Acquire the Life-Saving Skills Needed to Eliminate or Reduce Most Helicopter
Accidents
A vital resource for pilots, helicopter enthusiasts, and aircraft maintenance
technicians, Fatal Traps for Helicopter Pilots analyzes
all aspects of helicopter accidents, including flight basics, engineering,
meteorology, flight training, and human factors. This life-saving guide shows
how proper preparation can help prevent accidents by addressing causes such as
aerodynamic problems, mechanical failures, poor loading, mid-air collisions, and
more.
Filled with case studies and first-hand accounts of accidents, the book
organizes accident types by primary causes, presenting proven methods for
eliminating or reducing the possibility of each type. Greg Whyte, an ex
commercial helicopter pilot and professional aviation writer, draws on his own
flying experiences and those of other flight veterans to provide a wealth of
practical information and safety tips that are essential for everyone who flies,
maintains or crews in helicopters. Filled with over 100 helpful illustrations, Fatal
Traps for Helicopter Pilots enables readers to:
- Identify and address the common causes of helicopter accidents
- Explore in-depth examples of accident scenarios
- Examine the technical details of accident causes
- Review case studies and first-hand accounts of accidents
- Learn from the plain-English notes on avoidance and recovery
Inside This Aviation Accident-Prevention Guide:
- Basic Flight Principles
- Vortex Ring State
- Recirculation
- Ground Resonance
- Retreating Blade Stall
- Dynamic Rollover
- Overpitching
- Main Rotor Strikes
- Mid-Air Collisions
- Mast Bumping
- Engine Failures
- Tail Rotor Failures
- Mechanical Failures
- Fuel
- Fire
- Ditching
- Loading Issues
- Winching
- Weather
- Crew and Pre-flight Hazards
- Human Factors
- Training Mishaps
Table of contents:
- Chapter 1. Basic Flight Principles
- Terminology
- Effects of controls
- Blade forces and aerodynamics
- Rotor head principles
- Ground effect
- Flare effect
- Performance
- Chapter 2. Vortex Ring State
- Chapter 3. Recirculation
- Chapter 4. Ground Resonance
- Chapter 5. Retreating Blade Stall
- Chapter 6. Dynamic Rollover
- Chapter 7. Overpitching
- Chapter 8. Main Rotor Strikes
- Chapter 9. Mid-Air Collisions
- Other aircraft
- Wire strikes
- Bird strikes
- Chapter 10. Mast Bumping
- Chapter 11. Engine Failures
- Chapter 12. Tail Rotor Failures
- Loss of tail rotor effectiveness
- Chapter 13. Mechanical Failures
- Maintenance reliability
- Pilot inspections
- Thermal runaway
- Hydraulic jack stall
- Bogus operational parts
- Chapter 14. Fuel
- Contamination
- Starvation (including Carburetor icing)
- Exhaustion
- Chapter 15. Fire
- Chapter 16. Ditching
- Chapter 17. Loading Issues
- Sling loading
- Inadvertent cargo hook releases
- Overloading
- Center of gravity
- Loose objects in the cockpit
- Chapter 18. Winching
- Chapter 19. Weather
- Wind
- Visibility factors
- Turbulence
- Wake turbulence
- Cumulonimbus clouds
- Lightning
- Hail and heavy rain
- Winter dangers - snow, ice and cold
- Chapter 20. Crew and Pre-flight Hazards
- Inadequately briefed personnel
- Tail rotor dangers
- Main rotor dangers
- Blade sailing
- Damage by foreign objects
- Exiting aircraft in-flight
- Failure to engage control locks
- Protective covers
- Failure to remove covers/tie-downs
- Chapter 21. Human Factors
- Medical matters
- Noise and vibration
- Colds
- Intoxication
- Fatigue
- Stress
- Hyperventilation
- Hypoxia
- Hypoglycemia
- Dehydration
- Transporting patients
- Diving and flying
- Head injuries
- Spatial disorientation
- Flicker vertigo
- Crew resource management
- Chapter 22. Training Mishaps
About the Author:
A career with the New Zealand Police taught Greg Whyte how
to write reports and facts.Turning to a career in rotary-wing aviation, it only
took him a thousand hours to realize that he was a far better writer than a
pilot. The loss of many friends, all good pilots, spurred him to turn his
talents to promote safety -- to do so in such a way that is educational,
sometimes entertaining and always infinitely readable.
Softcover, 395 pages.