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This lesson needs to be reviewed and revised!
Purpose
To understand flight conditions that can cause settling with power, and to recognize the signs of settling with power and initiate the appropriate recovery.
Description
- Demonstrate settling with power and recovery.
- Allow student to develop settling with power to recognize signs.
- Allow student to initiate recovery from settling with power condition.
Instructional aids and pre-requisites
- Ground Lesson pre-requisites: Settling with power
Content
- Pre-flight briefing: Discuss conditions where aircraft is most susceptible to SWP
- Steep approach with tailwind
- Attempting to maintain an out-of-ground effect hover with insufficient performance
- Any steep descent with insufficient airspeed, especially with a tailwind
- Pre-flight briefing: Discuss the requirements for SWP
- >300 fpm descent, >20% power, and <10 KIAS (below ETL)
- Pre-flight briefing: Discuss signs of SWP and proper recovery
- Vibration, reduced control effectiveness, and high rate of descent
- Reduce collective, add forward cyclic to regain ETL
- Student should expect a significant, nose-down attitude during recovery and a high sink rate
- Climb to ≥1500 AGL, clear the area, and head into the wind
- Reduce power to 5˝ below power required for hover
- Maintain altitude and reduce airspeed with aft cyclic until airspeed <20 kias
- Continue decelerating and allow sink rate to increase to ≥300 fpm
- Vibration and decreased control effectiveness indicate the onset of SWP
- An increase in collective at this point will increase vibration and sink rate
- Initiate recovery with forward cyclic to hold a 60 knot attitude
- Simultaneously reduce collective
- When airspeed is ≥ETL, recovery is complete and a climb can be established with an increase in collective
Common errors
- Confusing vibration from ETL with SWP
- Excessive nose-down attitude on recovery
- Increasing power before recovery is complete
Completion standards
- State conditions that can lead to SWP
- Recognize signs of SWP
- Initiate proper recovery
Teaching considerations
- Developing SWP may require a negative ground speed
- Vortex ring state is fully developed when descent reaches 700 fpm in the R22
- If necessary, autorotation is an instant fix for SWP
Additional practice
- None specified
Additional resources
- The 3-2-1 rule is very conservative; SN22 in the R22 POH recommends >30 KIAS until rate of descent is <300 fpm, and a chart in Principles of Helicopter Flight suggests that settling isn’t a risk until ROD >500 fpm, airspeed is <10 KIAS, and a steep angle of approach is being used (>50 degrees).