 180 of the direction. Come the evening however and things had calmed down. Hell, the flexiwings even came out to fly it was that calm!!! Anyway, more of the same. Here's the camera get some shots I said to another. Just test the thing first... Dead batteries. SO no pictures so you will have to take my word for it. The run ups got shorter and the time in the air got longer each run. 5-10 feet along the centre line, 30-35mph - brilliant. Ah, but all didn't go swimmingly. have found out what a PIO, Pilot Induced Oscillation is, or more specifically the start of one. 10 feet up, a little more speed, and I felt the nose of the Benson nod, so I tried to damp it. I did however get out of phase with it and the next nod was greater. Roger comes over the radio in a somewhat urgent tone, telling me to reduce the power and hold the stick still. I however dumped all the power... More power was the reply... Anyway, this cured the oscillation, and I came back down to an ok, but not brilliant landing. Havn't got the flair sorted completely satisfactorily yet, but it is getting better. Roger calls me over and he debriefs what just happened. He didn't mean me to drop the power completely, but the alarm in his voice probably gave that impression. Anyway, that was the start of a PIO, and rather that let it develop into something more serious he would stop it. He was happy for me to continue, although I think I had just got a shot of adrenalin, so one more it was. I think that this was one of those "get back on the horse" moments! Well next run, I kept it lower and slower and it all went off without a problem. That was a good day. 1 hour in the morning and the first flight solo. 1 hour in the evening building on the work, with all runs ending in a low level flight, progressively getting longer. Unfortunately one did get away, but Roger was ok with it and pointed out that all go through it, and what the correct recovery was which was slight reduction power, and hold the stick still. Apparently the Benson, pump action type sticks are more prone to the feeling of nodding because the stick hinges below and behind you, as opposed to a keel mount where the stick is fixed to the keel, so you hand follows what the keel is doing. Good lesson learned. Take it easy to get to grips with the sensitivity of the controls... Must try to get the flair on landing a little more controlled! Forecast is good tomorrow so hopefully more of the same. With pictures this time, I hope... |